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1441/ In the last statistics
that have been made available by the World Health Organisation
(WHO) and the United Nations - Up to the end of 2001 - they
showed an estimated 40 million people to be living with HIV/Aids
(Please note - the WHO do say that unrounded numbers were
given to calculate the data, and rounded numbers to calculate
the estimates, hence the rather 'liberal' difference of over
450,000 for 1999). By way of comparison up to the end of 1999
they estimate that there were 34.3 million people living with
HIV/Aids. The rough breakdown by continent was given as follows
- (Up to end of 1999
first, then up to the end of 2001)
| REGION |
1999 |
2001 |
| North America |
900,000 |
940,000 |
| Western Europe |
520,000 |
560,000 |
| Eastern Europe and
Central Asia |
420,000 |
1 million |
| Caribbean |
360,000 |
420,000 |
| North Africa and Middle
East |
222,000 |
440,000 |
| South and East Asia |
5.6 million |
7.1 million |
| Australia and New
Zealand |
15,000 |
15,000 |
| Latin America |
1.3 million |
1.4 million |
| Sub-Saharan Africa |
24.5 million |
28.1 million |
| Totals of above |
33,837,000 |
39,975,000 |
| WHO Rounded Estimates |
34.3 million |
40 million |
1442/
Approximately, one-third of all people infected with HIV/Aids
are between the ages of 15 and 24.
1443/ Were it not
for HIV/Aids, average life expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa
would be approximately 62 years. Instead it is about 47 years.
1444/ HIV prevalence
among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in South
Africa was less than 1% in 1990 (almost a decade after the
first HIV diagnosis there in 1982). Yet a decade later, the
country was experiencing one of the fastest growing epidemics
in the world, with prevalence among pregnant women at 24.5%
by the end of 2000. As a whole about one-in-nine South Africans
(or 4.7 million people) are living with HIV/Aids.
1445/ By far the
largest documented outbreak of gastrointestinal illness occurred
in the spring of 1993 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when an apparent
failure in water treatment caused an estimated 400,000 cases
of diarrheal disease and approximately 100 deaths. The parasite
Cryptosporidium was responsible for most of the Milwaukee
cases.
1446/ The cost
of food-derived illnesses was estimated to be between $6.6
billion and $37.1 billion in medical and productivity costs
in the US each year by Crutchfield in 1999.
1447/ The WHO
(World Health Organisation) says that more than 50% of deaths
and disability from heart disease and strokes could be cut
through cost effective national programmes and individual
actions. By reducing major risk factors such as high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and smoking, the global
epidemic of cardiovascular disease - which kills more than
12 million people each year - could be reversed. more
1448/ The WHO also
estimates that 65% of gastrointestinal infections in developing
nations could be eradicated with the provision of seeminly
simple amenities available in developed nations: basic water
improvements, sanitation and hygiene interventions.
1449/ UNICEF
estimates that in the 10 years between 1990 and 2000, more
children died from diarrheal diseases then all the people
killed in armed conflicts since World War 2.
1450/ Worldwide,
about 600,000 women die of pregnancy-related causes every
year. Approximately 25% of these maternal deaths are associated
with the loss of blood. Many of these lives could be saved
if enough safe blood was available.
1451/ The average
adult has 4.5 to 5.5 litres of blood
1452/ Developing
countries have approximately 80% of the world’s population,
but have access to only 20% of the safe global blood supply.
1453/ It is estimated
that 5-10% of the global HIV infections are caused by unsafe
blood and blood products.
1454/ Water expands
by 9% when it freezes. Frozen water (ice) is lighter than
water, which is why ice floats in water.
1455/ Bones, cardiovascular
systems, muscle tissue and organs all change in zero-g, and
the longer an astronaut stays aloft, the more marked the changes
that take place. Physiological changes noted by long-duration
crews include loss of bone mass in the form of calcium, and
a weakening of the heart, which no longer has to fight against
gravity to pump blood around the body. In addition, body fluids
shift upwards, causing facial puffiness and ear-nose congestion,
while blood volume first increases, but then experiences a
drop.
1456/ The Proton
launch vehicle that carried the Zvezda module into orbit was
emblazoned with a Pizza Hut logo, which reportedly cost the
US fast food chain $1 million. The company then paid the Russians
an undisclosed sum to video the first space pizza delivery,
although spinning the footage into a TV commercial was ruled
out by Pizza Hut officials.
1457/ In late 2001,
Associated Press reported, "NASA might allow McDonald's
to put its logo on the international space station galley
in exchange for McDonald's promoting space exploration to
kids". Er...Mines a Big Mac Please.
1458/ The IMAX
production, 'Space Station', which filmed the ISS, used 25
cosmonauts and astronauts to shoot more than 19km (12 miles)
of 65mm film in space, between December 1998 and July 2001.
1459/ When it is
finaly finished in about 2006, the International Space Station
will weigh 453,592 kg (about 1,000,000 lb); have an operating
altitude of about 240 miles (385 km) and have the same atmospheric
pressure inside as Earth ie 14.7 lb/inch squared or 1,013
mbars. It will also have a crew size of 7.
1460/ The ISS has
almost an acre of Solar Panels (3,200 metres squared).
Click on the links below for more great
facts...
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