History

History

Ukraine became the first nation in Europe to have 1% of its adult population infected with HIV.¹²⁶

Botswana became the first African country to begin providing antiretroviral treatment through the public sector. It was estimated the programme would cost $24.5 million in its first year and would reach 19,000 people.¹²⁷

The US Secretary of State Colin Powell strongly advocated condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, setting himself apart from President Bush's views on sex education in an MTV broadcast:

"In my own judgement, condoms are a way to prevent infection… Therefore, I not only support their use, I encourage their use among people who are sexually active and need to protect themselves."¹²⁸

A new line of condoms carrying the logos of most important Brazilian football teams went on sale. The campaign was helped by a TV advertisement in which supporters wore caps with their team colours in the shape of a condom.

"The level of success was more than we had expected… We are selling the condoms in places not normally associated with this sort of product, such as news stands and bakeries."¹²⁹

Later in the year, for the first time ever in Brazil, an HIV prevention campaign was being aimed at male homosexuals.¹³⁰

A study showed that approximately 50% of Americans still believed they could acquire HIV through everyday contact, and most supported the mandatory testing of groups at highest risk of HIV infection.¹³¹

The Chinese Government announced a 17% jump in AIDS cases. The government estimated that the number of people with full-blown AIDS was as high as 200,000, of whom more than half were presumed already dead. It also estimated that up to 850,000 people were infected with HIV by the end of 2001. These figures were still far below the estimates by experts at the UN and the WHO, who said that as many as 1.5 million people could have been infected in China.