Death and Disease in Africa
There is one disturbing topic that this paper will cover, but many possible
solutions to the problem which will be discussed. The topic is the AIDS epidemic in
Africa, and what they can learn from other countries to try to control the rapid spread of
AIDS. This paper will offer a few solutions one might find may (or may not) work to
help Africa?s peril.
Africa has a total fertility rate (TFR) of 5.2 children per woman, a problem that is
not likely to go away anytime soon. In comparison the largest country in the world,
China, has a TFR of only 1.8 largely because of their one-child policy and educational
programs. Could imposing fertility rates in Africa not only curb the massive population
growth they will have in the next 50 years, but also possibly reduce the AIDS population?
We will see this discussed below. I decided to write about this topic when we did a
Geocism exercise for this Economics of Population class. We had to randomly select two
countries/continents, and project their population for the next 50 years. In this exercise,
Africa and China were compared, because China has the world?s largest population, and I
wanted to see what kind of competition in growth they might see in Africa. With the
large proportion of people living with AIDS there, thus resulting in a low life expectancy,
I never thought I would see that I found.
Starting in the year 2000, China?s numbers looked like this:
TFR=1.8
Life Expectancy: 71
Migration Rate: -90000
Population Projection for year 2050: 1,372,838,000
Africa looked like this:
TFR=5.2
Life Expectancy: 54
Migration Rate= -222000
Population projection for year 2050: 2, 459,742,000
These numbers are absolutely astounding! ...
... middle of paper ...
...ftware Foundation, Inc (Virginia Tech, 1994).
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http://www.prb.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Other_reports/2000-2002/sheet2.html,
10/20/2001
Population Reference Bureau, Data Sheet 3,
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10/20/2001
Scotese, Carol. Does Government Enforcement of Fertility Control Promote
Sustainability?, http://www.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/pop-chi.html, 10/21/2001
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Although the !Kung San of southern Africa differ greatly from the people in the west African nation of Mali, both areas share similar problems. Both suffer from diseases, illnesses, malnutrition, and having to adapt to the ever changing and advancing cultures around them. What I found to be the most significant problem that is shared between both areas is that the people suffered from a lack of education. In the book Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa by Katherine A. Dettwyler, there is a lack of education in proper nutritional practices, taking care of children and newborns, and basic medical knowledge and practices. The Dobe Ju/’hoansi have recently started putting in schools to help children receive an education to help them have better success with the surrounding peoples and culture, but there is a lack of attendance in these schools. There are also many education issues in proper sexual practices that would help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS, in a place in the world were theses illnesses are at surprisingly high levels.
"The Scramble for Africa." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 25 Dec. 1999. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
What would you say if I asked you to tell me what you think is causing the death of so many people in the horn of Africa? AIDS? Starvation? War? Would it surprise you if I told you that it all boils down to the women of Africa? Kofi Annan attempts to do just this in his essay “In Africa, Aids Has a Woman's Face.” Annan uses his work to tell us that women make up the “economic foundation of rural Africa” and the greatest way for Africa to thrive is through the women of Africa's freedom, power, and knowledge.
Priscilla. “The World Economy and Africa.” JSpivey – Home – Wikispaces. 2010. 29 January 2010. .
Spink, Gemma. "AIDS." AVERTing HIV and AIDS. 23 Dec 2009. Web. 11 Jan 2010. .
Although the sub-Saharan region accounts for just 10% of the world’s population, 67% (22.5 million) of the 33.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS in 1998 were residents of one of the 34 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, and of all AIDS deaths since the epidemic started, 83% have occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (Gilks, 1999, p. 180). Among children under age 15 living with HIV/AIDS, 90% live in sub-Saharan Africa as do 95% of all AIDS orphans. In several of the 34 sub-Saharan nations, 1 out of every 4 adults is HIV-positive (UNAIDS, 1998, p. 1). Taxing low-income countries with health care systems inadequate to handle the burden of non-AIDS related illnesses, AIDS has devastated many of the sub-Saharan African economies. The impact of AIDS on the region is such that it is now affecting demographics - changing mortality and fertility rates, reducing lifespan, and ultimately affecting population growth.
...g humanities survival as a whole. Treatment centers for curable diseases in Africa only promote dependency on foreign aid, how will these countries ever develop medical technology of their own if there is no need for it? Higher survival rates in children due to vaccinations also means more children are likely to survive until adulthood, which means they will also have children who will be born into the same rural jobless society their parents came from. This cycle can never be broken unless change is sought from within the country, not from others attempting to push the process along with funds. The simple fact is no matter how many schools or hospitals are built somewhere, unless the is a drastic change in the ideology of the people, those resources will continue to be mismanaged and the demographic transition from developing, to developed will never occur.
"News." Africa Continues to Grow Strongly but Poverty and Inequality Remain Persistently High. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
The AIDS virus is the most common disease, and with no cure, an infected person will die. It is estimated that 90 to 95 percent of AIDS infections occur in developing countries where the world’s worst living conditions exist.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) first came to light in 1981. There has been a long and arduous global effort on the prevention of HIV/AIDS. HIV is a virus that is spread through body fluids that affect the specific T-cells of the immune system. Without treatment HIV infection leads to AIDS and there is no cure for AIDS. HIV infection can be controlled and the importance of primary pre...
Human population growth tends to occur in developing countries, where education is poor, particularly among the women who do not want to have fewer children, and the economy is poor. These developing countries are rich with history and the women have ideologies and pressures from the surrounding communities to bear many children. Religion is also heavily practised by the nations, and in some of these religions multiple children is desired. A male may also have the right to marry several women, all of whom he has multiple children with.
To decrease HIV transmission and to minimise the impact of the epidemic, on children, young people and families, through the growing effectiveness of national action to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the East of Asia and the Pacific regions. They aim to provide practical support and aid at community level, encouraging the full engament of people affected by HIV/AIDS.
There is no doubt that European colonialism has left a grave impact on Africa. Many of Africa’s current and recent issues can trace their roots back to the poor decisions made during the European colonial era. Some good has resulted however, like modern medicine, education, and infrastructure. Africa’s history and culture have also been transformed. It will take many years for the scars left by colonization to fade, but some things may never truly disappear. The fate of the continent may be unclear, but its past provides us with information on why the present is the way it is.
...ile the pandemic will absolutely leverage the rate of financial development, structural alterations are furthermore expected to be one of the prime economic hallmarks of the AIDS pandemic (Arndt 427-449). The effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic can be visualized by the overwhelming change in mortality rate of South Africans. The yearly number of mortalities from HIV increased distinctly between the years 1997, when about 316,559 people died, and 2006 when an estimated 607,184 people died ("HIV AIDS IN SOUTH AFRICA"). Those who are currently assuming the burden of the increase in mortality rate are adolescents and young adults. Virtually one-in-three females of ages 25-29, and over 25% of males aged 30-34, are currently living with HIV in South Africa (UNAIDS). The good news, thanks to better supply of ARV treatment, is that life-expectancy has risen vastly since 2005.
... diseases such as AIDS are also becoming a problem in places like Africa. Knowledge of how to prevent these diseases is not widely known, so an increasing number of people are infected. More attention needs to be placed on adequate health care and technology in these countries. While these third world societies may not have the resources with which to implement these changes, more advanced societies certainly do.