Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa

Nearly three decades ago, there was an increase in deaths of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Developing countries have experienced the greatest HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality, with the highest prevalence rates recorded in young adults in sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa over three million people are killed by this disease (Macfarlene3). After this epidemic spreaded in Africa and killed people it branched out to other countries in the world.

HIV/AIDS has been responsible for one of the worst epidemics in history. In her book “The Invisible Cure” Helen Epstein details why Africa in particular was so devastated by the disease, which countries failed and which succeeded in the struggle to contain the virus, and why this happened. Epstein highlights a particular phenomenon, that first took place in Uganda, but which can be translated to many countries and situations, and which she calls “the invisible cure.”

There are an immense amount of problems in Africa caused by the AIDS disease. Healthcare providers are available and located all over Africa. Even though they are available, they have only “enough medicine for long-term survival available for 30,000 Africans” (Copson, 3).

In The Invisible Cure, Helen Epstein talks about why HIV/AIDS rate is so high in Africa compared to the rest of the world. Through the book, she gives us an account of the disease and the struggles that many health experts and ordinary Africans went through to understand this disease, and how different African countries approached the same problem differently. Through this paper, I will first address the different ways Uganda and Southern African countries, South Africa and Botswana in particular, dealt with this epidemic, and then explain how we can use what we have learned from these African countries to control outbreaks of communicable disease elsewhere around the world.

Africa has a history of facing many challenges, including starvation, poverty, Ebola and AIDS. AIDS, however, has become Africa’s biggest hurdle. Botswana, located in Southern Africa, has been hit the hardest by the AIDS virus with over 23% of its population contracting AIDS. In order to help fix the AIDS epidemic in Botswana, multiple things need to be reviewed, such as understanding how AIDS spread throughout Botswana, where the region currently stands on the AIDS virus, and the three solutions on how to prevent the rise in the spreading of the virus within the area. According to the website Avert, studies have shown that the most effective ways to help stop the spread of AIDS includes testing centers, intervention centers, and the distribution of more protective measures.

Despite the government’s best efforts to downplay the HIV epidemic that was beginning in South Africa, the disease began to spread throughout the general population in the late 1980s. In 1988, cases of seroconversion started to appear in individuals outside of the MSM community; each year, between 1988 and 1994, saw a doubling of HIV prevalence. As of 1990, the dominant mode of transmission for HIV switched from homosexual to heterosexual intercourse, creating an epidemic among the citizens of South Africa. At the same time, the rate of mother-to-child transmission was on the rise. Throughout the escalation of the HIV epidemic in South Africa, the apartheid government took a hard line stance on HIV and AIDS, calling it a ‘black disease’ and refusing to invest resources to combat the spate. Rather, it continued to use fear tactics and stereotyping to reinforce the ‘typical’ HIV-infected individual, targeting MSM and black populations in country-wide campaigns. Any attempts at preventing the spread of disease were usually thwarted by a lack of infrastructure in the local governments and provinces, with each area attempting a different strategy to combat HIV infection.

With Fertility being very important in culture it is not uncommon to see women reaching out for relationships in order to sustain fertility further down the road if problems occur. Multiple relationships have the ability to spread Aids. In combination with the issue of condoms, Africans have culturally turned away from protection because it goes against the values of fertility in society. When a woman seeking a relationship tries to bring in the use of condoms she is seen as unfit for a marriage because of lack

In the 1980's the HIV/AIDS epidemic devastated many communities, growing panic over the incurable disease that many people were dying from. In the past, there wasn't a lot of information on how HIV/AIDS was contracted or spread, and thus the epidemic instilled much fear over fatal sexually transmitted diseases. In today’s times I fear that our communities have become distance from HIV/AIDS and other STDs because of large advancements in modern medicine the United States have been able to achieve. Americans don’t seem as worried as they once where about contracting devastating STDs and this is a luxury other areas of the world don’t have. I am aware that in sub-Saharan Africa there are millions of people who are living with HIV, and although more and more adults and children are reported to die each year from this devastating illness (nearly one million in Africa alone) the population grows still, estimating to grow into the millions by 2050( Population Reference Bureau, 2013). This Illness is so disheartening to hear about as it can even be passed down to the infected individual’s children.

An upsetting pattern has risen inside of the previous couple of years, demonstrating a relentless increment of ladies being contaminated with HIV/AIDS every year. This pattern is particularly conspicuous in sub-Saharan Africa. While the illness is contaminating more ladies than any other time in recent memory and now represents about portion of those living with HIV around

The perception that men in undeveloped parts of Africa have with regards to birth control and the female anatomy is also a reason for how come female genital mutilation occurs (Schmöker Annika, Kyungu Nkulu Kalengayi Faustine). Not only is there a stigma attached to women using different pharmaceutical methods of birth control, there is also a preconceived notion attached to partners using latex protective barriers. According to a study conducted by the Journal of Southern African Studies, an anonymous male who lives in a rural part of Africa, stated that “I trust my wife and she trusts me therefore I will not use a condom with her. Condoms indicate that we do not trust each other” (Maharaj, Pranitha, 254). Another example of how male dominance and definitive gender roles work against women in many parts of Africa is that it is often the mans jurisdiction when it comes to deciding what topics are to be conversed, and what is not acceptable to talk about. This can be the cause for very little communication between the husband and wife with regards to intercourse and family planning (Maharaj, Pranitha, 254). If a woman decides to speak up and discuss the topic with her husband, she may risk being physically abused for failing to comply with him. In order to correct this misconception, women must be empowered in order to feel confident enough

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has been a major health concern due to its rapid ability to spread and high death rate. Although HIV can be found all around the world, it is most common in Africa. For decades, both sociologist and scientist have struggled to determine the specific causes that led to the wide spread of HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. The novel The Invisible Cure: Why We Are Losing the Fight Against AIDS in Africa by Helen Epstein tells her journey as a molecular biologist trying to find a cure for HIV across Sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout her journey, Epstein is able to experience the various problems that the majority of people in the African continent face. The problems that Epstein encounters can easily be fixed, but because of the lack of effective government control in most areas they aren’t. Through cultural, political, and social factors, Epstein depicts the roots of the HIV outbreak and the possible cures that can be found within Uganda’s collective efficacy.

In the sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of the population suffers from HIV leading to AIDS. The culprits responsible for this epidemic include the lack of knowledge about the disease, disuse of condoms due to religious practices and the overall poor hygiene. If left untreated, the rampant surge of AIDS can terrribly impact the cost of their healthcare, the African economy and the welfare of the people. This implications justify immediately finding remedies to what ails the sub-Saharan population.

HIV is the virus that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, commonly known as AIDS. HIV/AIDS has become one of the most destructive global pandemics in history. In 1990, the World Health Organization estimated that over one million people were living with AIDS, and in less than ten years, HIV had exploded worldwide (Perlin & Cohen). Johanna Tayloe Crane, a medical anthropologist, dedicated her career to studying the way political and economic inequalities influence how HIV/AIDS is researched and treated for in Africa. Crane complied over ten years of ethnographic research to study a HIV research partnership between a US university and Ugandan universities and clinics. Her book, Scrambling for Africa: AIDS, Expertise, and the Rise of American Global Health Science, unpacks both the American and Ugandan researcher’s and clinicians’ perspectives about the research partnership and critiques the U.S. response to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Her findings reveal the paradox of health institutions and their global health research partnerships benefit from the inequalities they are trying to readdress. These global, economic, and scientific inequalities have allowed Global Health Science research partnerships to establish their own authority over Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Although HIV is no longer the automatic death sentence it was in the 80’s, it remains a thorn even in our modern societies. For instance, HIV treatment is exponentially expensive, and can only be afforded by residents in developed countries. In fact, most third world nations are still in the 80’s as far as HIV treatment technology is concerned. Fatality rates particularly in Africa are astronomical to say the least (Rensburg 267). With prices, for

In the book Religion and AIDS in Africa by Jenny Trinitapoli and Alexander Wienreb, describe the role that religion plays in interpreting, preventing, and coping with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. In my view, the variation across countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is due, in part, to different health care and political/government systems. The variation that is seen in healthcare across SSA, where Botswana where programs and access to antiretroviral therapy compared to Zambia. The other variation seen in government influence is that there is a lack of involvement in address HIV/AIDS in South Africa government due to political silence compared to Uganda.