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The Impact of AIDS on the People of Africa
From food shortages,
to a generation of AIDS orphans
Unlike in North America, where it is primarily a health issue,
HIV/AIDS has had a devastating impact on Africa’s human
and economic development. The disease has killed millions of
young adults in their peak productive years, decimating the workforce
in many countries. The following statistics illustrate the devastating
impact of HIV/AIDS:
- In Botswana, average life expectancy has dropped from 69
to 44 years due to AIDS. Over one-third of the population
is infected with HIV.
- Seven teachers die each week from AIDS in the Ivory Coast.
- 95 percent of people with HIV/AIDS are in the developing
world, but only seven percent of people who needed medical
treatment were able to obtain it in 2003.
- A 2000 World Bank Study predicts Zimbabwe and Zambia will
see a 30 percent drop in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by
2010 due to the impact of HIV/AIDS (Source AIDS in Developing
Countries, p. 15 ).
- In 2000, a World Bank economist predicted the Gross Domestic
Product in a typical sub-Saharan country would be 67 percent
less than otherwise in twenty years due to HIV (Source:
AIDS in developing countries, p. 15).
- The financial impact of dealing with AIDS – from lost
income to expensive funeral costs – means many African
families frequently cannot afford to send their children
to school.
- Companies are reluctant to spend money training young people,
since the prevalence of HIV means those firms might not
see a return on their investments over the longer term.
- There is a serious shortage of medical staff, both greater
numbers of medical personnel are becoming infected with
HIV, and because staff are emigrating to other countries
to escape HIV/AIDS. In Uganda, the mortality rate among
doctors from HIV/AIDS is 30 percent.
AIDS and Agriculture
Agriculture is Africa’s most important industry. Not only
do agricultural products make up 20 percent of exports, but a
strong agricultural industry is needed to feed the local population
in rural areas. Many villagers grow their own staple crops and
vegetables and sell food to local markets. Overall, up to 80
percent of Southern Africa’s population depends on small
scale, subsistence agriculture (Source: UNAIDS
Website ).
The HIV/AIDS epidemic has seriously damaged Africa’s agriculture
industry:
- The high rate of HIV/AIDS among adults aged 15 to 49 means
the pool of agricultural labourers is shrinking. By 2020,
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
predicts that Mozambique will have lost 20 percent of its
total agricultural labour force to HIV/AIDS.
- Many families with member who have HIV/AIDS are cutting
back on crop cultivation and growing fewer types of crops.
- Many African families are becoming impoverished, because
individual members are afflicted with HIV/AIDS and are
too sick to grow enough food to feed themselves.
- Knowledge about farming is not being passed to younger generations.
Orphans and Infected Children: The Impact of AIDS on Future Generations
of African Children
Over 11 million African children are AIDS orphans (Source: the
Avert.org website ). Strong kinship ties and relatively low life
expectancies (62 years of age before the AIDS epidemic hit )
mean extended family members are accustomed to caring for orphaned
children. A steady increase in the number of adults who are dying
from AIDS, adds to this growing problem. In this regard, it
is not uncommon to find an elderly woman caring for several orphaned
grandchildren, after losing all her adult children to AIDS.
Furthermore, the devastating impact of AIDS on many communities
in Africa means that local governments often do not have either
the human or financial capital to care for these children either.
Some orphaned children live alone; others are forced onto the
streets and wind up trading sex for food and shelter.
On a practical level, the rising number of AIDS orphans means that
millions of children are growing up without learning the agricultural
skills they need to work the land. For example, they are not
being taught how to rotate crops in order to cope with emergencies
such as drought and floods. Eventually, this could lead to serious
food shortages. To prevent this, the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization is experimenting with ways to teach
farming skills to orphans.
In addition to AIDS orphans, approximately three million children
under the age of 15 are HIV positive. Most contracted the HIV
virus through their mothers, who were infected with the virus.
Many of these children eventually die from common childhood diseases – diseases
their weakened immune systems are simply unable to fight.
AIDS and African Women
sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where women
are infected at a higher rate than men (approximately 12 to 13
women for every ten men). There are several reasons why African
women have been harder hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic:
- Women are more biologically prone to contracting sexually
transmitted diseases, such as the HIV virus.
- There is no device that woman can use to protect themselves
from infection. Instead, they must rely on the man to wear
a condom.
- Women and young girls who are unable to support themselves
financially (often because their parents or spouses have
died from AIDS) are more likely to be forced into ‘survivor
sex,’ trading sex for food and shelter.
- Women and young girls are more likely to be pulled out of
school to help care for sick family members.
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