A "death spiral" of HIV and food insecurity is depleting public services and debilitating southern Africa, a United Nations relief official said recently. "The number of trained health practitioners, teachers and other professionals that are succumbing to HIV/AIDS is causing a truly extraordinary human resources vacuum in societies across the region," James T. Morris, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy for Humanitarian Needs in Southern Africa, said at a press conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.