AIDS in Africa: Social and Economic Effects - Term Paper Example

AIDS in Africa - Social and Economic Effects Poverty throughout the world is a major issue, one that needs to be addressed by the people present at the helm of affairs and those who can bring about a change in the living standards of the poor folks. Natural calamities and disasters do happen from time to time and it is only usual that companies and industries of sheer huge size and growth levels invest in purchasing materials that are equivalent to their budgets. They all play some part in getting notified of these recurring disasters which are not dependent on anything except God and nature. These happen from time to time and thus cannot be forecasted beforehand. However they can be controlled to quite a fair extent if proper disaster notification devices are installed in the office place. However for the part of the discussion related with this paper, we focus on the social and economic effects that AIDS brings with it for the African continent. AIDS is an on going epidemic within the whole of Africa and this surely is ruining the basis of normal living within the continent. What this guarantees is the fact that coming generations will face a lot of difficulties in the wake of the rising disease and if proper measures are not taken, it will spread in even a much faster manner than is presently the case. AIDS is directly associated with lack of money on the part of the people who have it or within their families who sustain the malady. AIDS awareness programs are only possible when there is a proper check and balance mechanism related to it. If the people are told what potential hazards lie on their head they might get some knowledge about what is going to happen but sadly the same is not happening and the lack of proper information is making them fall flatly as far as the AIDS epidemic is concerned. The dangers related with AIDS and that too in a region where there is absolutely improper arrangement as far as awareness is concerned, raises more and more concerns since the people do not understand the language of the parties which come to make them aware of the perils. Moreover, the people have issues as they think that it is necessary for them to eat twice a day and have shelter and clothing for themselves and epidemics like AIDS and the like can take a backseat. They are not willing to understand since they do not have the most basic of amenities at their disposal. Having said that AIDS education holds a lot of weight in the related context of things and the attention must be put on imparting as much education and knowledge as concerns to AIDS as possible. On the same lines, sending financial help to the African continent holds importance since the people need facilitation and this is only possible with the assistance of donor countries and individuals. But this is not that easy since sending this help in terms of money and goods is an exercise that demands real commitment on the part of the donors and the agencies which are involved. The African people are not aware of the disease and there is a lot of misinformation that exists within them. Some suggest that having intercourse time and again on the part of a person who has AIDS within his blood can make him get rid of it which is a totally baseless and abusive definition of the epidemic itself. Others view that having intercourse with virgins can make them AIDS-free, which again is an obtuse explanation that is given for the removal of AIDS from the body. AIDS is an epidemic that can only be cured if it is detected in the earliest stages and hence the proper treatment holds the key for this individual’s future life. In order to understand the psyche of the people living in the slumps of Africa, we need to research a little bit about their lifestyles and what their thinking ideologies basically are. To start with, we know that these people live in desolated areas where there is lack of shelter, absolutely minimal amount of food and education is at its abysmal self. With that, one cannot expect these individuals to know much about what different epidemics like HIV and AIDS can bring for them, which is nothing short of problems, distress and worries left, right and center. Poverty becomes the single most basic reason which outlines the problem with the African populations. They do not have the much needed resources and financial help which could make them understand what are their needs and requirements, let alone the wants and desires, which remain quite far off from the whole problem. Until and unless the world’s top bodies which govern the very basis of the people comprehend that these people are made poverty free and that they need to be given shelter, clothing and proper food to eat and clean water to drink, they will never be able to come on the same wavelength as the rest of the world is living. They could just throw the issues like spreading of AIDS within Africa if they do not understand what these people need in the most basic sense. Their basic requirements are something that has to be discussed, met with success first and then only one can view some kind of progress happening within the related ranks. Without sufficient help and input from the donor agencies, financial centers, individuals who have the heart to care and donate, we cannot expect much good to happen within Africa and AIDS will continue to hit and make headlines within the lengths and breadths of the poverty ridden African nations. The view of food starved kids roaming around endlessly, dying of hunger and pain is something that all of us witness on the back of a famous magazine or in different clippings on television, but one hardly makes a move to give these people what they really long for. The heart needs to understand the anxieties and problems of these people who do not even know what they want from the mother earth and why they have been sent on this planet by someone they also have no knowledge about. There are around 40,000 cases per year emanating from the African continent when we speak of the AIDS malady. With that, what we find out is the fact that only a fraction of these people detected for life ending disease are operated upon which is such an unfortunate thing which one comes to know about it. The developed nations are doing so much as regards to their infrastructural developments but only if their efforts are turned in the right direction, a direction which would give them more progress in the long run is something that is missed on the part of one and all. It is a fact that all of these lives cannot be saved but then again this does not mean that the efforts should be limited or in some way abandoned so to speak. There must be endeavors on a regular basis which asks for saving as many lives as possible as this will give the African population some hope of understanding their own selves, their lives and what they must do in order to have a good and balanced life, free of perilous disease like AIDS. However all said and done, this does not mean that these people should be left to the mercy of their own luck. They need to be told as to how their lives could be saved and confidence must be restored so that they could share their own selves with the people who want to help and assist them, both in the shorter version of things as well as in the long run. This brings us to the conclusion of the debate related with AIDS and its spread across the African continent. What we fathom is the fact that poverty and lack of awareness are the factors which bring about death and destruction within the ranks of the African populations. The role of the donating agencies, human rights organizations and just about anyone related or unrelated with the events and happenings is immense and adequate arrangements need to be enacted in order to counter the potential problems and what even exist in the present times as well. Society needs to come forward and make its role clear to one and all so that there is encouragement for all concerned and thus these people could get up and do their bit and facilitate the sufferings of the people living in the shabby environments of the African region. One should be sure that his or her little effort could make a change as change has always been a successful step when it is in the form of a collective endeavor. Poverty needs to be brought to an end as far as the poor people of Africa are concerned. They need to be educated about AIDS and more so their valuable lives. BIBLIOGRAPHY Gostin, Lawrence O. (2002). Aids in Africa among Women and Infants: A Human Rights Framework. The Hastings Center Report, Vol. 32 Seckinelgin, Hakan. (2005). A Global Disease and Its Governance: HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Agency of NGOs. Global Governance, Vol. 11 Word Count: 1,519 Read More