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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| CIA worried over AIDS in India |
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| jaihoon |
| 10/02/02 at 00:54:02 |
| hmm.... my heart goes out to benevolent concern of CIA, the intelligence wing of uncle sam once engaged and still engaging in the assassination of leaders and revolutionaries worldwide :D Is AIDS just spreadin thru needles and immoral lifestyle? If so, why is it so much widespread ONLY in the poverty-stricken countries where ppl dont have enough money to buy needles nor enjoy the lavish nocturnal lifestyle? Or is it another biological weapon developed in some secret labs to counter the growing population of East threatening the hegemony of a few GREAT nations, as the conpiracy theorists say. -------------------------------------------------- CIA worried over AIDS in India CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ TUESDAY, OCTOBER 01, 2002 04:09:34 PM ] WASHINGTON: The CIA has raised a red flag on the spread of the AIDS epidemic in five countries, including India, China and Russia, saying it poses a potential security threat both internally and internationally. A US National Intelligence Council study conducted for the agency says by 2010 the growth of AIDS infections in these five countries –- Nigeria and Ethiopia are the other two -– will far outstrip the AIDS spread in sub-Saharan Africa and go beyond the current worse-case scenario. In sheer numbers, AIDS-infected people in the five countries will grow to an estimated 50 million to 75 million, from the current projection of 14 million to 23 million, the 28-page declassified part of the NIC report said. The NIC is a panel of experts that performs strategic analysis for the President, the CIA, the Defense and State departments, the National Security Council and other government agencies. The leader of the study, Dr David Gordon, is a CIA official who oversees trans-national issues for the Agency. In a briefing at the Agency headquarters on Monday that only some reporters were informed about, Dr Gordon said the AIDS epidemic could harm the economic, social, political and military structure in each of the five countries. However, the report suggested that because the disease is relatively new to India and China, and because there is a lag of many years between infection and death in most individuals, those two nations "can manage the impact of the disease through the end of the decade." The epidemic "by itself will not pose a fundamental threat through 2010 to the rise of China and India as major regional players," the report said. That was the only silver lining in an otherwise gloomy prognosis that spoke of rising tensions in these countries over growing healthcare costs, impact on military manpower, shortage of productive people and spending priorities. The forecast is scariest for Russia, where a shrinking population and workforce will compound the boom in AIDS cases, possibly leading to a half per cent drop in the annual economic growth and a diminished military. Nigeria and Ethiopia will be hardest hit with key government and business elites decimated and foreign investment and economic growth badly affected. The council said that in arriving at the estimates, it gathered data from governments and non-governmental organisations in the US and outside, but it did not collaborate with the governments of the five countries. However, the report, titled The Next Wave of HIV/AIDS: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, India and China, was given to the governments of each of the five countries about two months ago, Dr Gordon told reporters. |
| 10/02/02 at 01:00:24 |
| jaihoon |
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board |