Death and Disease in Africa
There is one disturbing topic that this paper will cover, but many possible
solutions to the problem which will be discussed. The topic is the AIDS epidemic in
Africa, and what they can learn from other countries to try to control the rapid spread of
AIDS. This paper will offer a few solutions one might find may (or may not) work to
help Africa?s peril.
Africa has a total fertility rate (TFR) of 5.2 children per woman, a problem that is
not likely to go away anytime soon. In comparison the largest country in the world,
China, has a TFR of only 1.8 largely because of their one-child policy and educational
programs. Could imposing fertility rates in Africa not only curb the massive population
growth they will have in the next 50 years, but also possibly reduce the AIDS population?
We will see this discussed below. I decided to write about this topic when we did a
Geocism exercise for this Economics of Population class. We had to randomly select two
countries/continents, and project their population for the next 50 years. In this exercise,
Africa and China were compared, because China has the world?s largest population, and I
wanted to see what kind of competition in growth they might see in Africa. With the
large proportion of people living with AIDS there, thus resulting in a low life expectancy,
I never thought I would see that I found.
Starting in the year 2000, China?s numbers looked like this:
TFR=1.8
Life Expectancy: 71
Migration Rate: -90000
Population Projection for year 2050: 1,372,838,000
Africa looked like this:
TFR=5.2
Life Expectancy: 54
Migration Rate= -222000
Population projection for year 2050: 2, 459,742,000
These numbers are absolutely astounding! ...
... middle of paper ...
...ftware Foundation, Inc (Virginia Tech, 1994).
McGeary, Johanna. Death Stalks A Continent,
http://www.time.com/time/2001/aidsinafrica/cover.html, 10/22/01.
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Population Reference Bureau, Data Sheet 2,
http://www.prb.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Other_reports/2000-2002/sheet2.html,
10/20/2001
Population Reference Bureau, Data Sheet 3,
http://www.prb.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Other_reports/2000-2002/sheet3.html,
10/20/2001
Scotese, Carol. Does Government Enforcement of Fertility Control Promote
Sustainability?, http://www.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/pop-chi.html, 10/21/2001
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A link that describes the malaria issues facing Africa currently. Malaria, along with sleeping sickness had a profound effect on the history of Africa during the Imperialist era. Specifically, this website advertises Roll Back Malaria which is an international mission to increase and hopefully help prevent future malaria epidemics.
The good news is that if we act with urgency, we have a great chance to impact the lives of millions of Africans for the better. It seems obvious that, according to Kofi Annan's essay, the best way to do this is by targeting the women of Africa. Through the use of AIDS education, new drought-resistant crops, and international resources it is possible to reduce the spread of AIDS and, in turn, help to lower starvation rates.
Although the sub-Saharan region accounts for just 10% of the world’s population, 67% (22.5 million) of the 33.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS in 1998 were residents of one of the 34 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, and of all AIDS deaths since the epidemic started, 83% have occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (Gilks, 1999, p. 180). Among children under age 15 living with HIV/AIDS, 90% live in sub-Saharan Africa as do 95% of all AIDS orphans. In several of the 34 sub-Saharan nations, 1 out of every 4 adults is HIV-positive (UNAIDS, 1998, p. 1). Taxing low-income countries with health care systems inadequate to handle the burden of non-AIDS related illnesses, AIDS has devastated many of the sub-Saharan African economies. The impact of AIDS on the region is such that it is now affecting demographics - changing mortality and fertility rates, reducing lifespan, and ultimately affecting population growth.
According to the CDC, almost 1.1 million people in the United States have HIV, yet almost 20% of those people are unaware that they are living with the condition (CDC, 2013c). When the HIV broke out almost 30 years ago in the United States, the number of new cases in a year was 130,000. Now, each year the new number of cases being presented is approximately 50,000 (CDC, 2013c). In locations like Sub-Saharan Africa, the statistics are higher. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) states, “In 2011, an estimated 23.5 million people living with HIV resided in sub-Saharan Africa, representing 69% of the global HIV burden” (UNAIDS, 2012). The World Health Organization (WHO) reinforces this point by saying, “Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region [of HIV], with nearly 1 in every 20 adults living with HIV. Sixty nine per cent of all people living with HIV are living in this region” (WHO, 2013a). The statistics of infected people living in the United States is alarming but there are other countries, like Africa, which have higher rates of HIV due to very limited
According to WHO in 2007, “more than 95% of HIV cases are in developing countries, with two-thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa. “ In addition, there were 2.1 million deaths related to HIV and 2.5 million...
Statistics have been show a frightening increase in AIDS/HIV cases. As of the year 2012, South Africa has had the most cases of HIV/AIDS coming to a total of 6,070,800 ("Country Comparison :: HIV/AIDS”). This is a huge contributing factor to this conspira...
...astructure and sturdy economy. In many countries across Africa do get aid from other countries and have seen a slight improvement in there economies going from having fifty percent of the population in poverty to recently changing to forty seven percent (___). This show that with help Africa’s struggle against poverty will improve. Poverty in Africa also causes many other problems that are form from not having money. Poverty in needs to be one of the most important worries they have in Africa. Countries must assist Sub-Saharan Africa to help it conquer its struggle with poverty.
A senior health fellow, Lyndon Haviland, is referenced by Smith. Haviland gives potential solutions to Africa’s high birthrate. Some of these solutions include investing in education for girls, giving access to modern contraception, improving healthcare, and convincing Africans that their children will live.
AIDS, or the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome has been one of the most threatening diseases of the 20th century. Ever since it has been discovered in 1981, it has been constantly infecting men, women, adults, newly born children, homosexuals and heterosexuals. In definition AIDS is an extremely serious disorder that results from severe damage to the body’s defense against disease. Even though AIDS was born in an era of sophisticated medical and surgical developments, it still remains incurable. The ways through which the HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, can be transmitted are: blood transfusion, contaminated needles used in drug addiction, from an infected husband to his wife through sexual intercourse, or from an infected mother to her new born baby during pregnancy. Because it is that much spread and so far incurable, AIDS has aroused a lot hysterical fears and a number of controversies and ethical questions related to the patient’s rights, doctor’s rights and the right of the public at large. While some people think that AIDS patients should be isolated in quarantines, alienated from the rest of the world, others find no reason in this harsh form of separation and discrimination against the infected patients. The patients must also have the right to lead a normal life that must be respected by all the public, and government too. Although AIDS is not more contagious than any other disease, its patients are suffering both social and medical discrimination, and that is not only unethical but could also cause an increase in the spread of the disease. The fact that AIDS is no more contagious than any other disease, makes the reasons behind the people’s fear of AIDS totally illogical. All people are thinking of is that it’s a deadly virus, but there is a lot more to know about AIDS than this. People must be more educated about this virus and how it may be transmitted in order to protect themselves and avoid their constant paranoia about AIDS patients. AIDS, unlike many diseases, is not transmitted by shaking hands, or through coughs, or by swimming in the same pool with an HIV positive. It has also been proven that even the exposure to body fluids such as saliva through deep kissing wouldn’t transmit the virus. This is because the HIV is found to be very weak in open air; it can easily be killed by ordinary household disinfectants (Kelly 33-34).
HIV is a virus that can be sexually transmitted, obtained through hypodermic needles or contaminated blood transfusions, or passed on from mother to child through pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding. It starts off with flu-like symptoms, then it interferes with the immune system, making people prone to illnesses. Their immune system becomes very vulnerable. Sadly, there is no cure for HIV. Research shows that HIV originated in Africa; however, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was not recognized until 1981. HIV is a source of heavy castigation and it causes economic problems as well, especially count...
To decrease HIV transmission and to minimise the impact of the epidemic, on children, young people and families, through the growing effectiveness of national action to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the East of Asia and the Pacific regions. They aim to provide practical support and aid at community level, encouraging the full engament of people affected by HIV/AIDS.
The AIDS virus is the most common disease, and with no cure, an infected person will die. It is estimated that 90 to 95 percent of AIDS infections occur in developing countries where the world’s worst living conditions exist.
The data shows that Africa’s growth rate is exceeding all other continental growth rates and her economic growth rates are high as well. In fact, Africa is the third fasted growing region in the world trailing East Asia and the Middle East. Africa’s high population growth rates definitely helped spur economic growth rates but so did increasing commodity ...
Perspective published by UNCTAD in 1998, “Africa …. failed to adjust to a more hostile external environment characterized by terms-of-trade deterioration, sharp increases in international interest...
...ile the pandemic will absolutely leverage the rate of financial development, structural alterations are furthermore expected to be one of the prime economic hallmarks of the AIDS pandemic (Arndt 427-449). The effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic can be visualized by the overwhelming change in mortality rate of South Africans. The yearly number of mortalities from HIV increased distinctly between the years 1997, when about 316,559 people died, and 2006 when an estimated 607,184 people died ("HIV AIDS IN SOUTH AFRICA"). Those who are currently assuming the burden of the increase in mortality rate are adolescents and young adults. Virtually one-in-three females of ages 25-29, and over 25% of males aged 30-34, are currently living with HIV in South Africa (UNAIDS). The good news, thanks to better supply of ARV treatment, is that life-expectancy has risen vastly since 2005.