One of the things that you may have noticed is the recent focus in our Bulletin on the topic of HIV/Aids. This is indeed a “Sign of the Time” as the pandemic continues to impact every aspect of our lives in Zambia and Malawi and wider in Africa. For all of us, of course, it is a very powerful topic since we are all affected in one way or another.

In this issue, the article by Dr. Ken Johnson looks at "GroupThinking" in relation to its influence in dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic and comments on some of the recent controversy surrounding the cause of the disease. Ken raises issues that call for lively responses, other views, further questions. Just as Michael J. Kelly’s article in the last Bulletin has stirred considerable discussion (look for this in the next issue!), we hope Ken’s article also provoke replies. Please let us hear from you.

As you are aware, JCTR under its Economic and Social Development Research Project has for several years been conducting a monthly survey on the cost of a “food basket” for a family of six in Lusaka. This has become a very widely recognised measurement of the cost of living – indeed, of the cost of surviving!

The food basket is basically a computation of average prices of commodities gathered from retail outlets around the city centre. For November, the cost was over K290,000 (about US$ 75.00), or more than twice the take-home pay of average civil servants.

Complete letter

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This bulletin has been published since 1991. Come into our offices to get a copy of the others. Online we have Bulletins: 39 | 40 | 41 | 42| 43| 44 | 45