THE woman was so thin. She was nothing but skin and bone. At the age of 24, she weighed around 20 kilograms. Her lips and throat looked whitish because of thrush. She could not swallow food and felt pain when drinking water.

After contracting human immunodeficiency virus, Suzane (not her real name) became extremely frail. Her HIV infection precipitated the onset of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Suzane has frequently had high fever.