Benefits of American Aid to AIDS Patients in Third World Countries in Africa - Essay Example

Task: Benefits of American Aid to AIDS Patients in third world Countries in Africa HIV/Aids is a pandemic due to the high number of people affected by the disease globally. The number of people who lose their lives due to HIV/Aids related complications is also high. This is the reason why the disease needs to be controlled. Although the disease has affected the whole world since its discovery in 1981, it is serious in third world countries mostly in Africa. This affects the development process within such countries. As such, most of the developed nations are giving aid to African nations to fight the HIV/Aids scourge. America has been on the forefront in helping the African countries fight the disease. This paper will discuss the benefits of American aid for AIDS patients in third world countries that are mostly in Africa (Dentzer 1). Over the past century, there has been a gradual shift in the global attitude towards reducing the suffering in the poor countries. Many governments in the developed countries have come to realize that international assistance is appropriate. The developed nations often have the means to help the poor countries. This may be relatively simple for them, yet it brings tremendous benefit to the people in need (Dentzer 1). The help that the developed nations give address a number of issues such as famine, natural disasters such as floods, and the aid sometimes stretches to problems such as terrorist invasions. However, this paper will focus on the health aid that the African developing countries benefit from, especially with respect to HIV/Aids (Dentzer 1). World wide, AIDS has killed more than 22 million people, and the number of orphans that are there due to the disease is more than 13 million. According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/Aids, UNAIDS, approximately 36 million people are currently infected with HIV, and an average of 16,000 new infections are occurring daily (Harris & Siplon1). The Sub-Saharan region accounts for only 10 percent of the world’s population, however, the HIV/Aids prevalence rate in the region accounts for about 80 percent of HIV/Aids infections in the whole world. This is a high proportion of infectivity thus the need to curb illness in the Sub-Saharan area (Harris & Siplon, 1). With these statistics in place, there is the necessity to look at two issues. Educating people on how they can prevent new infections and focus on care that people that are already infected need to get. These statistics are the reason why most of the developed nations are coming out to help third world countries. Countries in the Southern part of Africa, such as Zimbabwe and South Africa are some of the most affected (Condoleeza 1). The rates of infection are also high in countries that are in the Eastern part of Africa such as Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Countries in the central part of Africa are affected by this epidemic (Condoleeza 1). One of the reasons why the rate of infection among the African countries is high is due to poverty. It is thus hard for populace to have access to health facilities. There are standard charges that one needs to pay at the hospitals upon visitation, and poor people will find it hard to part with the fee that needs to be paid (Condoleeza 1). With such a problem in place, the infections will continue. The rates of infection are high among couples, and this is due to ignorance that people have. If people are infected, they are probably not aware of it because the resources to visit the health care centers for primary care are not there. In the situation where they are aware of their HIV status, they are traumatized by the revelation a factor that makes it hard to disclose these findings to their partners. There is also a lot of stigmatization that is associated with the disease. There are very few people in Africa that will probably come out in the open and admit that they are HIV positive. This is unlike the western nations where there is transparency on issues surrounding the ailment. This is the reason why organizations that originate from developed nations, especially America are coming up to help combat the disease in the African countries. Africans have benefited immensely from the support that they are getting from the American nations. First, there is the financial aid that the countries get to cater for the opportunistic infections that are common when one has the HIV virus (Addis Ababa 1). According to the daily monitor, the US government through the President’s Emergency plan is providing $199 million to fight HIV/Aids in Ethiopia. This money was directed towards various programs for the treatment of HIV/Aids. This money will be of great use to the Ethiopians who could not access treatment for the opportunistic infections (Addis Ababa 1). HIV/Aids is not curable, but there is the anti-retroviral therapy that prolongs life. The World Health Organizations that has its main offices in the United States proposed an initiative known as the 3 by 5 initiative. Their goal was to a significant proportion of infected persons by 2005. This initiative has been beneficial to most African countries that are getting a significant number of people under the anti-retroviral therapy (Solman 1). The drugs used by patients within anti retroviral therapy are helpful in reducing the severity of the disease. They enable the people that have the virus to carry on with their daily activities like any other person. With the discovery of they are infected by the virus, most of the people in Africa are so much affected that their lives almost come to a stand still. However, with the introduction of the anti-retroviral therapy by global organizations, the patients have benefitted in that they are able to go in with their lives while they are still feeling healthy. The HIV/Aids patients that are in Africa have benefitted a great deal from they ant retroviral therapy. There has been the conception of a more effectual and integrated health system in Africa, and this has been due to support from some NGO’s that originates in America. This health care system is integrated into hospitals, and some of them are individual systems that deal with HIV/Aids related complications. Almost every health center and hospital in Africa has a wing or department that deals with problems related with HIV/Aids. There is counseling before testing for the HIV/Aids virus and other kinds of support that are given after the test. Earlier, these services were in the Voluntary Counseling and Testing centers that were available in most parts of the country. The people that went to these centers were minimal due to the stigma. However, with the introduction of counseling and testing services in the regular hospitals, the number of people that are tested has increased. This has helped I early diagnosis of the disease and more people get enrolled for treatment. Individual doctors from America give help to the African countries. One of them Dr. Paul Farmer has been in Rwanda, collaborating with the Clinton Initiative, to design a health machinery that provides treatment for most of the diseases that are related to HIV/Aids. Third world countries get the benefit from the services that are offered by the doctor, but above all, there are community rallies during which the treatment is given, all the people that are affected by the disease converge, and the stigma related with the disease diminishes (Solman 1). The people that are affected benefit since acceptance and fighting of the stigma related with the disease is the initial step of living positively with HIV. Hence, a person can live longer with the disease. If the stigma and denial that is associated with the disease is done away with, the HIV patients are able to live longer since they can now talk openly about the disease and take better care of themselves. This will result into reduced costs of medication by their families of the people that are infected. The US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has been on the forefront in the fight against HIV/Aids. They have set up a variety of programs all over Africa that deal with HIV/Aids related problems. There is testing and the issuing of the anti retroviral therapy. Apart from that, they also follow up on their patients to ensure that they go for clinic and take medicine regularly. This ensures that those that have the disease are under proper treatment. The CDC centers are also located on almost every part in the countries where they are located, these includes the remote areas that have limited facilities (Mbom 1). This is beneficial to the people that live there since they are now able to access the medical facilities that they need. HIV/Aids spread is rampant among the poor people in Africa, this group of people find it hard to afford their daily needs, thus the access to medical care is harder. Therefore, if the virus affects a person, they may not be aware of it since when they fall ill they tend to self medicate. Within such a time, a person may carry on with their lives normally including their sex life thus leading to the spread of the disease among other people. If the enrolment in the Anti retroviral therapy is not done early enough, the rate of advancement of the virus to full-blown Aids is fast, leading to more deaths (Mbom). However, with the spread of CDC operations in most parts of the country, more people are aware of their HIV status early enough, seek treatment, and addressing their health needs. The County director of CDC Cameroon, Dr. Pratima Raghunathan said that their unit in Mutengene (Tiko subdivision), would reinforce the efforts in the prevention of HIV/Aids (Mbom).They were also to look at the anti retroviral therapy and come up with ways that could ensure that more of the people that are infected enrolled for the therapy. This would benefit the people in the surrounding community who would have better access to the treatment in case they needed it. The CDC in Cameroon was also going to work together with the community in ensuring that the spread of the virus was under control (Mbom). The groups that were at risk of contracting the virus were sought out and early diagnosis and treatment of the virus was INTIATED. They also availed a lot of information on the spread of the disease, something that most people in the developing countries did not know. There was also the creation of some community projects that were organized by the CDC, these programs occupied people and at the same time helped them generate some income (Mbom). These programs were created to divert the people that were pitiable from engaging in activities that could probably put them at risk of contracting the virus. Most of the people in these countries are unemployed, and to be able to survive, they sometimes engage in activities such as prostitution and drug trafficking in order to get the basic needs, something that puts them into a lot of risk of contracting the disease. These activities occupy the people and, therefore, the risk of infection reduces. The availability of the life prolonging drugs that taken under the anti retroviral therapy means that the infected find it hard to access them. This is due to the cost factor; the second lines of the drugs that are more costly. Therefore, the poor persons find it hard to afford them. The problem of generic antiretroviral drugs is also evident. The developing countries have gotten some benefits in relation to this problem (Weissman). In 2001, Bill Clinton confirmed the commitment that he had towards the availability of HIV/AIDS drugs. He established the William J. Clinton foundation, which worked to increase access to HIV treatment by negotiating pricing deals with the drug manufacturers and enhancement of care in the developing countries. These negotiations, together with others that done by the WHO and other aid groups led to the reduction in prices of drugs for Africa and other poor regions. This benefitted most of the African nations where people were finding it hard to access the life prolonging drugs. Importing policies from the United States were analyzed to ensure that most African countries could introduce the drugs needed (Weissman 1). Because of the help received from the global organizations. The sub-Saharan Africa has seen an improvement, there is a 20 percent rise in the people undergoing treatment between 2009 and 2010 (BBC World News). In conclusion, HIV/AIDS is one of the issues that make Africa as a continent lag behind in development. However, with the help that developing countries receive from the United States and other global organizations, the situation is better since there is hope for improvement in addressing HIV/Aids in the developing countries in Africa. Works Cited BBC News. Aids-related deaths down 21% from peak, says UNAids. BBC News. 2011. Web. 21 November 2011 Dentzer, Susan. PBS: International AIDS Conference: Battling the Aids Epidemic. ONLINE NEWSHOUR. 2011. Web. 21 November 2011 Harris, Paul. & Siplon, Patricia. International Obligation and Human Health: Evolving Policy Responses to HIV/Aids. Ethics and International Affairs, Volume 15.2 (Fall, 2001). Mbom, Francis. Centre for Disease Control to Boost HIV/Aids Prevention. All Africa. 6 March 2006. Web. 21 November 2011 Rice, Condoleeza. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. U.S. Department of State. 2005. Web. 21 November. Solman, Paul. Aids Epidemic Still Spreading. PBS Newshour. 2005. Web. 21 November 2011 Weissman, Robert. AIDS and Developing Countries: Democratizing Access. 1999. Web. 21 November 2011. Read More