Rwanda: Four in five deaths Aids-related

In Africa, many Aids patients suffer the disease without drugs or treatment

More than four out of every five deaths in Rwanda are now Aids-related, according to government officials.

The figure - which covers the past three months - was given at an international conference on Aids by Rwandan health minister Ezechias Rwabuhihi.

He told delegates that 70% of patients in the main hospital in Kigali were suffering from illnesses related to HIV - the virus which causes Aids.

The startling figures add to a picture of devastation caused by Aids in Africa.

In Tanzania, President Benjamin Mkapa said on Monday that Aids was ravaging the country's economy and government - leading to a shortage of trained workers.

These latest developments follow a recent warning by the United States that the spread of the Aids epidemic throughout the world had become so serious that it was a threat to international security.

Rwanda not able to cope

We are facing a silent and devastating epidemic which threatens national security

Rwandan health minister

Around 500,000 Rwandans, more than 6% of the population, are infected with HIV, the country's health minister announced on Tuesday.

As a poor country, Minister Rwabuhihi said, Rwanda simply cannot cope with the devastation caused by the disease.

Depleted populations are threatening development

"We are facing a silent and devastating epidemic which threatens national security," Mr Rwabuhihi told a conference attended by delegates from Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.

In some areas, hospitals were so overcrowded that Aids patients were often kept two to a bed.

"Our hospitals are overwhelmed, the staff is overwhelmed, some services of the internal medicine are overwhelmed," the minister said. "This is not a bearable situation."

Devastating the economy

In his May Day address, Tanzanian President Mkapa's said that the country was losing large numbers of trained workers to Aids. Some ministries were losing up to 20 employees a month.

We're beginning to understand that this epidemic, not only has health implications, but has implications as a fundamental development issue, an economic issue and a stability and security issue

Sandy Thurman, US Office of National Aids Policy

Mr Mkapa urged religious leaders to drop their opposition to even discussing the issue.

"I pray that religious leaders consider the stark reality in the light of the current situation and the given statistics," the president said.

An estimated 20% of Tanzanians are infected with the HIV virus.

The World Bank has estimated that if Aids continues to spread at its current rate, the Tanzanian economy will shrink by up to 25% by 2015.