For some time now it is well known that HIV infection in central and southern Africa has reached pandemic proportions. The WHO (World Health Organization) has reported that the overall general populations of South Africa, Zaire, Zimbabwe and other countries in the region are showing infection rates of at least 25 percent.

In some of the cities it is reported that the infection rates are as much as 50 percent.

I have the instinctive feeling that the disease is not being passed on just by unsafe sexual practices. Or by intravenous drug use. The Center For Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia has told me several times over the telephone that there is no evidence that mosquitos can transmit HIV. But why not. After all they can transmit just about every other type of blood infective disease. So in an area of the world that is absolutely overrun by blood sucking insects of every type we also see the highest rate of HIV infections.

To make matters decidedly worse now superstition is the order of the day in Sub-Sahara Africa regarding the disease. Indeed the folk lore going around amongst the tribal people is that a male infected with the HIV virus can get rid of it by having sex with a Virgin female. So now the incidence of rape of young females is at an all time high by infected males. This of course further propagates the disease. Now to totally innocent young females who are neither sexually promiscuous or IV drug users.

I guess you could say then that necessity of the mother of invention.

A ham operator friend of mine over the weekend talked to another radio amateur in the nation of Namibia. Eric in Namibia told my friend that drastic measures are now being initiated in his country to try to slow down the advance of this horrendous disease. Utterly terrified parents of young girls are now actually paying HIV negative men to have sex with their daughters to discourage the rape of them at a later date. Then the names of the young women are posted on a village bulletin board in the central village meeting places. The parents now on a desperate frame of mind are hoping that all would be HIV Rapists will see the public notice and go looking for Virgins elsewhere. The Namibian radio amateur emphasized to my friend that as hard as this is to believe that it is actually going on.

Evidently these HIV negative surrogates are actually licensed by the Namibian government and are tested for sexually transmitted diseases each week. They are then given a certificate of identification in a laminated folder stating their HIV status. And that they furthermore have been given the green light by the government to have sex with very young women and even children.

This is how desperate things are getting in Africa. I would suppose that Namibia would also have laws stating at what ages young girls would be permitted to have consensual sex with older men. But in this most dreadful state of affairs the age of the young girls are no consideration. Their horrified parents are trying to save their lives.

And are willing to go to any lengths to try to prevent this genocide.