The AIDS crisis in Africa is an epidemic of staggering proportions. Thirty-six million people are infected with the HIV virus worldwide, with over 25 million of them in Africa, and a staggering number of Africans -- 17 million -- have died. This film is about the inspiring work of Canadian Stephen Lewis, the United Nations Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa as he searches for solutions to the pandemic ravaging the continent.

Lewis describes the "Herculean effort" that has begun to relieve the suffering. A global trust fund has been set up through the United Nations which has grown to $1.5 billion. Drug companies have slashed their prices for anti-viral drugs for Africans and there is now hope for the dying. After years of denial, there is now a new willingness on the part of African leaders to confront the disease.

Lewis travels to Zambia and Kenya witnessing the challenges first hand as he talks to widows of AIDS victims, who are often infected themselves. In many instances these ill women must care for their deceased relatives' children as well as their own, despite their desperate financial situation. On the plus side, he finds many creative, community-based educational programs that feature preventive "safe sex" songs, dances and dramas.

Note: There is brief scene in which a bare-breasted woman is washed by a nurse.

African Studies Association, 2003