Why is it that 70 percent of the world’s HIV-infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa? Could malaria be the culprit? According to recent article in AIDS, a scholarly journal, new research would suggest so. From a synopsis of the research that appeared on SciDev.net:

“Malaria, and other common African infections, may make women more susceptible to HIV/AIDS than they are in the developed world, according to a study that may help solve the mystery of the vastly different infection rates around the globe. …

“François Venter, head of the HIV management cluster at the Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, said: … ‘We’ve had many theories around culture, behaviour and biology, but none has proven adequate alone to explain this disproportionate vulnerability to infection. This research may help provide some, if not all, of the answers.’”