HIV and Aids in Sub Saharan Africa

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HIV and Aids in Sub Saharan Africa

Introduction

Sub Saharan Africa has a very serious HIV / AIDS epidemic with

millions of its people living with the disease. It has now become a

human tragedy in many areas of the world, but most affected is sub

Saharan Africa. It is no coincidence that the countries suffering most

with HIV / AIDS are also the poorest. HIV / AIDS is now considered to

be the single most important impediment to social progress to many

countries in Africa .This report will analyse the current situation

using up to date sources from articles, books and the World Wide Web.

UN Millennium development goals

At the start of the new millennium, all 191 UN member states pledged

to meet all the UN Millennium goals by the year 2015. These goals

covered such issues as, poverty, hunger, education, aid, gender

equality, child mortality, pre natal care, environmental

sustainability and HIV / Aids. All UN states have agreed to, "Halt and

begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS."

(http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/). At Present, the HIV prevalence

rates are still rising in sub Saharan Africa. The rate is seven ties

higher in developing countries than it is in developed countries.

Many different schemes are trying to reverse this trend. These schemes

include,â?¦. Oxfam, who work to help ease developing world suffering

believe that the only scheme that will help reduce HIV / AIDS in

developing countries is to cancel world debt.

"Unsustainable debt represents a huge barrier to progress in the fight

against HIV / AIDS. Repayments to creditors by some of the poorest

countries in the world are diverting the resources needed to respond

to current suffering."

(http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/debt_aid/bp25_debt_hivaids.htm)

Oxfam and other similar organisations believe that countries with high

prevalence rates could help them selves to solve the aids epidemic if

they did not have to meet large debt repayments to the developed

world.

Concurring the epidemic

Unfortunately this disease is not easily concurred. The disease is

still today considered to be taboo, making it difficult to talk to

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