Sub-Saharan Africa is more heavily affected by HIV and AIDS than any other region of the world. An estimated 22.4 million people are living with HIV in the region - around two thirds of the global total. In 2008 around 1.4 million people died from AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa and 1.9 million people became infected with HIV. Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 14 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Twenty -five million Africans were living with HIV at the end of 2005, 3 million new infections and 2 million AIDS related deaths occurred in Africa during that year.
The impacts of AIDS in Africa are having a widespread impact on many parts of African Society. In many countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS is erasing decades of progress and millions of adults are dying from AIDS while they are still young or middle aged. The average life expectancy in Africa is now 47 years. The effect of the AIDS epidemic on households is very ruthless because many households are losing their income earners. Many people that have died from AIDS have left behind partners that have gotten AIDS from them and have also left behind orphans that are struggling to survive without parents care. In all the affected countries, the epidemic is developing and the demand for care for those living with HIV and AIDS rises. Schools are heavily affected by AIDS which is a major concern, because schools can play a critical role in reducing the impact of the epidemic. The HIV and AIDS epidemic has greatly affected labor, which in turn slows down economic activity and social progress. The vast majority of people living with AIDS and HIV in Africa are between the ages or 15 and 49, which is the prime of their living lives. The HIV and AIDS epidemic has already significantly affected Africa’s economic development and has affected Africa’s ability to cope with the epidemic.
Treatment and care in Africa is very critical because everyone deserves the right to live a prosperous life. Antiretroviral drugs help a significant amount because they delay the progress of HIV to AIDS. The drugs are cheap too the government doesn’t have the money to buy cheap, which is where our problem is coming into play. Pharmacies in the west, like the United States, sell antiretroviral drugs very expensively where as they will sell them to Africa for cheap.
Africa needs international support to help fight HIV and AIDS. One of the most important ways in which the situation in Africa can be improved is through the increase of funding. The more money would help to improve both prevention campaigns and the provision of treatment and care for those living with AIDS. The Global Fund is an international funding organization that helps raise money to help fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria in 137 different countries. Global Fund is making a significant difference but still given the massive scale of the AIDS epidemic more money is need.
