Africa: Seriousness of AIDS Virus - Article Example

Africa – Seriousness of AIDS Virus Every year we celebrate World Aids Day on December to ponder over the disease around the world. This year also the day was marked with pledged to do all efforts towards eradicating the menace and taking preventing steps. Africa is one region having the unenviable position of maximum number of such cases, owing to a host of reasons. AIDS i.e. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, comes to us through infection, i.e. we acquire the disease and it starts spreading in our body when the immune system of our body becomes weak. The disease is primarily caused by the HIV virus i.e. the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It was in the year 1982 that the term was first used; while earlier indication of such type of disease was termed as ‘Grid’ i.e. Gay related immune deficiency (BBC, 2006). The disease started from the African region. In the year 1981 the medical fraternity started noticing that a number of patients in the African region are dying from a disease, which they believed must not have been serious enough (CBC News, 2006). The seriousness of the fatal infection became more striking when the disease soon found its way into other countries and first case of AIDS death was reported in Canada in the year 1982. The western world took notice and researches into the symptoms and nature of the infection led to its categorization as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS has spread in the African region rather fast during the period of 1982-1997. During these 15 years (Fig-1). The poorest nations in the Sub-Saharan African region remain the most heavily affected region by HIV. This region accounted for a total of 67 percent of all people living with HIV while 75 percent of the AIDS deaths having taken place in 2007 also happened in this region1. It is affecting people from almost all walks of life be it households, businesses, public services or communities. It is quite apparent from Fig-1 that the grey areas (indicating 0-0.5 percent HIV infection) are quite prevalent in different parts of the African content, but as years passed by and due attention was not paid to take preventive measures, the dark shaded pockets started becoming more common (Guerny, 2000). The dangerous trends are apparent with the reduction of average life expectancy for an average African resident. Data indicates that in Swaziland the average life expectancy has fallen to 37 years. In fact the spread of AIDS virus has been so fast during 1990 to 2007, that the life expectancy was halved during this period2. Increasing number of children getting affected by this epidemic in multiple forms is another worrying part for the region. While many children pick up the virus from their parents and thus become sick for rest of their life, there are scores of others who have lost their parents to this deadly disease. In the sub-Saharan region more than 14 million children are stated to have lost one or both of their parents to AIDS. The Sub-Saharan region, also known as black Africa comprises of countries with many lesser developed nations like Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia, Ghana etc. With least number of resources at their command, these nations are finding it extremely difficult to cope up with the challenges posed by the increasing number of AIDS cases. While many like South Africa, Mauritius, Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya etc. have been able to register indicative growth figures many other like Rwanda, Sierra Leone etc. have been experiencing difficulties on many fronts on account of civil wars as well. This is further eroding the overall growth figures of the Sub-Saharan region. While no country in the African region has escaped from the AIDS virus, the East African region continues to suffer more. Global economic slowdown is also having an impact on the African region. The growth figure in Southern Africa was down from 7 percent in 2007 to 5.2 percent in 2008 (OECD, 2009). Some of the reasons attributed to the spread of the virus in African reason are; Poverty: The African region is one of the most underdeveloped regions of the world. This is reflected in all segments of the society. United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) statistics indicate that most of the Africans are poor. The rural areas of sub-Saharan region in particular have about 60 percent population living below the poverty line (UNECA, 2002). As is evident from the ‘World Economic Forum’s ‘Global Competitiveness Report 2009-10’ while countries like Zimbabwe have registered some improvement in the investment climate, there are many other countries in the region which are yet to tide over the domestic unrest (WEF, 2009). It is under such circumstances that the overall economic situation in the Sub-Saharan region is a mix of conflictions. With poor resources at hand it is very difficult to expect from people that they’d be fully prepared to take on the deadly virus by adopting adequate safety precautions. The UNECA figures indicate that while the economic growth rate has been just below 2 percent in about half of the African region, the human population has actually grown by an average of 3 percent per annum. Conflicts and Disasters: Many countries in the African region have been affected by war and disasters of different kinds. This not only affects the economic condition of the people but has a telling impact on the social welfare and development of the region. Reports have indicated that in the Rwandan capital Kigali, after the 1994 genocide, the aids cases amongst the pregnant women were 24 percent as a result of rape and displacement3. Lack of Awareness: Ignorance amongst the people is another major reason. While the lower levels of literacy is one reason for this ignorance, the lack of infrastructure, unapproachable terrains and some age old customs are also responsible for lack of awareness about AIDS and the protective measures. In fact, some of the surveys came out with startling revelations. For example (The Economist, 2009b); In a study of policemen in Khartoum state in 2005, only 1.9% of those interviewed knew that a condom could protect them against HIV. In a survey of the country’s imams, 27.5% thought that mosquitoes could transmit HIV. While many of them had heard of condoms, only 8.5% “mentioned them as a tool of prevention”. Discrimination: The discrimination amongst male and female gender is another reason which not only results in more number of AID cases amongst the females, but it also results in spreading of the virus in the children during pregnancy (Fig-2). Neglect of the Region by the International Community: Though there is renewed emphasis on assisting the African region in its endeavor to come out of the AIDS epidemic, the years of neglect has started telling on the fate of the region. A report from UNAIDS indicates that due to the continuous neglect of the Africa, this region is bound to see millions of AIDS infected people by the year 2025 (UNAIDS, 2009). The report states that, lessons have not been learnt properly from the last 20 years. In fact, the report appears quite pessimistic in its approach to state that even under the present circumstances, when lot of emphasis is being given on the region, there will not be much improvement in the situation. The report also indicates that the dynamics of virus are not uniform across the African continent. The estimates indicate that in 2003, the average HIV prevalence countries of Southern Africa was 16 percent, in East Africa it was 6 percent, in West and Central Africa 4.5 percent, and in North Africa less than 0.1 percent. It has been pointed out that there are a number of different, overlapping AIDS epidemics in Africa, of differing viral subtypes (UNAIDS, 2009a). In the context of the African region, the report points out that the scenario is being forecast for the region based on two key assumptions; one that AIDS is not a short-term problem and it is bound to impact Africa 20 years from now. Second, the decisions being implemented these days will certainly help the continent in shaping the future. Silver lining has emerged with some reports from UN indicating that there are firm indications pointing towards a decline in the percentage of AIDS infection cases. The WHO and UNAIDS report indicates that the drop is expected to be around 17 percent as compared to the year 2001. What will be of significance for the African region is that the Sub-Saharan region the fall is expected to be around 15 percent which roughly translates to 400,000 fewer African infections in 2008 than in 2001 (The Economist, 2009). Credit for this must go to the international agencies like WHO and UNAIDS together with a number of non-governmental organizations and volunteers from across the world in general and the African region in particular. There are some cases like that of Najun Eldin Muhammad Ahmed, who is an Imam with a Mosque in Sudan, has been actively trying to spread awareness about the deadly disease for many years. He has been instrumental in preparing one of the most effective AIDS support program of Sudan with the help 42 fellow sufferers in Port Sudan on Red Sea (The Economist, 2009a). The state of Kassala, at the border of Ethiopia and Eritrea has reported one of the highest numbers of HIV infection cases, as it falls in the trans-shipment point between the two nations. In order to spread awareness about the disease, particularly amongst the female members of the society, the local government has recruited 13 daias, who educate the female members during Friday prayers. It is quite apparent from the study that, the African region has been one of the least developing regions for a variety of reasons. While problems like poverty are being addressed with financial support from international organizations and other rich nations, warring factions are engaging in negotiations, the AIDS menace is also being given priority by way of providing medical aid and spreading awareness. Though, there are indications of some improvement, but the menace is far from over and it remains to be seen how long it will be before the epidemic proportions are arrested. References: 1. CBC News (2006). A timeline of developments in HIV and AIDS. Available online at http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/aids/timeline.html (Dec 2, 2009) 2. BBC (2006). ‘Timeline: 25 years of HIV/Aids’. Available online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5033810.stm (Dec 2, 2009) 3. Guerny, Jacques du (2000). AIDS and agriculture in Africa: can agricultural policy make a difference? Population Programme Service (SDWP), FAO Women and Population Division. Available online at http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/SUSTDEV/WPdirect/Wpan0048.htm (Dec 2, 2009) 4. OECD (2009). ‘African Economic Outlook (AEO) 2008/9’. Available online at http://www.oecd.org/document/43/0,3343,en_2649_15162846_42719915_1_1_1_1,00.html (Dec 2, 2009) 5. The Economist (2009). ‘AIDS-Turning the screw some more’. The Economist dated Nov 24th 2009. NY 6. The Economist (2009a). ‘Fighting AIDS in Sudan-Imams, tea ladies and condoms’. The Economist Print Edition dated July 2, 2009. NY 7. The Economist (2009b). ‘HIV in young people - Unequally at risk’. The Economist, May 7, 2009. 8. UNAIDS (2009). The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. Available online at http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp (Dec 2, 2009) 9. UNAIDS (2009a). AIDS in Africa-Executive Summary’. Available online at http://www.unaids.org/unaids_resources/images/aidsscenarios/aids-scenarios-2025_section1_en.pdf (Dec 2, 2009) 10. UNECA (2002). Africa’s Population and Development Bulletin. Addis Ababa. Ethiopia. 11. WEF (2009). ‘The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010’. World Economic Forum. Available online at http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%20Competitiveness%20Report/index.htm (Dec 2, 2009) Read More