Aids Pandemic in Africa

AIDS Pandemic in Africa

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, more commonly known as the AIDS virus, is often said to be a global killer, but the African continent has reached pandemic levels of people who are plagued with this killer virus. Africa constitutes 10% of the world's population, but is home to 90% of all new HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infections with 14 million dead and 24 million infected. The AIDS threat in Africa continues to be the leading cause of death in a country where death surrounds you everywhere you look. I would like to discuss how unsafe sex practices are leading to the downfall of the second largest continent in the world.

AIDS is a major social problem that has major economic repercussions. Nelson Mandella once stated that "AIDS kills those on whom society relies to grow the crops, work in the mines and factories, run the schools and hospitals and govern counties... It creates new pockets of poverty when parents die and children leave school early to support the remaining children." The problem lies deeper than the economic problem that Mr. Mandella stated though, there are many social practices that not only allow the virus to spread, but create a near perfect environment for the virus to multiply and decimate the population. Africa needs to have a major social change before the continent is destroyed by the virus.

The commonness of prostitution in Africa is a big factor that contributes to the rampant spread of the AIDS virus. Countless women in Africa are forced to work as prostitutes due to the economic state that the population is in today. The abnormal social structure of the average African household, such as a husband/ father dying at an early age, have caused the financial stability of the home to be compromised often leaving women and children to fend for themselves. Individuals in this type of situation often turn to prostitution as a way of income for the family. Many women become prostitutes thinking that after a little while they will have enough money made where they won't have to sell themselves anymore, but often find that they never have enough to finally leave the profession behind. Preliminary statistics show that up to half of the sex workers in Africa are HIV positive. Some become infected while working, others may have contracted the disease from their infected husbands, but either way, prostitutes have a grim future that most certainly includes the AIDS virus.

Another factor in the rampant epidemic of the NIH/AIDS virus is the low rate of condom use. Many Africans believe that the request for a condom implies promiscuity and a lack of trust. A common thought among the African community is that wearing a condom is a definite sign of AIDS or disease therefore hurts the chance of intimacy. The lack of access to condoms is one of the most difficult hurdles that the society faces in its struggle with the AIDS virus.

A third factor relating to the spread of AIDS in Africa is the lack of widespread testing and medicine. Of the 24 million infected with HIV, a large number of them do not know that they are infected. The lack of health care dollars in the countries that have the highest rates of people with HIV has made