Hiv And Its Effects On The World 's Worst National Aids Epidemic

In South Africa, AIDS is one of the top causes of death. South Africa has the biggest AIDS/HIV epidemic in the world because of violence against women, poverty, and lack of education. Given this, “Africans account for nearly 70% of those who live with HIV and are dying of AIDS” (Morgenstern, Dr. Michael).

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.”

It is clear that South Africa’s changes in treatment and attitude of HIV/AIDS has moved the nation forward as a whole. Although there has been much progress made, “About 3.5 million South Africans still are not getting therapy, and many wait to long to come in to clinics or don’t stay on the drugs” (Lubock 17). Improvements on clinics will continue to be made throughout the country and the new “three-in-one” treatment tablet should prove effective within the next year for more modern and cost effective treatment and prevention for pregnant mothers. World AIDS Day has proved to be a powerful day for the future of South Africa as a nation.

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.

HIV/AIDS is acquired when there is an unprotected sexual intercourse, exposure to infected blood or body fluids, sharing of needles or syringes with an infected person and from mother to child through breast feeding or vaginal birth. The most prevalent places are the urban cites in the U.S. As discussed earlier, the population at risk for the infection are gay and bisexuals, IV drug users and heterosexuals. Within the first two weeks of acquiring HIV infection, the infected person develops fever usually 100.4degrees, fatigue, sore throat, headache, muscle and joint pains. This normally resolves itself without any intervention. Some people might also develop a digestive and respiratory problem such as nausea &vomiting and dry cough. If untreated, it can result in low TCD4 lymphocyte count below 200 resulting in AIDS. Statistically, from the national level, the most prevalent states in the U.S in

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

According to Weiss RA. (2008) ). The AIDS plague has already caused the deaths of over 50% its victims. All HIV-infected persons are at higher risk for diseases and death from opportunistic pathogens and neoplastic complications because of the AIDS manifestation. Once HIV infection started, it spread is driven by numerous factors. The arrival of the virus in the 20th century gave a resource for spread not only in the present but also in past human pandemics. According to Mayer K. et al., (2008) Development has led to increased numbers of people at

Swaziland lie on the fifth lowest place in the world on the index of life expectancy, according to the CIA World Fact Book, with expected life is on average 49,2 years. (3) The UN have in their MDG's informed that the goal is to reduce the number of child death before the age of 5 from 180/1000 children to 60/1000 children by 2015. In 2008, they where down to 129, meaning they are going in the right direction, but not fast enough. Swaziland is a part of the area which are referred to as Sub-Sahara Africa, having HIV/AIDS problems like no other area in the world.

This epidemic leads to a high mortality rate as well as a lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality

Although ninety-five percent of people living with HIV/AIDS are in developing countries, the impact of this epidemic is global. In South Africa, where one in four adults are living with the disease, HIV/AIDS means almost certain death for those infected. In developed countries however, the introduction of antiretroviral drugs has meant HIV/AIDS is treated as a chronic condition rather than a killer disease. In developing countries like South Africa, the drugs that allow people to live with the disease elsewhere in the world, are simply too expensive for individuals and governments to afford at market price.

The African countries south of the Sahara have some of the best HIV surveillance systems in the world. They provide solid evidence that the HIV infection rate has stabilized at a relatively low level in Senegal and that the extremely high rates in Uganda have been reduced. However, in most sub-Saharan countries adults and children are acquiring HIV at a higher rate than ever before: the number of new infections in the

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world that is most affected by HIV/AIDS. The United Nations reports that an estimated 25.4 million people are living with HIV and that approximately 3.1 million new infections occurred in 2004. To put these figures in context, more than 60 percent of the people living with the infection reside in Africa. Even these staggering figures do not quite capture the true extent and impact that this disease causes on the continent. In 1998, about 200,000 Africans died as a result of various wars taking place on the continent. In that same year, more than 2 million succumbed to HIV/AIDS (Botchwey, 2000).

South Africa’s labor supply is negatively affected by incidences of HIV/AIDS because of increased mortality and morbidity. AIDS decreases fertility rates and deaths from the disease ultimately lowers the population and labor force. Workers in key sectors of the economy such as mining and healthcare have been particularly affected. One study done by researchers, (R Elias, University of Botswana, personal communication, 2000), estimated that the mining workforce aged between 30 and 44 would see a decrease from 60% to 15% in 2015. South African Healthcare professionals are also heavily impacted, 20% of student nurses are infected with HIV [2]. There is a dearth of data on HIV prevalence in the public domain but a few studies have been done in high risk sectors like transport and mining.

There are four indicators which provide evidence that this target was met. Immense progress has occurred in combating HIV/AIDS in Zambia and these indicators were used to monitor that progress. The first indicator was HIV prevalence among the population aged 15-24 years old. The goal for this indicator was to reach 15.6% or lower by 2015. Zambia had already reached the target by 2002 and by 2007 had exceeded it with 14.3% (Millennium Development Goals). These statistics show that the percent of HIV incidences in Zambia were decreasing and surpassed its goal only two years into its 15 year timeline. HIV incidences have stabilized in Zambia but the absolute number of new infections is actually rising due to population growth. Although the Zambia’s national MDG target has been met, this does not show the disparities within the country in HIV prevalence rates amongst provinces. Lusaka and Copperbelt are the densest provinces and also had the highest HIV prevalence, over 20% in 2007. This shows that HIV can spread more easily through dense places like cities. There was an increase of new HIV infections from 1998 to 2002 that could have been caused by a range of factors such as lack of awareness and use of services, low use of condoms, or low rates of male