...September 2011 Aids/HIV in Africa September 15, 2011 the AIDS support organization (TASO) appealed to the government to introduce affirmative action on poverty reduction for people living with HIV/AIDS. They attempted to have to government put people with HIV/AIDS into special poverty reduction programs. Last year alone the TASO center registered 1,788 new clients with 1,160 of them female, and they provided to 9,150 individuals. Also by the end of last year about 140,000 people were on anti-retroviral therapy (ARV). About 20,000 of these were children born with HIV. Children were only offered support in areas of scholastic materials and children were encouraged to enroll in UPE and USE schools. The case of Africa having so many people infected with HIV/AIDS is a very sad and heart breaking number. I think that governments should also help these victims with programs made just for them to help support all of the medical treatment that is needed to care for an AIDS victim. This is also saddening because this could happen anywhere even the US which means that other countries should be pitching in to help these people and find a solution to this or even a cure for HIV/AIDS. More importantly the children should be helped above anyone else. Being born with AIDS wasn’t their fault and I think they should out, of anyone else with AIDS should be put into a program just for children that help them endure HIV/AIDS. Lastly these people are very strong for living with AIDS and not doing...
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... the largest metropolitan area in the continent of Africa. The population of the main metropolitan area is 1,907,229 ( WorldBook encycl.130). Johannesburg is also one of the world richest gold fields. Despite these positive aspects, Johannesburg is a city with a dismal future, because it is suffering from one of the world's worst AIDS epidemics. Every Saturday, nearby cemeteries are busy with the arrival of people who have died from AIDS. Funeral directors state that about 30 or 40 people are buried every week, as a result of AIDS. It is said that in South Africa, one of every ten people has AIDS. Some 17 million people in Africa have died representing almost 80% of AIDS deaths world wide. This is the equivalent of the combined populations of New York City and Los Angeles (www.Time/2001/aidsafrica). There is a conspiracy of silence fueling the spread of HIV in South Africa. Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa, and has one of the fastest growing infection rates AIDS is now South Africa's leading cause of death. Last year it accounted for 40% of all deaths between the ages of 15 and 49 (US.news2.yimg.com). By the year 2010, HIV prevalence in adults is projected to reach 25% of the total population. South Africa is projected to have the highest AIDS death rate until 2015. At that point, the population will have decreased to the point that the death rate will no longer be as high as in other areas. South Africa has a population close to 40 million people - an estimated...
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...AIDS in South Africa Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS is the most deadly disease known to man. More than 25 million people have died of AIDS worldwide since the first cases were reported in 1981 and 33.4 million are currently living with HIV/AIDS. According to Advert, an international HIV and AIDS charity, almost 70% of the people in the world who are infected with AIDS live in Sub Saharan Africa. And in Sub Saharan Africa, South Africa is believed to have more people with HIV/AIDS than any other country in the world. Yet with all of this, the greatest tragedy yet may be the ignorance of AIDS. The large majority of Africans believe strongly that you can get rid of AIDS one of two ways; showering after intercourse with an infected person or having intercourse with a virgin. The latter is a major cause in the number of rapes that take place in Africa, especially child rapes. Even the current president of South Africa, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, is not exempt from this statistic. In December of 2005 he was charged with the rape of a woman who he knew to be HIV positive, in an interview he stated that he took a shower afterward to reduce the chance of infection. What is even more shocking about this is that Zuma, at the time was also the head of the National AIDS Council for South Africa. The groundbreaking article released at the end of 2002 by the Medical Research Council of South Africa, the “Impact of HIV/Aids on adult mortality in South Africa” report is the first...
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...foreign aid to Africa African continent has struggled with chronic poverty and under-development. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been given to African governments. More billions were lent to these same governments. Countless tons of food have inundated the continent, and swarms of consultants, experts, and administrator have descended to solve Africa’s problems. However the state of development in Africa is no better today than it was when all this started. Per capita income, for most of Africa, is either stagnant or declining. For this debate analysis I will address the different types of aids foreign nations give to African countries. I will also discuss the debate of the advantages and disadvantages of the provision of foreign aid to Africa. In the end I will provide a conclusion on what I think should be done. Over the past 6o years at least $1 trillion of development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Yet real per capita income today is lower than it was in the 1970s, and more than 50% of the population over 350 million people live on less than a dollar a day, a figure that has nearly doubled in two decades. Food aid is the source of the international aid system, although it represents only a small proportion of total aid. With the help of international emergency response, famines and other natural and human-made disasters no longer kill in the numbers they used to prior to the 1980s. Development aid is another...
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...Andrej Not all human-beings are as fortunate as others. People all over Africa are suffering from famine and dying from it. One country in particular stands above all the rest looking back in history. Ethiopia, formerly known as Abyssinia in 3000 BC, when it became the first African nation, has hit its bottom and cannot get any worse. Famine, hunger, fear, and hopelessness are all emotions running through the average Ethiopian. The latest string of famine to strike was not to long ago. From 1983 to 1986, nearly 1.5 million Ethiopians died of starvation. That was the culmination of nearly two decades of famine that claimed more than seven million lives. Ethiopia was not the only African country to suffer from famine during these two decades. From around 1970 to 1987, all of northeastern Africa had gone through periods of drought. In the neighboring countries of Ethiopia, many other millions of lives were claimed, including the countries of Sudan, Chad, Yemen, and Somalia. Fortunately during this period of time, in these countries, farmers were able to produce enough crops to relieve some of the hunger and starvation. Everything in their power was done to help save the lives of others, and they even stored grain in case of future droughts. In Ethiopia, many other factors prevented the people from preparing...
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...AIDS is the deadliest sexually transmitted disease known to mankind. It is estimated that approximately 30 million people worldwide are living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or AIDS (Perloff, 2001). AIDS is ranked in severity to The Black Death that devastated Europe in the 14th century, and everyday an estimated 16,000 people are infected with this terrible disease (Perloff, 2001). In terms of prevalence, The United State of America is home to 1.4 million (or 4% of the global population) people living with AIDS, versus Africa, which is home to 22.7 million (or 68% of the global population) living with AIDS. The total population estimated to be living with AIDS is 33 million people, and out of those 33 million, 2 million die each year (Aids and hiv, 2010). The only way to overcome this horrific disease is to spread awareness on how to protect yourself and prevent the transmission of spreading AIDS. The three sources I found pertaining to the AIDS epidemic in Africa were an article by Desmond Cohen, an official government website, aids.gov, and a print source titled Encyclopedia of medical anthropology: health and illness in the world's cultures. Desmond Cohen is a reliable source because he was the director of HIV and development program as well as now being the senior advisor on HIV and development. The website I used is an official government website and is managed by the U.S. department of health and human services. Lastly, the Encyclopedia of medical anthropology:...
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...HIV&AIDS, TB, and malaria in Africa Jack Saint Mary University Introduction Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, which are extremely serious diseases, kill millions of people every year. Most of the deaths are found in developing countries, especially in Africa. Vietor K. Barbiero (2006) reports that during 2005 alone, approximately 2.8 million people died from HIV/AIDS in Africa, half a million Africans is killed by TB, and close to 900,000 Africans are killed by malaria every year (p.6-7). Three of the most serious contagious diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria) have significant impact on healthcare, economy, and education in Africa. HIV leads to AIDS. According to AVERing HIV&AIDS (2010), HIV is a kind of virus that damages immune system cells step by step. As a result, the body becomes weaker and weaker and becomes more susceptible to contagions. AIDS will evolve when HIV destroys the immune system enough (Para.3). AVERing HIV&AIDS also reports that AIDS is a “medical condition”. A person is believed to have AIDS when his or her immune system becomes too feeble to repel contagions (para.1). HIV/AIDS in Africa HIV/AIDS is one of the most serious diseases. It alone kills a huge amount of people every year in Africa. For example, Barbiero (2006) reports that although Africa has only 15 percent of the world’s population, 60 out of 100 infected people of HIV/AIDS in the...
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...In Africa, Aids has a woman’s face by Kofi Annan In Africa, there is a combination of AIDS that has been affected people. AIDS has been spreading in huge proportions for not being informed. That is why United Nations is trying now focusing on trained women to confront AIDS. It is usually that women are the economic foundation of rural communities. Women seem to be more responsible and they have power and knowledge to make the correct decision which is going to protect her family and society. Studies show in this article, it proves that women do not play a central role because they are fully involved with the benefits, health, better fed, and savings of the families. In the case of the man is not present, the woman takes control of the house and now she has been recognized to have the properties when the man dies. However, countries like Africa are still having some old machismos traditions. Sometimes, girls have taken out of school and put it on the farm or house to work. This is not fair because once they focused all her life in house duties, education seems be far away of their dreams. In addition, it is proved that once the woman is in charge of the health and against AIDS, the percentage of infections has been decreasing. I agree with Kofi Annan. Women tend to be more worry about their families and put themselves as a second place. There is no price to see your family suffer, they are able to put themselves in order to see their families succeed. It will take time to see...
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...The Direct and Indirect Effects of HIV/AIDS on Children and Youth in Africa Rojish Thomas English 202A June 21, 2012 The Direct and Indirect Effects of HIV/AIDS on Children and Youth in Africa HIV and AIDS are two of the most prevalent illnesses around the world today. HIV, or the human immunodeficiency virus, leads to AIDS, or the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The disease damages a person’s body by destroying the blood cells that work to fight diseases; or in other words, by destroying a person’s immune system (“Basic Information about HIV and AIDS”, 2012). There are many adults all around the world who have acquired and have passed away from this disease. Africa is well known to have the highest rates of HIV/AIDS than any other continent in the whole world. However, not many people realize how much the disease has affected children and youth along with adults. Children and youth in Africa suffer from HIV/AIDS in both direct and indirect manners. The direct effect of HIV/AIDS on children in Africa is the children themselves suffering from the disease. Children and youth indirectly suffer from the diseases as a result of their parents or siblings being diagnosed with AIDS. They then must take care of their family members although the children may be very young; they are even poorer than they were before with their parents unable to work because of the disease; and in many cases they are orphaned and left to fend for themselves and their siblings to find food,...
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...1. IMPACTS OF HIV/AIDS The impacts of HIV/AIDS on poor rural populations are many and intertwined. The impacts can be felt most dramatically in entrenched poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition, in the reduction of the labour force, and in the loss of essential knowledge that is transmitted from generation to generation. And the impacts are felt disproportionately among women. What's more, these same consequences of HIV/AIDS - poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, reduced labour force and loss of knowledge - contribute to making the rural poor more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection. This devastating cycle must be broken, and the agricultural sector has a critical role to play. It is estimated that 42 million people in the world are infected with the HIV virus. Assuming that each HIV/AIDS case directly influences the lives of four other individuals, at least 168 million people are likely to be affected by the epidemic. And approximately 95 percent of them live in develping countries. Food security HIV/AIDS takes its toll on food security in a number of ways. For example: HIV increases fatigue and decreases work productivity, which means less food on the table. In households coping with sick family members, food consumption generally decreases. As adults fall ill, families face increasing medical and health care costs, thus reducing the possibility for them to purchase the food that they can no longer produce. While the number of productive family members decline...
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...co-infection of HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis in Urbanized regions within Sub-Saharan Africa Sistla Sumanth Introduction: Airborne communication of mycobacterium tuberculosis is responsible for the evolution of primary tuberculosis (TB) in immunostable and immunocomprimsed patients (Aaron, et al. 2004). In 1993, the center for disease control classification identified that TB was the defining illness in HIV infected patients, as it is typically the first symptom bearing illness to afflict the patient (Aaron, et al. 2004). TB cases have dramatically increased in the global setting in recent, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, illustrating the sensitivity of HIV infected patients to this co-infection. TB results from a pathogenic infection caused primarily by M. tuberculosis, and seldom Mycobacterium bovis; the infiltration of the bacterium into the respiratory tract leads to the infection of the macrophages and cytotoxic cells debilitating intracellular growth (Aaron, et al. 2004). The risk of HIV infected patients to succumb due to the co-infection of tuberculosis and HIV is twice that of patients only infected with HIV (Aaron, et al. 2004). A 1997 estimate suggests that atleast 10.7million people were co-infected with HIV and M. tuberculosis; more than 30% of TB cases in Africa are also infected with HIV (Aaron, et al. 2004) showing the susceptibility of co-infection in immunocompromised patients. Those living in Sub-Saharan Africa are in greater risk...
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...AIDS: The Modern Black Plague The AIDS epidemic has reached a crisis level in Africa and needs to be addressed by the United States. Efforts to teach the population AIDS prevention, reduce the price of certain medications, and influence the local leaders to teach their citizens about AIDS should be considered by the United States. Along with those efforts, the United States needs to help with the aftermath of the epidemic. In order to fully understand what the United States needs to do to help, we must first realize why the AIDS epidemic has risen to a crisis level in Africa. When the HIV virus matures it turns into what is known as AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). It is a life threatening disease that when contracted is eventually fatal. There are treatments and medications that can help slow the painful symptoms of the disease, but so far research has not found a cure. Since the early 80’s AIDS has become quite a scary issue because of its life-threatening nature. Unlike the common cold or other viruses transmitted through the air, AIDS is only transmitted by sexual contact or by the sharing of needles. AIDS, though a worldwide problem has now climbed to an epidemic level in Africa. CW Henderson, writing for AIDS Weekly, reports that, “70% of the world’s AIDS cases are located in sub-Saharan Africa”(20). Anderson goes on to report that, “The disease kills 6,000 people a day in Africa, has orphaned about 15% of children in the worst-hit cities, and by some...
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...Is Foreign Aid Doing More Harm than Good? Introduction “ Africans…they’re tired. They’re tired of being the subject of everybody’s charity and care. We are grateful, but we know that we can take charge of our own destinies if we have the will to reform them.” – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister of Nigeria (How to help Africa…2008). Influenced by the success of the Marshall Plan for Europe, throughout the last several decades “over one trillion dollars of aid money has gone from the Western world to Africa,” (Griffiths 2010) as an attempt to increase quality of life for those living on the continent. However, as seen in the initial quote above, it is implied that aid has both harmed and benefited African society. In this paper, the views of those who oppose foreign aid and those who support foreign aid in Africa will be discussed. Furthermore, the effect of foreign aid on food and migration challenges in Africa will be examined, as these two issues remain unresolved in the continent. The Benefits of Foreign Aid There is no doubt that foreign aid has provided some benefit to Africa. By the intrinsic nature of aid itself, aid has a tremendous impact on the humanitarian imperative (Griffiths 2010). Through the increase in available medical attention, medical technology, sanitation, and access to schooling, aid has provided an additional 30 million children with schooling since 2000, has had millions immunized from various diseases, and has reduced the lives lost to...
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...Engl-101-93 30 March 2008 An Epidemic in South Africa He’s sitting down on a log with his hands on his face; feeling empty and full of pain. He’s in a small village in South Africa and all he can hear around him is weeping and crying; he and his sister will most likely not attend school anymore. The lifeless corpse being buried is his aunt; he and his younger sister had lived with her, unfortunately she died from HIV. His Mother also died of HIV two weeks before his aunt had passed, and his father abandoned him and his sister. He and his sister are now left with no relatives; fortunately, they will be living with a friend and his mother. This tragic story is just an example of the pain and despair some children have to go through in Africa. This chaos occurs throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Millions of children in Africa everyday are being born with HIV and as a result, many children lose their parents or relatives. Each child knows that their life is limited and eventually they will die sooner or later. Although the HIV epidemic is spreading, some programs like UNAIDS were established to assist the worldwide fight against Aids. Many people have to take medication and live with this burden for the rest of their life. The spread of Aids in Africa has become an epidemic due to its progression and continuous spread despite the help, HIV has affected South Africa society and economy severely, and the epidemic continues to spread in South Africa due to the Governments lack of attention and...
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...Western Drug Companies and the AIDS Epidemic in South Africa In December 1997, the government of South Africa passed a law that authorized two controversial practices. One, called parallel importing, allowed importers in South Africa to purchase drugs from the cheapest source available, regardless of whether the patent holders had given their approval or not. Thus South Africa asserted its right to import “generic versions” of drugs that are still patent protected. The government did this because it claimed to be unable to afford the high cost of medicines that were patent protected. The other practice, called compulsory licensing, permitted the South African government to license local companies to produce cheaper versions of drugs whose patents are held by foreign companies, irrespective of whether the patent holder agreed. The law seemed to be in violation of international agreements to protect property rights, including a World Trade Organization agreement on patents to which South Africa is a signatory. South Africa, however, insisted that the law was necessary given its own health crisis and the high cost of patented medicines. By 1997, South Africa was wrestling with an AIDS crisis of enormous proportions. It was estimated that over 3 million of the country's 45 million people were infected with the virus at the time, more than in any other country. However, although the AIDS epidemic in South Africa was seen as primary reason for the new law, the law itself was applied...
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