User:EdsonNdombe/sandbox

                                             HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

HIV/AIDS is a global issue which kills millions of people every year, and Africa is no exception. HIV/AIDS is caused by a virus which lives in the human body, and it is transferred from one person to another through heterosexual sex. HIV/AIDS epidemic is a big issue in sub-Saharan Africa; HIV was first reported in 1982. And by 2005 an estimation of 25.8 million people were living with the disease in sub-Saharan Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa the majority of the people living with HIV/AIDS are women, sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s largest HIV/AIDS cases (62% in 2005). Due to the fact that 44% of the population in Sub-Sahara Africa are you people, this pose a threat to young people in the region. About 86% of the total children living with the virus are in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2005 approximately 2.4 million people died of AIDS. In 2008 approximately 22.4 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, which is about 67% of the total HIV population in the world. In 2008 [HIV/AIDS] have stabilised especially in southern Africa, the region which is severely hit by the epidemic. South Africa has the highest HIV/AIDS cases in the world, with 5.4 million people believed to be living with the disease. HIV/AIDS has posed a huge burden to the region which is heavily stricken by poverty and political disputes. The disease have affected a lot of families and put economical development to a standstill due to the fact that a lot of economical active people die of the disease. In some parts of sub-Saharan Africa young kids live school at early ages to look after their siblings and this increases illiteracy. Although HIV/AIDS has posed a huge threat on the region, there are some successes: The HIV prevalence has dropped and in some countries it had stabilise. This because the governments and some non profitable organisation made the society aware of HIV through awareness campaigns. E.g. The US through (PEPFAR) has invested money in some African countries to fight HIV/AIDS. And also because of the ART that were made available. Conclusion Although HIV/AIDS issue in sub-Saharan African looks like is getting better and better as years pass by, there is still a lot that need to be done. [HIV/AIDS] in sub-Saharan is a situation that needs urgent attention because most people living in the region are very poor and need to get access to ART. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa are also not educated and because of different traditional values, governments and other organisation should invest more money in education, and ART’ in order to better the situation. So I strongly believe that this situation can only get better when the issue is well addressed.

                                 Reference:	

1. http://www.avert.org/africa-hiv-aids-statistics.htm 2. www.unaids.org/en/Regions_Countries/Regions/SubSaharanAfrica 3. www.worldbank.org/data/countryclass/countryclass.html. 4. http://www.jendajournal.com/issue7/mutangadura.html