The Cause and Effect of HIV in Africa Essay examples

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.

Finally, another big problem caused by AIDS is orphans. There are eleven million orphans in Africa. “Health officials begun to refer to these parentless children as the Lost Generation…” (PBS, video). Many children in Africa are orphans as their parents were killed from the disease. The home life for these children is very different

Polygamy is the case in which a man or a woman has multiple spouses. One branch of polygamy is termed “polygyny”, which is when “one man is married to several wives” (Zeitzen 3).

(2011) was a multi-continent, randomized, controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy on the speed of the disease process among HIV-1 infected and HIV-1 uninfected partners. In the study, 1,763 HIV mixed status couples were grouped into either early antiretroviral and delayed therapy groups. Inclusion criteria consisted of the HIV-1 infected participant having a CD4 count between 350 and 550 with no previous antiretroviral therapy usage, except to prevent mother-baby transmission. Participants attended three monthly sessions and then quarterly sessions until ill or requiring an additional amount of antiretroviral drugs (Cohen et al, 2011). The uninfected partners were tested each quarter for seroconversion, the period in time in which antibodies become detectable. The research study concluded that early antiretroviral therapy initiation had a greater effect on CD4 count than delayed antiretroviral therapy. The average CD4 count in the early therapy group originated at 400 and increased to 603 after 12 months of ART. A decline of CD4 cells were noted in the delayed group (Cohen et al, 2011). The authors concluded that a higher incidence of HIV transmission was noted in African countries and adverse effects were more likely to occur in the early therapy group. Early therapy had a positive effect on the HIV-1 uninfected and HIV-1 infected

As mentioned above, the spread of disease from mother to child was becoming an increasing problem in South Africa: by 2000, the prevalence of HIV among pregnant women had risen to nearly 21%; one rural

Polygamy is the custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time. Polygamy

In Africa, music is an effective form of “edutainment” (Barz & Cohen, 2011, p.185). Barz and Cohen (2011) believes song, with its music and lyrics is the best mode to effectively educate people about the social and physical trauma of HIV/AIDS in Africa (p. 186). Africa has long since been known to be patient zero of the chronic disease known as HIV/AIDS. More importantly, as HIV/AIDS has spread through Africa, and now throughout the world, the industries affected in third world countries, such as Africa, have made situations even direr. More specifically, in South Africa, Lesotho, a mountainous country with an estimated population of 2 million, is suffering from the HIV/AIDS epidemic, “The two million Basotho living there are in the midst of an AIDS epidemic as calamitous as any seen in the region” (Gilden, 2009, p. 117).

Since the beginning of time, breastfeeding has been one of the most encouraged and sacred acts between mother and infant, a natural survival skill for all species. It has been encouraged by many cultures and for some, is the only means of providing nutrition for infants. However, the existence of the often fatal disease, HIV, which can be spread through bodily fluids, challenges the sacred status of breastfeeding.

HIV and AIDS have affected millions of people throughout the world. Since 1981, there have been 25 million deaths due to AIDS involving men, women, and children. Presently there are 40 million people living with HIV and AIDS around the world and two million die each year from AIDS related illnesses. The Center for Disease Control estimates that one-third of the one million Americans living with HIV are not aware that they have it. The earliest known case of HIV was in 1959. It was discovered in a blood sample from a man in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Looking further into the genetics of this blood sample researchers suggested that it had originated from a virus going back to the late 1940’s or early 1950’s. In 1999,

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).

HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. A member of a group of viruses called retroviruses, HIV infects human cells and uses the energy and nutrients provided by those cells to grow and reproduce. AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disease in which the body's immune system breaks down and is unable to fight off certain infections, known as "opportunistic infections," and other illnesses that take advantage of a weakened immune system. When a person is infected with HIV, the virus enters the body and lives and multiplies primarily in the white blood cells. These are the immune cells that normally protect us from disease.

HIV is a virus that is spread almost all over the world. Although in some places health care isn’t as developed and therefore it spreads more in those regions. Sub-Saharan Africa holds more than 70%, 25 million, of all HIV positive people in the world. Second highest is Eastern Europe together with Central Asia with 1.3 million. It is spread over most of the world, including Asia and the Pacific, the Caribbean, Central and South America, North Africa and the Middle East and Western and Central Europe (“The Regional Picture”).

Should a HIV positive mother breastfeed her baby? In 1985, the U.S. Public Health Service provided the first recommendations in efforts to help prevent HIV positive mothers from transmitting it to their child. It then was discovered that 1 in 7 infants of HIV positive mothers were in fact infected through breastfeeding (WABA.org). Perinatal transmission became the most common way of HIV infection in infants. In 2010 research advancements were made and showed that if the HIV positive mothers started receiving AVRs (antiretroviral drugs) throughout the time they are breastfeeding, the HIV transmission to the infant could be largely prevented. HIV positive mothers now have the option of breastfeeding if they are under the right treatment and can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to the infant to less than 1% (CDC.gov). Those in favor for HIV positive mothers breastfeeding their babies argue that with the right treatment and precautions the mother can safely breastfeed her child. On the other hand those opposed to breastfeeding believe that although the HIV transmission from the mother to child could be largely prevented there is still a small percentage that the infant can get infected, and a larger risk of transmission in developing countries.

Polygamy is the “practice whereby a person is married to more than one spouse at the same time” (Zeitzen 2008, 3)