AIDS IN AFRICA
The conflict of ordinary African people against HIV and AIDS in Africa has taken a long time to get appropriate media attention is the reason I have selected this topic as one of my issue for project.
Africa’s first official case of AIDS was reported in 1982. However, Avert, an international AIDS charity based in the United Kingdom, cites past studies that suggest cases of AIDS in Africa as early as the 1960s. The disease reached epidemic levels in Africa in the 1980s and continued to spread in the years that followed. Transmission of the disease was especially rapid in the area of East Africa around Lake Victoria.
Since the earliest reported cases in the 1980s, AIDS has been a global epidemic. Nowhere, however, has the disease been more devastating than in Africa. Although it has only one-eighth of the world’s population, Africa accounts for two-thirds of people infected with AIDS and 75 percent of all deaths from the disease. AIDS has affected all areas of African society and poses serious challenges to what is already one of the poorest regions of the world.
Factors
Research by national and international organizations, including AIDS Action, the World health Organization and the United Nations, have cited a variety of economic, social and cultural factors as contributing to the spread of AIDS across Africa. Those factors include poverty, the low social status of women, prostitution, social biases against condoms and worker migration. Truck drivers and other workers far from their homes and families often patronized prostitutes, contributing to the spread of the disease.
The incidence of HIV infection and AIDS varies across regions of Africa. The rate of infection is much higher in southern Africa than in eastern and western Africa. In South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, an estimated 15 percent to 20 percent of the population is infected with HIV. In Botswana, the infection rate is more than 23 percent. Infection rates exceed 5 percent in East African nations such as Kenya and Uganda. In Nigeria, HIV infection rates are 3 percent. One of Africa’s lowest HIV infection rates is in Senegal, where the rate is estimated to be less than 1 percent. Senegal was one of the first African nations to take aggressive action against the disease.
IT’S IMPACT
Between 1999 and 2000 more people died of AIDS in Africa than in all the wars on the continent, as mentioned by the UN Secretary General, Kofi Anna.
According to the United Nations, AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa. Women account for nearly 60 percent of AIDS cases in Africa. Women and young people ages 15 to 24 are at the greatest risk, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. In addition, many African newborns are infected with the disease because of transmission from HIV-positive mothers. The prevalence of AIDS among adults has devastated the economies of many African nations, with many people missing work because of illness. Deaths among teachers have seriously affected education systems in many African nations.
HIV and AIDS does not only affects the economy of the country but its impact is far more wide. Countries which is heavily affected by AIDS epidemic there is a huge pressure on hospitals and health sector.
As the cases of HIV rises, the strain on hospitals increases. In sub-Saharan Africa people with HIV occupy more than half of the beds. The shortage of bed results in admitting people only in later stages of illness, reducing their chances of recovery. Government-funded research in South Africa has suggested that on average HIV-positive patients stay in hospital four times longer than other patients.
While AIDS is causing an increased demand for health services, large numbers of healthcare professionals are being directly affected by the epidemic. botswana, for example, lost 17% of its healthcare workforce due to AIDS between 1999 and 2005. A study in one region of Zambia found that 40% of midwives were HIV-positive. Healthcare workers are already scarce in most African countries. Excessive workloads, poor pay and migration to richer countries are among the factors contributing to this shortage.
Although the recent increase in the provision of antiretroviral drugs (which significantly delay the progression from HIV to AIDS) has brought hope to many in Africa, it has also put increased strain on healthcare workers. Providing antiretroviral treatment to everyone who needs it requires more time and training than is currently available in most countries.
“She then led me to the kitchen and showed me empty buckets of food and said they had nothing to eat that day just like other days.”
HIV and AIDS can be considered one and a main reason for the prevailing poverty in Africa. A study in South Africa found that poor households coping with members who are sick from HIV or AIDS were reducing spending on necessities even further. The most likely expenses to be cut were clothing (21%), electricity (16%) and other services (9%). Falling incomes forced about 6% of households to reduce the amount they spent on food and almost half of households reported having insufficient food at times.
AIDS affects different segments of society in different ways. For example, children may have to care for an ill parent. Schooling may suffer as a result. Other times, children become orphans as parents succumb to AIDS. If they are lucky, children may have grandparents or relatives to help who then face the burden of raising many children.
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Over 60 percent of those infected with HIV/AIDS in Africa are women. The high rates of female infection can be traced to social practices that assume male dominance in sexual relationships; thus, even if women know the risk of unprotected sex, they are often unable to do anything about it. Of the upwards of 15 million orphaned children worldwide who have lost their parents to AIDS, about 12 million are in sub-Saharan Africa. Over two million sub-Saharan African children are living with HIV, equating to 85 percent of all HIV-positive children globally. The majority of these children were infected by their mothers during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding.
As projections of the number of AIDS orphans rise, some have called for an increase in institutional care for children. However this solution is not only expensive but also detrimental to the children. Institutionalisation stores up problems for society, which is ill equipped to cope with an influx of young adults who have not been socialised in the community in which they have to live. There are other alternatives available. One example is the approach developed by church groups in Zimbabwe, in which community members are recruited to visit orphans in their homes, where they live either with foster parents, grandparents or other relatives, or in child-headed households.
“Without education, AIDS will continue its rampant spread. With AIDS out of control, education will be out of reach.” Peter Piot, Director of UNAIDS.
The relationship between AIDS and education centre is circular – as the epidemic worsens, the education sector is damaged, which in turn is likely to increase the incidence of HIV transmission. There are numerous ways in which AIDS can affect education, but equally there are many ways in which education can help the fight against AIDS. The extent to which schools and other education institutions are able to continue functioning will influence how well societies eventually recover from the epidemic.
A decline in school enrolment is one of the most visible effects of the epidemic. This in itself will have an effect on HIV prevention, as a good, basic education ranks among the most effective and cost-effective means of preventing HIV.
There are numerous barriers to school attendance in Africa. Children may be removed from school to care for parents or family members, or they may themselves be living with HIV. Many are unable to afford school fees and other such expenses – this is particularly a problem among children who have lost their parents to AIDS, who often struggle to generate income.
Studies have suggested that young people with little or no education may be around twice as likely to contract HIV as those who have completed primary education. In this context, the devastating effect that AIDS is having on school enrolment is a big concern. In Swaziland and the Central African Republic, it was reported that school enrolment fell by 25-30% due to AIDS at the beginning of the millennium.
HIV and AIDS are having a devastating effect on the already inadequate supply of teachers in African countries; for example, a study in South Africa found that 21% of teachers aged 25-34 were living with HIV.
Teachers who are affected by HIV and AIDS are likely to take periods of time off work. Those with sick families may also take time off to attend funerals or to care for sick or dying relatives, and further absenteeism may result from the psychological effects of the epidemic.
The illness or death of teachers is especially devastating in rural areas where schools depend heavily on one or two teachers. Moreover, skilled teachers are not easily replaced. The impact of AIDS in Tanzania for example means that in 2006 it was estimated that around 45,000 additional teachers were needed to make up for those who had died or left work because of HIV and AIDS. The greatest proportion of staff that have been lost, according to the Tanzania Teacher’s Union, were experienced staff between the ages of 41 and 50.
HIV and AIDS dramatically affect labour, setting back economic and social progress. The vast majority of people living with HIV in Africa are between the ages of 15 and 49 – in the prime of their working lives.
A study in several Southern African countries has estimated that the combined impact of AIDS-related absenteeism, productivity declines, health-care expenditures, and recruitment and training expenses could cut profits by at least 6-8%. Another study of a thousand companies in Southern Africa found that 9% had suffered a significant negative impact due to AIDS. In areas that have been hit hardest by the epidemic, it found that up to 40% of companies reported that HIV and AIDS were having a negative effect on profits.
Some companies, though, have implemented successful programmes to deal with the epidemic. An example is the gold-mining industry in South Africa. The gold mines attract thousands of workers, often from poor and remote regions. Most live in hostels, separated from their families. As a result a thriving sex industry operates around many mines and HIV is common. In recent years, mining companies have been working with a number of organisations to implement prevention programmes for the miners. These have included mass distribution of condoms, medical care and treatment for sexually transmited diseases and awareness campaigns. Some mining companies have started to replace all-male hostels with accommodation for families, in order to reduce the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Life expectancy at birth in Swaziland is just 31 years – less than half of what it would be without AIDS.
In many countries of sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS is erasing decades of progress in extending life expectancy. In the worst affected countries, average life expectancy has fallen by twenty years because of the epidemic.
The impact that AIDS has had on average life expectancy is partly attributed to child mortality, as increasing numbers of babies are born with HIV infections acquired from their mothers. The biggest increase in deaths, however, has been among adults aged between 20 and 49 years. This group now accounts for 60% of all deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 20% between 1985 and 1990, when the epidemic was in its early stages. By affecting this age group so heavily, AIDS is hitting adults in their most economically productive years and removing the very people who could be responding to the crisis.
The impact that AIDS has had on the economies of African countries is difficult to measure.
Through its impacts on the labour force, households and enterprises, AIDS has played a significant role in the reversal of human development in Africa. One aspect of this development reversal has been the damage that the epidemic has done to the economy, which, in turn, has made it more difficult for countries to respond to the crisis.
One way in which AIDS affects the economy is by reducing the labour supply through increased mortality and illness. Amongst those who are able to work, productivity is likely to decline as a result of HIV-related illness. Government income also declines, as tax revenues fall and governments are pressured to increase their spending to deal with the expanding HIV epidemic.
The abilities of African countries to diversify their industrial base, expand exports and attract foreign investment are integral to economic progress in the region. By making labour more expensive and reducing profits, AIDS limits the ability of African countries to attract industries that depend on low-cost labour and makes investments in African businesses less desirable.
The people of sub-Saharan Africa will continue to feel the effects of HIV and AIDS for many years to come.
As access to treatment is slowly expanded throughout the continent, millions of lives are being extended and hope is being given to people who previously had none. Unfortunately though, the majority of people in need of treatment are still not receiving it, and campaigns to prevent new infections (which must remain the central focus of the fight against AIDS) are lacking in many areas.
The impact of AIDS in Africa is linked to many other problems, such as poverty and poor public infrastructures. Efforts to fight the epidemic must take these realities into account, and look at ways in which the general development of Africa can progress. As the evidence discussed in this page makes clear, however, AIDS is acting a serious barrier to Africa’s development. Much wider access to HIV prevention, treatment and care services is urgently needed.
A PIECE FROM – ‘COZAY – THROUGH THEIR EYES.’
ABOUT 15 MILLION HIV/AIDS ORPHANS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Life was simple and beautiful in the villages of Africa. Children, Grandparents, Parents, Uncles and Aunts all lived together peacefully in extended family systems. While mothers and fathers are in the farm working, Grandparents remain at home taking care of their grandchildren. While the children play in the sand, grandparents mostly sit quietly under trees nearby sometimes with friends and watch their grandchildren play. While fathers clear thick bushes making way for new farms, mothers mostly gather foodstuffs to be brought home. Such was life in African villages. However, war, diseases, extreme poverty and famine have brought to Africa an entirely new concept. Most children are left alone in this cruel world with no parents, no grandparents, no siblings, and no blood relatives at all to take care of them. Most children have lost their parents to the deadly HIV/AIDS. Others have lost their parents to war and their grandparents, to extreme poverty.
Children have lost their parents. Parents have lost their children and the poor grandparents have lost their sons and daughters to war, poverty and to the deadly HIV/AIDS. Grandparents love and protect their grandchildren but grandparents do not have the strength to clear thick bushes and make new farms so with the parents gone (dead), the grandparents with their grandchildren are left with nothing but extreme poverty and hunger.
The number of orphans and street children continue to rise in Africa.
HIV AND POVERTY HAVE THE FACES OF WOMEN AND
CHILDREN
POVERTY IN AFRICA: FACTS – HUNGER AND HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA
“As a consequence of the AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa,” one report stated, “it is estimated that more than 18 million people have died to date, of which over 3 million were children. Additionally, more than 25 million adults are currently infected which will result in the continued increase in the number of orphaned children. To date, more than 15 million children have already been orphaned as a result of the epidemic. Another 1 million children are currently infected with the disease.”
“As a consequence of the AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa,” one report stated, “it is estimated that more than 18 million people have died to date, of which over 3 million were children. Additionally, more than 25 million adults are currently infected which will result in the continued increase in the number of orphaned children. To date, more than 15 million children have already been orphaned as a result of the epidemic. Another 1 million children are currently infected with the disease.”
For some African leaders, AIDS has not only been a national epidemic, but a source of personal grief as well. In 1987, Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda announced that his son, Masuzyo, had died of AIDS. In 2005, AIDS claimed the life of Makgatho Mandela, the son of former South African President Nelson Mandela.
Prevention/Solution
African governments and international organizations were slow to respond to the spread of AIDS. Corruption, as well as wars and stagnant economies, hampered the ability of African governments to respond to the epidemic. Meanwhile, international organizations such as the World Health Organization did not consider AIDS to be Africa’s top public health concern. In more recent years, however, most African nations have developed national strategies and policies to deal with the disease. Estimates by the United Nations and WHO in 2007 suggest that the prevalence of AIDS in Africa has stabilized. Some countries have even shown declining infection rates.
Content Tags: aids in africa, HIV/AIDS is having a devastating effect on the already inadequate supply of teachers in african countries; for example a study in south Africa found that 21% of teachers aged 25-34 were living with HIV ( UNAIDS 2006)