AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency, is a deadly virus that kills and damages cells of the body’s immune system. When the immune system is attacked, the body’s ability to fight infections and certain cancers becomes considerably weaker. (Malan, Rian p70) AIDS is caused by the human immune deficiency virus (HIV) and both can be transmitted through sex, contact with contaminated blood, sharing or syringes or needles, and through birth. Africa, unfortunately, is home to the world’s largest number of victims suffering from the AIDS virus. (Malan, Rian p70)
Those experts who immediately began plotting graphs have seen their conclusion come true. Since 1983, when Pait accidentally discovered that AIDS had spread around the globe, AIDS in Africa has grown at a rapid pace year by year. As the epidemic continues to spread, it has had a severe impact on Africa. The virus affects people of all ages throughout the entire continent. It is at the point where AIDS in considered no longer a public health crisis, but rather a mass murderer. (Time Magazine – Death Stalks A Continent – 12 Feb 2001 – Vol, 157 No. 6) Since that first case back in 1983, twenty-five million people have died from the horrific virus, three and a half million of them children under fifteen. (Time Magazine) Currently, it is estimated that twenty-eight million people are currently living with AIDS in Africa. More than half of them will die. The twenty-eight million people who live with AIDS in Africa are three-fourths of the AIDS cases reported globally. In 2001 alone, the virus infected an estimated three and a half million people. (AIDSandAfrica.com) That is roughly 9340 people infected a day or one person every twenty-six seconds. (Time Magazine) AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa, with statistics showing that roughly 6,000 Africans die each day. (Royal, Leslie & Alleyne, Sonia – Black Enterprise, October 2001, Vol. 32, p166).
The Essay on Hiv And Aids Virus People Cells
In 2001, 5 million people around the world were infected with HIV. By the end of 2001, there were 3 million AIDS deaths. There are currently estimated to be 50 million people living with HIV/AIDS, with 25 million lives lost by the effects of the infection. This epidemic is shattering, crippling and a very serious problem to the world. It has taken a massive number of lives, and is set to take ...
About 13 million children have been orphaned by AIDS in Africa. (Time Magazine) Those who have lost family are usually children under the age of 12 and must find ways to survive despite their dire poverty. (Time Magazine) AIDS itself as the disease, is not only the major killer of people. Many who have AIDS do not seek help for fear of fellow villagers discovering their problem and murdering them. AIDS infected individuals have two options. They can either to let fellow neighbors know of their disease, seek treatment, and risk being alienated from their families and friends or even being killed, or they can keep their condition secret and die a slow, painful death. Even if they seek treatment, chances are they will receive none.
In America, AIDS is no longer considered deadly because of the vast technological and medical advances we are fortunate to posses. There are many research projects underway in order to help find a cure for AIDS. There are few treatments that hinder the inevitable fate, however these beneficial treatments can be found only in industrialized countries such as America. However, this is not the case in Africa. HIV infected Africans are rarely treated and usually die with a few months of infection because of the unaffordable prices pharmaceutical companies are putting on their therapeutic drugs. These obstacles make the prevention and cure of AIDS in Africa nearly impossible. Many scholars speculate that the AIDS epidemic is so severe now that twenty-five million more will soon die (Time Magazine), and some experts have made comparisons to the bubonic plague. (AIDSandAfrica.com) The U.S. Census Bureau projects that AIDS deaths means that by 2010, Africa will have 71 million fewer people than it would otherwise. (Royal, Leslie & Alleyne, Sonia) If this deadly epidemic does not decline, then it could lead to the downfall of the second largest continent in the world.
The Essay on Aids In Africa Black Death
... be replaced by AIDS raging through Africa. One reason that the Black Death may have been confined to approximately twenty million murders and the ... not enough to stop devastating plagues. In the time of the Black Death, any health care was scarce and what you found wasn't ...
Not only is the AIDS virus horrific for its death rates, but also for the effect it has had on many countries economies. AIDS related deaths reduce the skilled labor force and cause a shortage of workers. Studies show that by the year 2005, urban based sectors in Africa will lose an average of thirty percent of their employees to AIDS. (Royal, Leslie & Alleyne, Sonia) AIDS is also expected to use up seventy-five percent of the nation’s health budget. (Royal, Leslie & Alleyne, Sonia) Currently, AIDS is now the main reason for workers to be leaving their jobs. Companies throughout Africa are losing workers and money to AIDS, which is making a big impact on the economy.
The international community has had mixed reaction to the epidemic in Africa. It has become such a crisis in Africa, that it is one of the chief concerns of the United States’. (Malan, Rian p70) They believe that by the year 2010, Africa will be consisted of entirely of forty million orphans that will cause chaos and anarchy because they have no education. (Malan, Rian p70)
The only way to improve this problem is to invest time and money. However, African nations spend very little in AIDS awareness programs and most of their money comes from other industrialized nations such as the United States. The World Bank has been sending three billion US dollars to Africa every year to fund basic prevention programs. (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) Many efforts have been made to send aid to Africa. Harvard professor, Jeffrey Sachs, made a plea during a panel discussion organized by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) on “the health issue in Africa.” (AIDS Weekly, 5 May 2001 p20) In his remarks, Sachs emphasized that Africa could not handle its health crisis alone. Offering an example of the continent’s limited ability to cope, he noted that Rwanda has one doctor per 65,000 people. “We cannot call that a health system,” he said. “We have to call this a global tragedy of the first order that has not been addressed by the international community and cannot be addressed by Africa itself.” (AIDS Weekly, p20) Recently, the World Bank has decided to also up the three billion dollars given annually to three and a half billion dollars.
The Research paper on Hiv Aid Aids Africa Economy
... Policy on AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa Strengths of Current Policyo 15 billion dollars of aid over 5 ... and the larger the strain on the strained health system. All this further strains the economy, scares ... a whole has lost millions of able body workers that have held the economic burden. Lose of ... responsible by the United Nations and must invest in education and prevention of AIDS. The US shall ...
