The Problem of HIV-AIDS in the Black Continent

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.

​African-Americans are the ethnic group most affected by HIV/AIDS. Ironically african-americans represent 14% of the population of the United States , but represent 44% across the gender line. African-american men represent 70% of HIV infections among the ethnic group, however african-american women are also highly at risk of HIV infection. Indeed they have a rate of infection that is 15 times greater than the rate for caucasion women (HIV among African-Americans, 2012). Most African-american women (85%) are infected with HIV through heterosexual sex, often with partners, who claim to be

Did you know “AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa” (Quinn, online). Twenty percent of Africa’s population has died from AIDS. Poverty is a big problem in Africa. Men have been forced to become migrant workers in urban areas. And antiretroviral treatment at this time is not available to African people. AIDS is a big problem in Africa today that is now requiring help from the world.

The world as a whole should be mortified by what is happening in Sub-Saharan Africa. In places like Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho poverty, crime and systematic corruption are the tinder for the fire that is the HIV epidemic in Africa.

The prevalence of HIV in the African American community is unmatched by any other population. African Americans accounted for 49% of all HIV related deaths in 2010 (CDC, 2014). In my specialty area of family practice, I have encountered only one non-minority patient with HIV; all others have been African-American. This population needs to be of high consideration for disease education. African Americans are typically unaware of resources available to prevent the transmission of this disease, as well as testing available to them in their communities. African American children, especially, are at greater risk for HIV due to lack of knowledge and earlier age of engaging in sexual intercourse. They are typically unaware that their behavior can yield such a negative outcome (CDC, 2012). Many urban schools lack proper funding to accommodate a sexual education curriculum. It is of increased importance to raise awareness, educate and provide a plan of care for the African American teenage and adult population, as the incidence of this disease rises daily.

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.

HIV is a detrimental disease in the African-American community. During the 1980s HIV was on the rise as many people were uneducated about the virus itself and how the virus was contracted. Precious contracted HIV from her mother's boyfriend, which is more difficult to handle when you live in a state of poverty. Precious had limited funds and limited health care options. If an individual contracts HIV in 2016 there are medications that can prolong their life and keep them comfortable unlike the resources available in the 1980s. According to Rao and colleagues, African-Americans face many downfalls with HIV due to difficulty accessing proper care and medication (2016). Rao address that there is a stigma associated with HIV, as well as African-Americans,

It is believed that HIV originated in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo around 1920 when HIV crossed species from chimpanzees to humans. The first time HIV was presented, it was unknown and not presented to heterosexuals as a disease because people thought it was a disease specified for homosexuals. Within the history of discovering HIV, different groups were targeted and subjected to the virus unlike others. This misconception still carries on in the Orangeburg community, but the targeted group today is black males and

Increments of HIV and AIDS among populaces of various landmasses, world areas and nations create in various routes and at various levels. The contamination rates in exceptionally created nations, for example, Europe, Japan, Australia, and in Islamic nations are low, followed in a moment push by North and Latin America. The circumstance in sub-Saharan Africa is more awful. 1.1% of the total populace are contaminated. The rate in North Africa and in Europe comes to 0.3%, however in sub-Saharan Africa to 7.4%. Albeit just 13% of the world's aggregate populace lives in sub-Saharan Africa, 65% surprisingly overall tainted by HIV and 75% of passings brought on by AIDS can be found there. In the year 2003 37% of the populace in Botswana was tainted,

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).

“The Human Immunodeficiency Virus, most commonly known as HIV, is a lentivirus that spreads through bodily fluids and targets specific in cells of the immune system” (CDC). Over time, HIV deteriorates these cells, and consequently leaves the body unable to fight off infections and disease. When this occurs, the HIV infection transgresses into Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, also known as AIDS. AIDS continues to obliterate the immune system and leaves its victims more susceptible to opportunistic illnesses which utilize the body’s weakened state and cause more devastating illnesses. “According to the World Health Organization, HIV/AIDS are ranked as the 6th leading causes of death with a staggering 1.5 million deaths since 2012” (WHO). With this issue becoming an international crisis affecting millions, advocacy about HIV and safe sex has drastically increased around the globe due to humanitarian organizations, and increased awareness about the disease.

Global health issues are diverse in different parts of the world in America it is obesity, in countries such as Indonesia there are health issues related to the quality of water, and finally in Africa aids is the health issues. HIV and AIDS has become on the biggest epidemics in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. There has been an estimated 24.7 million people were living with HIV (Shah, A. n.d). The 24.7 million people represent the seventy-one percent of the aids population in the world (Shah, A. n.d).

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”).

Scientists discovered a type of Chimpanzee in Western Africa and identified it as a source of HIV. There is conflicting information about who the was first person to get the HIV infection. Some sources state that it was Gaëtan Dugas, a Canadian flight attendant, (Williams, C. 2011, and interview) however, Internet research shows that the first documented victim of HIV was Robert Rayford. There is agreement between scientists that HIV was transmitted to humans through the blood and meat of chimpanzees which are a common source of meat in parts of Africa. This is how they came into contact with the infected blood. Once the virus had crossed into humans it slowly spread in Africa. Fig.1 shows the process of transmission of HIV through chimps to human. (THE AIDS INSTITUTE, 2014)

South Africa has the largest population of people living with HIV/ AIDS. In 2016, South Africa had an estimated 7.1 million people living with HIV/ AIDS [1]. This epidemic has ripple effects across micro & macro–levels of the economy. HIV/AIDS negatively impacts labor supply, total labor productivity & exports among other economic channels. Given the significant impact this disease has on the economy, this is a top priority for the business community and the government.