HIV/Aids and its grip on Africa and the third world

There is a startling amount of people in Africa affected with AIDS or HIV. In Africa, 2/3 of the world's people living with HIV/AIDS are there. However, only 10 percent of the world's population is in this area. This shows how alarming HIV/AIDS is in Africa and how it affects that region like no other. There are many reasons for this and most of it boils down to education.

In Africa, there is simply not enough education about HIV/AIDS. Another alarming statistic are that the educators that are so desperately needed in Africa are dying faster than they can be replaced. These educators are often times dying of AIDS. These educators need to be teaching their student about protection and HIV/AIDS transmission. Without this education, the children of Africa and the adults as well are engaging in unsafe sex that they may not otherwise if they were more educated and given resources to learn about how to prevent AIDS. Many Africans do not have condoms and simply choose not to use them due to ignorance or lack of education.

The access to health care is another serious problem. Although there have been advances made in providing antiretroviral treatment to AIDS/HIV patients, there are still not enough. Less than half the people who need this treatment actually receive it. This leads to millions and millions of painful deaths per year in this region alone due to AIDS. There needs to be more access to the treatment and more people receiving it before there can be a huge affect on helping Africans get a grip on HIV/AIDS.

Because of the amount of people with AIDS, this causes problems with income and earning money for families. Many families have a member with HIV/AIDS who would be working but cannot due to complications from HIV/AIDS and thus they lose out on that income. Often times, as well, there is someone else in the home who may be otherwise earning income but most take care of the ill family member. This contributes to the poverty in Africa as well.

Even the health care workers are dying at an alarming rate. There are many who are lost yearly due to illness or death from HIV/AIDS. This obviously affects the amount of workers who can in turn be helping people with HIV/AIDS. It seems as though it is a scary downward spiral that has gotten out of control. In Africa, it is estimated it costs around 30$ to treat a person with AIDS and yet only about 10$ a year is spent per person. There is simply not enough funds to go around.

AIDS/HIV directly affects the third world and most certainly Africa. More and more people die every day, and it contributes to the poverty level greatly. Parents and spouses who would normally be working often cannot due to illness and complications from HIV/AIDS. Children are often infected as well so sometimes the parent who can work cannot due to taking care of their ill child. It really does affect everyone in Africa in some way or another and usually negatively.

Written by Misty. This is not an official site. More info about this site and what we're trying to do is right here.