Olena Bychkovska

A-C-R Essay

The World Should Help Africa to Combat HIV/AIDS

The world’s community should help Africa to combat HIV/AIDS in spite of all the obstacles. AIDS is a dangerous syndrome and it is characterized by a decrease in the number of helper T cells, which causes a severe immunodeficiency and leaves the body susceptible to a variety of potentially fatal infections. Moreover, still there is no cure or vaccine against it. The consequences of HIV/AIDS spreading in Africa are fatal and such epidemic is a thread for the health and welfare of the whole world.

  HIV/AIDS prevalence in Africa is the highest in the world, which exposes this continent to a number of significant risks. Although about 14.5% of the world's population lives in Africa, it is estimated to be home to 69% of all people living with HIV and 72% of all AIDS deaths occurred in that region. With approximately 22.9 million people infected, Sub-Saharan Africa is the worst affected region of Africa, as well as in the world. Moreover, the epidemic reaches very high levels in such countries as Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Namibia. Yet, the impact of the syndrome is not only measured by the number of deaths. In Africa HIV/AIDS has a significant negative impact on various sides of the peoples’ life such as life expectancy and productivity, households’ prosperity; evolvement of healthcare, education and economy [1]. Furthermore, the population growth in Africa has stopped and prenatal mortality grew dramatically. The life expectancy has fallen to 49 years in South Africa, whereas it is 78 years in Europe and North America.  It was reported that the annual costs associated with sickness and reduced productivity as a result of HIV/AIDS ranged from $17 per employee in a Kenyan car manufacturing firm to $300 in the Ugandan Railway Corporation. These costs reduce competitiveness and profits [2]. What is more, there is a possibility of extinction of the whole country caused by HIV/AIDS. The infection rate in Swaziland is unprecedented and the highest in the world at 26.1% of all adults and HIV/AIDS currently causes 61% of all deaths in the country; thus United Nations Development Program has states that if the expansion continues unabated, the existence of this country will be questioned [3].

On the other hand, a popular viewpoint is that Africa cannot be provided with help. Some scientist state that there is too little recourses available in order to provide treatment for such a large number of people in Africa. In 2003 only 50 000 out of 4 million people, who needed antiretroviral agents, were able to receive it.  Moreover, other countries have limited resources and own problems to solve; therefore, it might seem that those countries do not have well-grounded reasons to spend their resources on solving Africa’s problems. For example, there is no adequate water supply and proper sanitation in India, overpopulation is spreading in China and default may take place in the European Union.

Nevertheless, as the evidence shows, Africa is making a progress in combating HIV/AIDS and it has to be helped. HIV/AIDS can be effectively treated and prevented not only in other regions of the world, but in Africa as well, even though it is one of the economically poorest regions Actually, as an example may serve the ‘Africa Dream Project’, which is being implemented in few African countries and provides treatment to numerous HIV-positive Africans [4]. In addition, nowadays the globalization is taking place; consequently, the problems become more and more globalized as well. It has been widely recognized by the leading scientists that the changes in one region greatly contribute to the changes in other regions; hence, African HIV/AIDS epidemics is not only an African concern, but should be addressed by world in general.

On the basis of considerations provided, the refusal to assist Africa on combating HIV/AIDS epidemic appears to be illogical, because it is being caused by and has consequences for the whole world; thus, not taking action now might result in a more serious widespread pandemic in the future. In order to prevent in and save the health of its populations, the world’s community should provide various types of aid to Africa more consistently in order to help it to combat HIV/AIDS.

Argument	Counterargument	Rebuttal
A large number of people are infected in Africa	Too little recourses to help	World’s most effective program is in Africa
HIV/AIDS has a significant negative impact	Other own problems to solve	Is a world problem + globalization

 List of References:

1. HIV and AIDS in Africa - Official web-site of AVERT. - Available from: <http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-africa.htm> - Title from the screen.   

2.      Simon Dixon   The impact of HIV and AIDS on Africa's economic development BMJ. - 2002, January.  - Available from: <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1122139/>

3.     The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in South Africa. -      October, 2008. - Available from:

<http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/7365-065.pdf> - Title from the screen.

4. Official web-site of Africa Dream Project - Available from: <http://www.africadreamproject.org/> - Title from the screen.