World News and Trends: AIDS epidemics predicted for Asia, Eastern Europe
The World Bank, predicting that the incidence of AIDS is about to explode in India, China and Eastern Europe, advocates an aggressive prevention program to include more-widespread condom distribution and needle exchanges for drug users.
World Bank officials hope to contain the epidemic that has killed 6 million people and infected another 23 million worldwide.
"Failure to act now will cost millions of lives," warned Martha Ainsworth, one of the bank's senior economists and author of a report advocating such prevention programs. The bank has spent $800 million since 1986 on programs to prevent the spread of AIDS.
The impact of the disease has been devastating, especially in many poorer countries. According to the World Bank, in Burkina Fasso and Ivory Coast, two African countries, AIDS has decreased average life expectancies by 11 years. In Zimbabwe the disease has caused average life expectancy to plunge by a shocking 22 years.
In many such nations almost half of new AIDS cases are among women. In taking the lives of so many young adults, the disease is rapidly erasing gains in quality of life that took years to achieve.
Although few admit it, AIDS is largely preventable. It is spread primarily through illicit sexual contact and use of mind-altering drugs, activities that the Creator of mankind condemns. (Sources: The New York Times, Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 18:22; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-5.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: January - February 1998
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
