AIDS+in+Africa+Period+4+and+Breanna



__STATISTICS:__
 * 2/3 of all people infected with HIV live in sub-saharan Africa.
 * More than 20 million people have died from AIDS while living in Africa.
 * Between 1999 and 2000, more people died of AIDS in Africa than in all the wars on the continent.
 * "2000 began with 24 million Africans infected with the virus. In the absence of a medical miracle, nearly all will die before 2010. Each day, 6,000 Africans die from AIDS. Each day, an additional 11,000 are infected." - Lester R. Brown
 * December 1 is World AIDS Day.

__CAUSES:__ The World Health Organization claims that 10 million HIV- positive Africans are responsible for 300,000 cases of AIDS reported since 1981. Unlike in developed countries, where over 90 percent of AIDS cases are homosexual males, intravenous drug users and blood transfusion recipients, African AIDS is supposedly suffered by men and women in equal numbers who contract it, presumably from heterosexual couples. The problem is exacerbated by poverty, illiteracy, weak education, inadequate and in many villages the total lack of any health care which is compounded further by the low social status of women. In many instances, women are exposed to AIDS through unwanted and unsafe relationships against their will. It can be transmitted through unsafe sex, sharing needles or syringes, and child birth.

[|AIDS and Orphans in South Africa]



__EFFECTS:__ In many rural areas, nearly 40% of newborn children have AIDS. The most obvious effect of this crisis has been illness and death, but the impact of the epidemic has certainly not been confined to the health sector; households, schools, workplaces and economies have also been badly affected. While HIV and AIDS is causing an increased demand for health services, large numbers of healthcare professionals are being directly affected by the epidemic. Botswana lost 17 percent of its healthcare workforce due to AIDS between 1999 and 2005. A study in one region of Zambia found that 40 percent of midwives were HIV-positive. Healthcare workers are already scarce in most African countries. Excessive workloads, poor pay and migration to richer countries are among the factors contributing to this shortage. In Botswana, it is estimated that every income earner is likely to acquire one additional dependent over the next ten years due to the AIDS epidemic. Other countries in the region are expecting the same problem, as individuals who would otherwise provide a household with income are prevented from working - either because they are ill with AIDS themselves or because they are caring for another sick family member. Such a situation is likely to have repercussions for every member of the family. Children may be forced to abandon their education and in some cases, women may be forced to turn to sex work. This can lead to a higher risk of HIV transmission. which further exacerbates the situation.

[|AIDS Everything you need to know]