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AIDS in Africa
Why can’t the HIV virus be controlled?
HIV/AIDS has devastated large parts of Africa, particularly the
40+ countries south of the Sahara desert that collectively make
up the area known as sub-Saharan Africa. To date, some 25 million
Africans have died of the disease, while over 12 million children
have been orphaned. Each year, the HIV virus infects another
3.2 million Africans. (Source: World
Bank Group website). Worldwide, Africans make up 70 percent
of total deaths caused by AIDS.
Unlike North America, where doctors originally named the virus ‘Gay-Related
Immune Deficiency Syndrome’ because they thought it was
solely a disease acquired by homosexuals, in Africa, doctors
are have learned, in Africa and in the rest of the world, that
indeed AIDS is spread primarily by heterosexual intercourse in
Africa.
This said, social and economic factors have hastened the spread
of HIV/AIDS across the African continent. Specific factors that
have immediately increased the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa include:
- High frequency of unprotected sex due to lack of public
education about the disease.
- Extensive use of prostitutes by migrant workers, combined
with a lack of safe sex practices, results in men becoming
infected by prostitutes, and then infecting their wives,
girlfriends, or other sex trade workers.
- The stigma of an HIV/AIDS diagnosis leads people to avoid
being tested.
- The male-dominated nature of African society means it is
often not culturally acceptable for women to question their
husbands’ sexual activities when away from home,
or to ask their husbands to use condoms.
- Widows, orphans, and young woman without extended family
are frequently forced into ‘survivor sex’ for
food and shelter.
- Many African countries go through periods of civil unrest,
making it impossible for governments to provide blood tests
and follow through on other policies to fight HIV/AIDS.
Furthermore, civil wars often produce large numbers of
refugees who spread the virus.
- Spermicides, and similar products used by women to prevent
pregnancy, do not provide protection against HIV/AIDS.
- Lack of knowledge about the virus’ long dormant period
(between seven and ten years) means many people assume
they are safe once they marry.
- Lack of access to the latest antiretroviral drugs which
reduce the rate of HIV transmission from one person to
another, help infected persons live longer, and limit fatalities.
- Infected pregnant women giving birth to an infected child
or passing the virus to them through breastfeeding.
- Widespread poverty and disease make it difficult to convince
people to be vigilant against HIV when they may die young
from malaria, tuberculosis, or other diseases anyway.
A Deadly Combination: AIDS and Poverty
While poverty and malnutrition do not directly cause HIV, a poor
diet makes it harder for the immune system to fight the virus.
The combination of HIV/AIDS and poverty forms a vicious cycle.
Malnutrition leads HIV-infected adults to develop symptoms sooner,
and, at the same time, causes them more difficulty in fighting
off illness. Family income drops as sick adults are unable to
work, and too sick to grow their own food. A large percentage
of the family’s dwindling income is allocated to health
care expenses and funeral costs. Children frequently go hungry,
making them more vulnerable to infections, and the cycle begins
again.
HIV/AIDS in South Africa
Despite its comparatively greater wealth vis-à-vis other
sub-Saharan African countries, HIV/AIDS has exploded in South
Africa. This is largely due to the high levels of migration,
both from poorer countries in Africa to South Africa specifically,
and also within the borders of the country itself. Further, the
legacy of apartheid (a policy of complete separation between
blacks and whites) means that the gap between rich and poor is
greater than in other African countries. Today, the rate of HIV
infections in South Africa has skyrocketed from one percent in
1990 to over 25 percent in 2004.
To learn about the effects of AIDS on South Africa, see the Southern
African Migration Project affiliated with Queen’s
University
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