Summary

1. AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa.  In the next decade, 40 million children will become orphans - by losing one or both parents to AIDS.
   
   
2. AIDS is wiping out decades of progress on a variety of development fronts, including per capita GNP, infant mortality, and life expectancy.
   
   
3. AIDS is not just taking lives, it is threatening economies, stability, and civil society.
   
   
4. As goes Africa, so will go India, South-East Asia, and the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union, and by 2005, more than 100 million people worldwide will have been infected with HIV.
   
   
5. We know what works.  Scaling up these proven interventions to meet the magnitude of this crisis is essential.
   
   
6. Leadership and resources are desperately needed if we are to turn the tide.