Africa is the continent that has been affected the most by HIV/AIDS over the past 30 years. Surpassing malaria, AIDS is the number one killer in sub-Saharan Africa, taking the lives of over one and a half million people every year. The causes are ample and the cure remains a hope that has yet to be found.
Infection Rates
According to UNAIDS, the United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS, over 43 million Africans have become infected with HIV since the epidemic began in the early 1980s. At present, over 23 million Africans are living with HIV/AIDS, equating to two-thirds of global cases. The highest incidence rates of HIV have been reported in 21 African countries; among these countries, like Zimbabwe and Botswana, one in four adults is infected with HIV.
Women and Children
Over 60 percent of those infected with HIV/AIDS in Africa are women. The high rates of female infection can be traced to social practices that assume male dominance in sexual relationships; thus, even if women know the risk of unprotected sex, they are often unable to do anything about it. Of the upwards of 15 million orphaned children worldwide who have lost their parents to AIDS, about 12 million are in sub-Saharan Africa. Over two million sub-Saharan African children are living with HIV, equating to 85 percent of all HIV-positive children globally. The majority of these children were infected by their mothers during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding.
Workforce
Eligible workers in Africa are becoming more scarce due to AIDS as it claims the lives of adults, many of them in their prime. Life expectancy rates have fallen from 62 years of age, to 47. As family members grow sick, others must leave their jobs to care for them. The less family members are able to work, the more impoverished their families become, leading to other problems like hunger. Teachers are also being lost to AIDS, severely affecting the education sector and the ability to educate younger generations about HIV transmission and protection.
Condom Use
Increases in condom use between the beginning of the pandemic and today have aided in the prevention of HIV infection in Africa, and around the world. Despite the fact that condoms are a cheap, cost-effective method of prevention, there remain social and cultural barriers to their use. If a woman insists on using a condom, it may be assumed she has HIV, leading to her being discriminated against for her HIV status -- whether real or assumed. Contraception is almost never used between married partners, even if one member is infected or having an affair.
Country Differences
While Africa in general is facing a long, hard fight against HIV/AIDS, there has been some progress in individual African countries. Through effective prevention campaigns, Kenya and Zimbabwe, for instance, have stabilized their HIV prevalence rates to the point where declines in infection are being seen. Cameroon, on the other hand, has seen a sharp rise in HIV infection among pregnant women over the last decade, doubling prevalence among 20 to 24-year-olds to upwards of 11 percent.
Current Challenges
Treatment programs are desperately needed throughout the continent, including prevention education and contraception distribution programs. The more voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT) centers available, the more people who will know their HIV status and the less likely they will be to infect others. VCT centers are becoming more widespread, which is a great plus considering that the African health sector is already strained with the AIDS epidemic, with resources being spread as thin as possible to provide for as many people as possible. ARVs, or antiretroviral drugs, are used to treat HIV-positive and AIDS patients. Unfortunately, ARVs are still not available for millions of HIV/AIDS patients living in Africa due to high costs and insufficient numbers of healthcare workers. Support from the World Health Organization since 2003, however, has helped double the availability of these crucial drugs.
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