AIDS and HIV in Africa

Vocabulary

• HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus

• AIDS: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

• Epidemic: an outbreak of a contagious disease that spreads rapidly

• Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs)- a treatment for HIV/AIDS

AIDS and HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the past year more than 1.5 million people were infected.

In 2005, there were 5,000,000, people living with HIV, and almost 1,000 AIDS deaths occurring every day.

AIDS/HIV Treatment

The slow provision of treatment has been linked to unconventional views about HIV and AIDS amongst the government.

South African President Thabo Mbeki started to represent the views of a small group of scientists who claimed that AIDS was not caused by HIV.

Mbeki’s Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang , promoted healthy eating (rather than ARV’s) to treat AIDS.

South AfricaSouth Africa is currently experiencing one of the most severe AIDS epidemics in the world.

At the end of 2007 there were approximately 5.7 million people living with HIV in South Africa and almost 1000 AIDS deaths occurring everyday.

In some parts of the country cemeteries are running out of space for the dead.

There was an estimated that 280,000 people under-15 were living with HIV in 2007.

In 2006 there was 29.1% of pregnant women living with HIV.

Statistics show that almost one in five adults are infected.

Zambia

Zambia’s first AIDS case was reported in 1984.

Only one year later 17.5% of hospital patients in the capital Lusaka were found to be HIV-positive.

HIV in Zambia is not primarily a disease of the most underprivileged; infection rates are very high among wealthier people and the better educated.

At the end of 2006, 15% of people 15-49 years old were living with HIV or AIDS.

Just 13% of Zambian adults have volunteered to be tested for HIV and know their status.

Test shows that 18% of the 8,532 employees tested were HIV-positive.

Swaziland

The Swazi government has introduced a number of initiatives for HIV prevention such as behavior change campaigns, prevention of mother to child transmission, and early diagnosis by testing.

Average life expectancy has dropped from 57 to 31 years of age.

In Swaziland, one in four people are living with HIV.

Swaziland’s first AIDS case was reported in 1987.

At the end of 2003, Swaziland had 13 sites providing Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT).

By December 2005 there were 37 sites. The number of people accessing VCT services increased from 13,576 in 2003 to 95,000 in September 2005

Swaziland has the world’s highest adult HIV prevalence rate.

In 1999 the King declared AIDS a “national disaster”.

In 2007 15,000 Swazi children aged up to 14 years of age were living with HIV.

By 2008 the government aims to reduce the proportion of children under 4 years old who are HIV positive by 30%.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has a higher number of orphans, in proportion to its population, than any other country in the world.

One in seven adults are living with HIV

It’s estimated 565 adults and children are becoming infected every day.

In Zimbabwe, more than 17,000 children are infected with HIV every year, the majority through mother-to-child transmission.

The Government emphasized the importance of voluntary counseling and testing for HIV with its National AIDS Policy.Which highlighted VCT as a central part of Zimbabwe’s AIDS prevention strategy.

Zimbabwe

Mozambique

In 2000, the national HIV prevalence among adults in their prime years of life between 15 - 49 years old was estimated to be 12.2%

The first case of HIV/AIDS was diagnosed in 1986 in Mozambique.

By 2006 it had risen to 16.2 %.

The epidemic has reduced life expectancy from 41 years in 1999 to 38 years in 2004

In 2006, about 99,000 children under the age of 15 were living with HIV or AIDS; most of the children were under 5 years old

Study shows by 2010, the number will increase to 121,000.

On average, 500 new infections occur every day, 90 of them among young children through mother-to-child transmission.

AIDS in Mozambique

How AIDS and HIV have affected Life Expectancy