HIV and AIDS has effected one out of every five people in Kenya. We will go over AIDS in our July meeting but I wanted to get you thinking about it.

Here is a quiz on AIDS. See if you can find the right answers. We will go over it in July, but do some research now....

1. Which of the following catastrophes has claimed more lives?

a. Vietnam war

b. Earthquakes of the past 100 years

c. AIDS pandemic

Every week, AIDS claims as many lives as American Fatalities in the Vietnam War. Since it was discovered, AIDS has killed nearly 30 million people - equal to the combined population of Texas and Arizona, and nearly 10 times the number of earthquake fatalities in the last century.

2. What makes AIDS so different from killer epidemics of the past?

a. AIDS kills the productive members of society, not predominantly the young and elderly

b. Men are particularly vulnerable to infection

c. Infections is totally avoidable based on personal choices

Unlike the Black Plaque of flu epidemics that largely spared the healthy, working-age population, AIDS is decimating the ranks of teachers, parents, doctors, and farmers - the very people a society relies upon to provide for basic needs. As a result, children and the elderly are left to fend for themselves.

3. Who said, "AIDS is the greatest weapon of mass destruction on earth"?

a. Bono

b. Colin Powell

C. Oprah

AIDS is devastating communities like no other weapon could, according to Colin Powell. Every minute, 10 more people are infected with HIV.

4. Why are women in developing countries contracting HIV at alarming rates?

a. They can't afford condoms

b. IV drug use is up among women

c. Women have few rights and choices in many cultures

In many developing countries, women have few rights and choices in life - including choices that protect them from HIV/AIDS. Women often do not have the power to decide whether or with whom they have sex; to negotiate condom use; to avoid sexual violence; or to feed their children without entering the sex trade.

5. How is AIDS affecting the food supplies in African countries?

a. There's more food because there are fewer people

b. Food is scarcer because so many farmers are sick or dying

c. AIDS is having no effect on Africa's food supplies

Food shortages are a big problem. By 2020 AIDS will have claimed the lives of at least one-fifth of southern Africa's agricultural workers. Food production is just one area in which AIDS threatens to reverse decades of development work in poor countries.

6. Why has Africa suffered the greatest number of AIDS deaths to date?

a. Africa has the greatest number of HIV-Infected people

b. Americans and Europeans can afford to be vaccinated against HIV

c. Stigma has prevented Africans from getting vaccinated

Sub-Sahara Africa has 64 percent of the worlds HIV cases - more then any other area of the world. But skyrocketing infections rates in Russia, China and India threaten similar or wars epidemics in these regions in the near future. Education and awareness could still change this. THERE IS NO VACCINE TO PROTECT AGAINST HIV/AIDS.

7. How many children are orphaned each day because of AIDS according to the United Nations?

a. 200

b. 1500

c. 6000

6,000 children are orphaned by AIDS every day. If all the children orphaned by AIDS held hands, they would stretch five and half times across the USA. By 2011, this virtual chain will reach around the world.

8. Imagine your parents have just died as a result of AIDS. As an orphan in Africa, what can you expect?

a. Neighbors will take care of you

b. You'll have to drop out of school

c. You will successfully farm your families land

You will likely have to drop out of school to care for younger siblings or because you can't afford the fees. Even if you had land, farming will be very difficult given your lack of experience. Neighbors might be willing to take you in, despite the stigma associated with AIDS - but resources may be so meager that you still can't get enough to eat.

9. Which of the followings is commonly accepted AIDS myth in developing countries?

a. Sex with a virgin cures AIDS

b. If you feel healthy, you can't be HIV-Positive

c. AIDS is caused by evil spirits

d. All of the above

All of these myths are popular in developing countries. Limited formal education, lake of access to reliable information, and inadequate health care all promote harmful myths about AIDS. World Vision is one organization helping to prevent the spread of HIV with proven education based on biblical principles.

10. Which country has the fastest growing HIV infection rate in the world?

a. Russia

b. South Africa

c. United States

African countries have suffered the most AIDS death to date. The virus that causes AIDS is currently spreading fastest in Russia - where the infection rate grew 257 percent in three years.

11. In which country has the HIV prevalence rate dropped in recent years?

a. Uganda

b. Botswana

c. Swaziland

Uganda offers the world hope that we can turn the tide on this pandemic. Thanks to aggressive awareness and prevention campaigns, the HIV prevalence rate in Uganda has dropped from 21 percent in 1991 to 7 percent in 2004. Botswana and Swaziland, on the other hand, both suffer from prevalence rates of nearly 40 percent, the highest in the world.

Quiz was created in 2004.