HIV/AIDS in Africa: Difference between revisions
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A tiny minority of scientists dispute the theory that HIV causes AIDS, and some have suggested various non-infectious causes. These theories have gained a certain amount of popularity on the Internet. However, the vast majority of scientists agree that the evidence that HIV causes AIDS is abundant and conclusive. The global response to HIV and AIDS has improved considerably in recent years. Funding comes from many sources, the largest of which are the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the US initiative known as PEPFAR. |
A tiny minority of scientists dispute the theory that HIV causes AIDS, and some have suggested various non-infectious causes. These theories have gained a certain amount of popularity on the Internet. However, the vast majority of scientists agree that the evidence that HIV causes AIDS is abundant and conclusive. The global response to HIV and AIDS has improved considerably in recent years. Funding comes from many sources, the largest of which are the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the US initiative known as PEPFAR. |
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==Causes |
==Causes== |
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Several factors contribute to the spread of HIV. For one, a stigma is attached to admitting to HIV infection and to using condoms. As well, many deny that HIV causes AIDS. [[Thabo Mbeki]], former President of [[South Africa]], and [[Robert Mugabe]], current President of [[Zimbabwe]], have both suggested AIDS stems from poverty rather than HIV infection. |
Several factors contribute to the spread of HIV. For one, a stigma is attached to admitting to HIV infection and to using condoms. As well, many deny that HIV causes AIDS. [[Thabo Mbeki]], former President of [[South Africa]], and [[Robert Mugabe]], current President of [[Zimbabwe]], have both suggested AIDS stems from poverty rather than HIV infection. And finally, many myths are attached to the use of condoms, such as the ideas that a conspiracy wants to limit the growth of the African population and that condoms stifle the traditional power of the man in his community.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} |
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Many myths are also attached to the use of condoms, such as the ideas that a conspiracy wants to limit the growth of the African population and that condoms stifle the traditional power of the man in his community.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}. These suspicions though are very real for Africans who have been exposed to medical experimentation since colonialism and after colonialsm.[[Project Coast]] is one such case where unethical experimentation occured on African peoples. In Harriet Washington's book, [[Medical Apartheid]], she delineates historical incidents where well known experiements have been conducted on African people in relation to reproductive health issues, particulay in the testing of contraception like[[birth control]] and [[IUD]]<ref> Washington, Harriet. Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present , Anchor books, New York pp 300-330</ref>. |
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Lack of money is an obvious challenge, although a great deal of aid is distributed throughout developing countries with high HIV/AIDS rates. Response to the epidemic is also hampered by lack of infrastructure, corruption within both donor agencies and government agencies, foreign donors not coordinating with local government, and misguided resources. African countries are also still fighting against the unfair practices in the pharmaceutical industry. For African countries with advances medical facilities, patents on many drugs have hindered the ability to make low cost alternatives <ref>Susan Hunter, "Black Death: AIDS in Africa" , Palrave Macmillan 2003 chapter 2</ref>. [[VaxGen]], a California company has come up with the most advanced vaccine called [[AIDSVAX]] but this has only been found effective in the Asian And Black populations, thus funding for further research for this has been lacking since money cant be obtained from poor African governments, and once it is made, it would not be able to be made, the costs would be prohibitive to poor Asian and Africans <ref>Susan Hunter, "Black Death: AIDS in Africa" , Palrave Macmillan 2003 chapter 2</ref>. ref> Washington, Harriet. Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present , Anchor books, New York pp 300-330</ref>.South African and American scientist recently came up with an AIDS gel that is 40% effective in women at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in durabn, South Africa. This has been called groundbreaking and will soon be made available to Africans<ref>http://www.sagoodnews.co.za/health_and_hiv_aids/new_aids_gel_could_protect_women_from_hiv.html</ref>.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69Q10L20101027</ref> |
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Lack of money is an obvious challenge, although a great deal of aid is distributed throughout developing countries with high HIV/AIDS rates. Response to the epidemic is also hampered by lack of infrastructure, corruption within both donor agencies and government agencies, foreign donors not coordinating with local government, and misguided resources. |
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Natural disasters and conflict are also a major challenge, as the resulting economic problems people face can drive many young women and girls into patterns of sex work in order to ensure their livelihood or that of their family, or else to obtain safe passage, food, shelter or other resources.<ref name="ODIhiv">Samuels, Fiona (2009) [http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=2645&title=hiv-aids-emergencies HIV and emergencies: one size does not fit all], London: Overseas Development Institute</ref> Emergencies can also lead to new patterns of sex work, for instance, in [[Mozambique]] the influx of humanitarian workers and transporters, such as truck drivers, can cause sex workers to move to the area.<ref name="ODIhiv" /> In northern [[Kenya]], for instance, drought has led to a decrease in clients for sex workers and the result is sex workers are less able to resist clients' refusal to wear condoms.<ref name="ODIhiv" /> |
Natural disasters and conflict are also a major challenge, as the resulting economic problems people face can drive many young women and girls into patterns of sex work in order to ensure their livelihood or that of their family, or else to obtain safe passage, food, shelter or other resources.<ref name="ODIhiv">Samuels, Fiona (2009) [http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=2645&title=hiv-aids-emergencies HIV and emergencies: one size does not fit all], London: Overseas Development Institute</ref> Emergencies can also lead to new patterns of sex work, for instance, in [[Mozambique]] the influx of humanitarian workers and transporters, such as truck drivers, can cause sex workers to move to the area.<ref name="ODIhiv" /> In northern [[Kenya]], for instance, drought has led to a decrease in clients for sex workers and the result is sex workers are less able to resist clients' refusal to wear condoms.<ref name="ODIhiv" /> |
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Revision as of 02:31, 1 November 2010
HIV/AIDS is a major public health concern and cause of death in Africa. Although Africa is inhabited by just over 14.7% of the world's population, it is estimated to have more than 88% of people living with HIV and 92% of all AIDS deaths in 2007.[1]
Overview
| World region | Adult HIV prevalence (ages 15–49) |
Total HIV cases |
AIDS deaths in 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 6.1% | 24.5m | 2.0m |
| Worldwide | 1.0% | 38.6m | 2.8m |
| North America | 0.55% | 1.3m | 27,000 |
| Western Europe | 0.3% | 5.8m | 12,000 |
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has predicted outcomes for the region to the year 2025. These range from a plateau and eventual decline in deaths beginning around 2012 to a catastrophic continual growth in the death rate with potentially 90 million cases of infection.
Without the kind of health care and medicines (such as antiretrovirals) that are available in developed countries, large numbers of people in Africa will develop full-blown AIDS. They will not only be unable to work, but will also require significant medical care. This will likely cause a collapse of economies and societies.
In an article titled "Death Stalks A Continent," Johanna McGeary attempts to describe the severity of the issue. “Society's fittest, not its frailest, are the ones who die – adults spirited away, leaving the old and the children behind. You cannot define risk groups: everyone who is sexually active is at risk. Babies too, [are] unwittingly infected by mothers. Barely a single family remains untouched. Most do not know how or when they caught the virus, many never know they have it, many who do know don't tell anyone as they lie dying.” [5]
History
Although many governments in sub-Saharan Africa denied that there was a problem for years, they have now begun to work toward solutions.
Health spending in Africa has never been adequate, either before or after independence. The health care systems inherited from colonial powers were oriented toward curative treatment rather than preventative programs. Strong prevention programs are the cornerstone of effective national responses to AIDS, and the required changes in the health sector have presented huge challenges. A tiny minority of scientists dispute the theory that HIV causes AIDS, and some have suggested various non-infectious causes. These theories have gained a certain amount of popularity on the Internet. However, the vast majority of scientists agree that the evidence that HIV causes AIDS is abundant and conclusive. The global response to HIV and AIDS has improved considerably in recent years. Funding comes from many sources, the largest of which are the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the US initiative known as PEPFAR.
Causes
Several factors contribute to the spread of HIV. For one, a stigma is attached to admitting to HIV infection and to using condoms. As well, many deny that HIV causes AIDS. Thabo Mbeki, former President of South Africa, and Robert Mugabe, current President of Zimbabwe, have both suggested AIDS stems from poverty rather than HIV infection. And finally, many myths are attached to the use of condoms, such as the ideas that a conspiracy wants to limit the growth of the African population and that condoms stifle the traditional power of the man in his community.[citation needed]
Lack of money is an obvious challenge, although a great deal of aid is distributed throughout developing countries with high HIV/AIDS rates. Response to the epidemic is also hampered by lack of infrastructure, corruption within both donor agencies and government agencies, foreign donors not coordinating with local government, and misguided resources.
Natural disasters and conflict are also a major challenge, as the resulting economic problems people face can drive many young women and girls into patterns of sex work in order to ensure their livelihood or that of their family, or else to obtain safe passage, food, shelter or other resources.[6] Emergencies can also lead to new patterns of sex work, for instance, in Mozambique the influx of humanitarian workers and transporters, such as truck drivers, can cause sex workers to move to the area.[6] In northern Kenya, for instance, drought has led to a decrease in clients for sex workers and the result is sex workers are less able to resist clients' refusal to wear condoms.[6]
Measurement
Prevalence measures include everyone living with HIV and AIDS, and present a delayed representation of the epidemic by aggregating the HIV infections of many years. Incidence, in contrast, measures the number of new infections, usually over the previous year. There is no practical, reliable way to assess incidence in sub-Saharan Africa. Prevalence in 15–24 year old pregnant women attending antenatal clinics is sometimes used as an approximation. The test done to measure prevalence is a serosurvey in which blood is tested for the presence of HIV.
Health units that conduct serosurveys rarely operate in remote rural communities and the data collected also does not measure people who seek alternate healthcare. And extrapolating national data from antenatal surveys relies on assumptions which may not hold across all regions and at different stages in an epidemic.
Recent national population or household-based surveys, collecting data from both sexes, pregnant and non-pregnant women and rural and urban areas, have adjusted the recorded national prevalence levels for several countries in Africa and elsewhere. These, too, are not perfect: people may not participate in household surveys because they fear they may be HIV positive and do not want to know their test results. Household surveys also exclude migrant labourers, who are a high risk group.
Thus, there may be significant disparities between official figures and actual HIV prevalence in some countries.
A minority of scientists claim that as many as 40% of HIV infections in African adults may be caused by unsafe medical practices rather than by sexual activity.[7] The World Health Organization states that about 2.5% of AIDS infections in sub-Saharan Africa are caused by unsafe medical injection practices and the "overwhelming majority" by unprotected sex.[8]
Regional analysis
East-central Africa
In this article, East and central Africa consists of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, the Congo Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia and Eritrea on the Horn of Africa. In 1982, Uganda was the first state in the region to declare HIV cases. This was followed by Kenya in 1984 and Tanzania in 1985.
| Country | Adult prevalence | Total HIV | Deaths 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanzania | 8.8% | 1,500,000 | 160,000 |
| Kenya | 6.7% | 1,100,000 | 150,000 |
| Congo | 4.9% | 80,000 | 9,700 |
| Congo DR | 4.2% | 1,000,000 | 100,000 |
| Uganda | 4.1% | 450,000 | 78,000 |
| Eritrea | 2.7% | 55,000 | 6,300 |
| Ethiopia | 0.2%* | 140,000 | 2,000 |
HIV in East-central Africa[9]
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Some areas of East Africa are beginning to show substantial declines in the prevalence of HIV infection. In the early 1990s, 13% of Ugandan residents were HIV positive; This has now dropped to 4.1% by the end of 2003. Evidence may suggest that the tide may also be turning in Kenya: prevalence fell from 13.6% in 1997–1998 to 9.4% in 2002. Data from Ethiopia and Burundi are also hopeful. HIV prevalence levels still remain high, however, and it is too early to claim that these are permanent reversals in these countries' epidemics.
Most governments in the region established AIDS education programmes in the mid-1980s in partnership with the World Health Organization and international NGOs. These programmes commonly taught the 'ABC strategy' of HIV prevention, which is a combination of abstinence, sexual fidelity to one's partner, and condom use. The efforts of these educational campaigns appear now to be bearing fruit. In Uganda, awareness of AIDS is demonstrated to be over 99% and more than three in five Ugandans can cite two or more preventative practices. Youths are also delaying the age at which sexual intercourse first occurs.
There are no non-human vectors of HIV infection. The spread of the epidemic across this region is closely linked to the migration of labour from rural areas to urban centres, which generally have a higher prevalence of HIV. Labourers commonly picked up HIV in the towns and cities, spreading it to the countryside when they visited their home. Empirical evidence brings into sharp relief the connection between road and rail networks and the spread of HIV. Long distance truck drivers have been identified as a group with the high-risk behaviour of sleeping with prostitutes and a tendency to spread the infection along trade routes in the region. Infection rates of up to 33% were observed in this group in the late 1980s in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
West Africa
For the purposes of this discussion, Western Africa shall include the coastal countries of Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Nigeria and the landlocked states of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
| Country | Adult prevalence | Total HIV | Deaths 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameroon | 15.9% | 100,000 | 82,000 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 7.1% | 750,000 | 65,000 |
| Liberia | 5.9% | 100,000 | 72,000 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 3.8% | 32,000 | 2,700 |
| Togo | 3.2% | 110,000 | 9,100 |
| Nigeria | 2.5% | 3,600,000 | 310,000 |
| Gambia | 2.4% | 20,000 | 1,300 |
| Burkina Faso | 2.0% | 150,000 | 12,000 |
| Ghana | 1.9% | 260,000 | 21,000 |
| Benin | 1.8% | 87,000 | 9,600 |
| Mali | 1.7% | 130,000 | 11,000 |
| Sierra Leone | 1.6% | 48,000 | 4,600 |
| Guinea | 1.5% | 85,000 | 7,100 |
| Niger | 1.1% | 79,000 | 7,600 |
| Senegal | 0.8% | 44,000 | 3,500 |
| Mauritania | 0.7% | 12,000 | <1,000 |
The region has generally high levels of infection of both HIV-1 and HIV-2. The onset of the HIV epidemic in West Africa began in 1985 with reported cases in Côte d'Ivoire, Benin and Mali. Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal and Liberia followed in 1986. Sierra Leone, Togo and Niger in 1987; Mauritiana in 1988; The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea in 1989; and finally Cape Verde in 1990.
HIV prevalence in West Africa is lowest in Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania and highest in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, and Nigeria. Nigeria has the second largest number of people living with HIV in Africa after South Africa, although the infection rate (number of patients relative to the entire population) based upon Nigeria's estimated population is much lower, generally believed to be well under 7%, as opposed to South Africa's which is well into the double-digits (nearer 30%).
The main driver of infection in the region is commercial sex. In the Ghanaian capital Accra, for example, 80% of HIV infections in young men had been acquired from women who sell sex. In Niger, the adult national HIV prevalence was 1% in 2003, yet surveys of sex workers in different regions found a HIV infection rate of between 9 and 38%.
Southern Africa
In the mid-1980s, HIV and AIDS were virtually unheard of in Southern Africa - it is now the worst-affected region in the world. Of the eleven southern African countries - Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Madagascar- at least six estimate an infection rate of over 20%. Angola presents the lowest infection rate of less than 5%. This is not the result of a successful national response to the threat of AIDS but of the long-running Angolan Civil War (1975–2002). Aside from polygynous relationships, which can be quite prevalent in parts of Africa, there are also widespread practices of sexual networking that involve multiple overlapping or concurrent sexual partners.[11] Men’s sexual networks, in particular, tend to be quite extensive, a fact that is tacitly accepted by many communities. Cultural or social norms often indicate that while women must remain faithful men are able and even expected to philander irrespective of their marital status. Along with the occurrence of multiple sexual partners, unemployment and population displacements that result from drought and conflict contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS.
There are a few indicators of countrywide declines in infection. In its December 2005 report, UNAIDS reports that Zimbabwe has experienced a drop in infections; however, most independent observers find the confidence of UNAIDS in the Mugabe government's HIV figures to be misplaced, especially since infections have continued to increase in all other southern African countries (with the exception of a possible small drop in Botswana). Almost 30% of the global number of people living with HIV live in an area where only 2% of the world's population reside.
Most HIV infections found in Southern Africa are HIV-1, the world's most common HIV infection, which predominates everywhere except West Africa, home to HIV-2. The first cases of HIV in the region were reported in Zimbabwe in 1985.
Swaziland
The HIV infection rate in Swaziland is unprecedented and the highest in the world at 26.1% of all adults,[12] and at over 50% of adults in their 20s.[13] This has stopped possible economic and social progress, and is at a point where it endangers the existence of its society as a whole. The United Nations Development Program has written that if the expansion continues unabated, the "longer term existence of Swaziland as a country will be seriously threatened".[13]
Swaziland's HIV epidemic has reduced life expectancy to only 32 years as of 2009, which is the lowest in the world by six years. The next highest is 38 years in Angola, also from HIV. From another perspective, HIV/AIDS currently causes 61% of all deaths in the country. With an unmatched crude death rate of 30 per 1,000 people per year, about 2% of Swaziland's total population dies of HIV/AIDS every year.[14]
Tuberculosis
Much of the deadliness of the epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa has to do with a deadly synergy between HIV and tuberculosis,[15] though this synergy is by no means limited to Africa. In fact, tuberculosis is the world's greatest infectious killer of women of reproductive age and the leading cause of death among people with HIV/AIDS.[16]
Because HIV has destroyed the immune systems of at least a quarter of the population in some areas, far more people are not only developing tuberculosis but spreading it to otherwise healthy neighbours.[15]
See also
- 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa
- ASSA AIDS Model, a South African model of the pandemic
- Demographics of Africa
- HIV/AIDS in South Africa
- President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
- United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa
References
- ^ UNAIDS. "2008 report on the global AIDS epidemic". Retrieved March 1, 2010.
- ^ Africa | Stark Aids message for Botswana. BBC News (2004-12-01). Retrieved on 2010-10-25.
- ^ Africa | Uganda Aids education 'working'. BBC News (2004-04-30). Retrieved on 2010-10-25.
- ^ UNAIDS, 2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic)
- ^ McGeary, Johanna (12 Feb 2001). "Death stalks a continent". Time Magazine.
- ^ a b c Samuels, Fiona (2009) HIV and emergencies: one size does not fit all, London: Overseas Development Institute
- ^ Africa: HIV/AIDS through Unsafe Medical Care. Africaaction.org. Retrieved on 2010-10-25.
- ^ WHO | Expert group stresses that unsafe sex is primary mode of transmission of HIV in Africa. Who.int (2003-03-14). Retrieved on 2010-10-25.
- ^ UNAIDS
- ^ "HIV/AIDS Data from the 2005 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey" (PDF). United nations Children's fund (UNICEF). Retrieved 2006-06-21. [dead link]
- ^ Poku, N. K. and Whiteside, A. (2004) 'The Political Economy of AIDS in Africa', 235.
- ^ October 2008 Kaiser Family Foundation HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheet
- ^ a b Country programme outline for Swaziland, 2006-2010. United Nations Development Program. http://www.undp.org.sz/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=19&Itemid=67. Retrieved November 22, 2009.
- ^ Swaziland, Mortality Country Fact Sheet 2006. WHO. Retrieved November 22, 2009.
- ^ a b 'Dual epidemic' threatens Africa, BBC News
- ^ Stop TB Partnership. London tuberculosis rates now at Third World proportions. PR Newswire Europe Ltd. 4 December 2002. Retrieved on 3 October 2006.
- Encyclopedia of AIDS: A Social, Political, Cultural, and Scientific Record of the HIV Epidemic, Raymond A. Smith (ed), Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-051486-4.
- John Iliffe, "The African AIDS Epidemic: A History," James Currey, 2006, ISBN 0-85255-890-2
- Pieter Fourie, "The Political Management of HIV and AIDS in South Africa: One burden too many?" Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, ISBN 0-230-00667-1
External links
- AIDS Turns Africa's Demographics Upside Down, Allianz Knowledge, October 18, 2007
- AIDS: Voices From Africa - slideshow by Life magazine
- Aids Clock (UNFPA)