Sub Saharan Africa Needs example essay topic

AIDS in Africa The AIDS epidemic is rampant in sub-Saharan Africa due to lack of education about the disease in the poor, underdeveloped region. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 70% of the people who became infected with HIV this year. (WHO). Most people in sub-Saharan Africa worry more about their next meal than they do about safe-sex. Poor, uneducated women, adolescents, children, and male workers who travel frequently are at greater risks than anyone else in the region. Health care pales in comparison to the rest of the world as it lacks the personal quality care that many core and semi-periphery regions offer and the advanced medicinal drugs.

Despite the explosion of this immune system debilitator in Africa that is affecting the general health and morale of the public, it is debatable yet as to its affects on the economy. The common theme in the regions hardest-hit countries, lack of protected, safe sex, and education about safe sex is apparent. Studies show that 14 percent of women aged 15-19 in sub-Saharan Africa are having children. This percentage is staggering when compared to the 6 percent in other less developed countries and 3 percent in industrialized nations. (UNAIDS Fact Sheet). Too many of the adolescents engaging in sexual activity are not using protection. over 9 out of 10 never used condoms in those encounters And yet to date, there is no reproductive health education in schools that would prepare girls to avoid early sex or to adopt safer sexual practices.

(UNAIDS Fact Sheet). Not only this, but many young women are having forced sex in which a condom is rarely used. Unwilling sex with an infected partner carries a high risk of HIV infection for girls. (UNAIDS Fact Sheet).

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, nearly a third of young women in a large study reported that they had been forced by their partners into sex. (WHO). When countries are educated about safe-sex, the infection rate goes down. For example, following active condom promotion and education campaigns in school and among youth groups, dramatic declines have been recorded in infection rates among teenagers in Uganda and Tanzania. (UNAIDS Fact Sheet). However, sometimes when the people do use protection, the condoms leak or break due to faulty manufacturer ing.

Some condom makers have been dumping their substandard wares here and Africans have been risking their lives on brittle, leaky or ill-fitting condoms. (McNeil, New York Times). With more care from the manufacturers and education programs promoted by the government, sub-Saharan Africa can lower infection rates. As the demographics show, children born from mothers who have AIDS have the greatest chance of infection.

The children usually become infected during the labor or during breast-feeding. Twenty seven percent of babies born to infected mothers become infected from breastfeeding. (Specter, New York Times). Mothers breastfeed because it is all they have known and formula is much more expensive.

The cost of formula for one child when it's available in Uganda and when there is clean water to mix with it– is on average 1.5 times what a village family earns each year. Not only is formula expensive, but finding fresh water for the formula is very difficult. Much of the water in Africa is very unsanitary and can be lethal. If the baby does not die from AIDS, it will die from other diseases.

In addition to being expensive, formula feeding is time consuming. Formula feeding is popular in many countries that offer support such as day care or babysitting. Many African mothers have to look out for many children and work at the same time for they do not have the money for child care. However, many of infant deaths could be prevented by educating women about formula feeding and sanitizing the water. Unfortunately, many mothers do not want to breast feed as it is an admission that the mother is infected. Sub-Saharan Africa needs more than just education programs, it also needs a better health care system.

Health care standards are very low when compared to the rest of the world. Most African countries have annual budgets of less than $6 per citizen. With 22.5 million people infected with HIV or AIDS, this money amount hardly seems to be enough. People in the sub-Saharan region do not make enough money to afford proper health care.

Zimbabwe for example, allocated $3.68 per person in 1995, while the hospitalization of a privately insured AIDS patient that year coast $18,000. The limited health care also limits the amount of available drugs. new drugs are less readily available than in industrialized world. Likewise, some people do not even know they are infected because the health care system limits the amount of test centers. 90 percent of the African patients probably do not know they are infected because testing is not widely available.

(Altman, New York Times). To control the rapidly spreading disease, the health care system needs improvement. Since the epidemic is not being controlled, many believe the economy thus is affected while others disagree. For instance, the employees who are infected with HIV or AIDS take a lot of time and money for proper care. it is estimated that a worker with AIDS costs a business in southern Africa around US$200 a year in lost productivity, treatment, benefits, and replacement training. (UNAIDS Fact Sheet). Many companies are losing workers to the AIDS epidemic and, as a result, losing money.

The Botswana Meat Commission, which slaughters the countries beef, it's second-biggest export after diamonds, was losing $268 per employee, or 8 percent of profits. (UNAIDS Fact Sheet). However, the economic results are not always negative. Most of African companies do not rely on skilled labor for employees. Rather, many industries in Africa rely on cheap, unskilled labor from the almost limitless pools of the unemployed.

(UNAIDS Fact Sheet). The effect of the epidemic will not greatly affect the businesses. On the other hand, it will greatly affect the economic stability of a family. Poor families are devastated even by a child's death, because the cost of medicine and a funeral often means they have to eat less (UNAIDS Fact Sheet).

Sub-Saharan Africa will continue to get worse before it gets better. The governments of many nations are coming up with health care plans that better serve the needs of the many afflicted people. Many countries such as South Africa are modeling their new health care plans after the United States. South Africa's public health program will switch to a managed care-style system next year. (Oscular Surgery News). More importantly than health care, funding for education in schools is desperately needed.

Children, especially young adults, need to be educated about the danger of promiscuous and unprotected sex. Many children are not aware of their options. Many are concerned about living day to day. Education programs need to be instigated so that children know that there is hope and that they can start the beginning of the prevention of AIDS.