World Aids Day Report

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.”

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.

When the AIDS and HIV virus crept its way into the human-race, it quickly, and without warning, claimed the lives of millions. Then when its destructive wake had finally been abated, it left behind several untold mysteries. Throughout the course of this class, all the new material we have been exposed to has added some unique piece to the puzzle of the AIDS epidemic. Each puzzle pieces have ranged from speculations on how the AIDS epidemic had begun, to what exactly has the epidemic done. We have also tackled the question and how it forced a change in society. Our newest piece of the puzzle is the documentary “The Age of AIDS,” by William Cran. Although this documentary did not surprise me in its content, it did, however, affirm certain types

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.

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.

AIDS was and continue to be a devastating illness that affected and currently is affecting millions of people worldwide. Throughout the world, AIDS had claimed over thirty-five million lives since it first appeared in 1981. Seventy million people had been infected. As of 2015, nearly forty million across the globe currently live with HIV and AIDS. This devastating disease is dangerous, belonging to both classes of blood born and sexually transmitted diseases. Two documentaries detailing both the scientific aspect and the social and personal effect of AIDS are Frontline's Age of AIDS and How to Survive a Plaque. These two documentaries contain a wealth of information on the diseases HIV and AIDS. Both of these viruses caused a great deal of

If you look at how everything has developed since AIDS was first regarded as s major threat to public health in the beginning of the 1980’s it could be said that a lot of progress has been made. Not in a way where infected individuals around the world get the treatment they need or the developing countries get completely the support necessary, but today the world is closer to that goal than years before. This is important to outline because people tend to forget the progress been made, as they are only searching for a certain ending or result. The final solution to the dilemma between distribution of drugs to all people in need and the costly and continuous research required to find a cure, is not in reach [3].

Within 4 months of developing AIDS, doctors discovered that it could be transferred through sexual intercourse of the same sex. 8 months after that, doctors discovered that AIDS could be transmitted through birth which expelled the blame against homosexuals. “In 1983, scientists discovered the virus that causes AIDS. The virus was at first named HTLV-III/LAV (human T-cell lymphotropic virus-type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus) by an international scientific committee. This name was later changed to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)” (“Where Did HIV Come From?”). During the 1980’s the effects of AIDS did not only pertain to the United States, countries all around the world struggled with the epidemic. One of the countries who suffered the most was Africa; due to the lack of technology and medical advancement it was difficult for their population to protect themselves. “In the mid-1980s the Western African nation of Guinea-Bissau had the world’s highest level of HIV-2, with 26% of paid blood

"Demanding that life near AIDS is an inextricably other reality denies our ability to recreate a sustaining culture and social structures, even as we are daily required to devote such time to the details of the AIDS crisis." -Cindy Patton

Social Services Provided in Sub-Saharan Africa have had a Positive Impact on People Infected and Affected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus

There has been countless conversations over whether AIDS warrants an exceptional response. As such, AIDS is exceptional, but not everywhere. Exceptionalism grew as a Western reaction to a once inadequately understood epidemic but is still relevant in the recent multi-dimensional worldwide response. The attack on AIDS exceptionalism has happened because of the extent of subsidy directed to the disease and the firmness that AIDS activists rank it above other health concerns. The strongest critics of exceptionalism claim that the AIDS response has undercut health structures and systems in developing countries.

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.

Just as clearly, experience shows that the right approaches, applied quickly enough with courage and resolve, can and do result in lower HIV infection rates and less suffering for those affected by the epidemic. An ever-growing AIDS epidemic is not inevitable; yet, unless action against the epidemic is scaled up drastically, the damage already done will seem minor compared with what lies ahead. This may sound dramatic, but it is hard to play down the effects of a disease that stands to kill more than half of the young adults in the countries where it has its firmest hold—most of them before they finish the work of caring for their children or providing for their elderly parents. Already, 18.8 million people around the world have died of AIDS, 3.8 million of them children. Nearly twice that many—34.3 million—are now living with HIV, the virus [9].

The graph shown is the data of all the countries from 1979 to 1990 (first decade). This data also connect to another indicator, which is the government health spending per person. The data from Gapminder of the health spending indicator demonstrates that the government spend less than 50$ US on each person. Maldives, Israel and Luxembourg show a constant change in the amount of people living with HIV, though the amount of GDP per capita for each country increases. This finding also presents the fact that the government of these countries spends more money per person than anywhere in Africa. The graph on the right also shows that the amount of people living with HIV in Bahamas increases while the amount of income per person stay constant, which is similar to the data of Zimbabwe, but the amount of people increasing in the Bahamas in 1979 to 1990 is not as vast as Zimbabwe. The Gapminder data for Bahamas demonstrates that the amount of people affected by HIV in Zimbabwe is 3.6% in 1990. In comparison to Bahamas, the amount of people who are affected by HIV in Zimbabwe is 1000. Around 33% of people in Zimbabwe are found to be HIV-Positive in a year, and they are sexually active. Most individuals have about one to three sexual partners, hence why the amount of people with HIV increases rapidly in Zimbabwe during 1979 to 1990. In comparison to other countries, they have a small amount of people affected by HIV, and that is

Nigeria has over 160 million people and one of the major problems effecting life expectancy is the HIV virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). This is a virus that attacks the human body immune system and destroys the body’s defense mechanism, thereby making it vulnerable to other diseases and virus. Government claims an estimated 300,000 people die yearly of AIDS related diseases annually and over 1.5 million children are made orphans as a result. About 8 million people are expected to have the virus by 2012.Government officials say there has been prevalence in HIV from 1.8% in 1998 to 5.8% in 2001, 5.0% in 2003 and 4.4% in 2005(Nigerian HIV info 2006). Research shows that there are a lot of issues contributing to the rise in HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, poverty and