Question about AIDS & Africa

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Jeffo17

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My Brother came to me today and asked me this question about the AIDS problem in Africa.... He asks me Why are all these AIDS or non-AIDS infected people having children when they know they cant support them???

I didn't have the answer to that, but i believe there is one.. So i am asking this Question to you, can anyone answer it for me?
 
well the problem is actually because people are scared by the infection, and so they don't even test themselves if they are infected...and so they transmit the illness to the children..
they prefer to think that it's "just malaria"..
another reason is due to the ignorance on the transmission of HIV, many people still thinks that a "malediction" made by someone to you, so they prefer to use the traditional magic istead of modern drugs..
then again, people keeps the illness secret, because of the stigma that goes with being HIV-positive (Bono stressed so much on this).
And the last one cause it's because of the husband very promiscuous behaviour,that brings many innocent wives and mothers to AIDS, and they trasmitt the illness to their children..
Dramatic, relly dramatic problems...:( :(
 
Jeffo17 said:
My Brother came to me today and asked me this question about the AIDS problem in Africa.... He asks me Why are all these AIDS or non-AIDS infected people having children when they know they cant support them???

I didn't have the answer to that, but i believe there is one.. So i am asking this Question to you, can anyone answer it for me?

The reason is cultural. In most areas with high infection rates, women have no power. They are basically forced to have sex with their husbands whenever he wants Birth control is either 1) not available, or 2) the husband refuses to wear a condom, like it threatens his manhood or something. Heterosexual transmission is the highest rate, and it is often among married couples. Because of poverty, men have to travel for long periods of time, looking for jobs or working in the military. Often they go to prostituted and contract HIV. Meanwhile, the women are left with several children they cannot feed, so they turn to prostitution to make money. So either the husband or wife gets it, and then when the husband is home and wants to have sex, the woman cannot say no for any reason and risks being beaten for suggesting a condom. To make it worse, like tommyvill said there are all these myths about HIV. People with HIV are stigmatized and shunned. That's why many never get tested. They know they are sick, but who wants to get tested when you know there is no medication available and people will just shun you for the rest of your life? It's easier to live in denial, but then you continue passing HIV on to your wife and other sexual partners.
 
^That is very well said and very true. My mother's neighbor is just back to the States after several years travelling around Africa in an effort with a group to educate the people on AIDS/HIV and the importance in abstaining or using protection to avoid contracting AIDS through sexual contact. Many of the remote areas and villages in Africa do not even have condoms readily available. Therefore it is far easier to just have unprotected sex with the threat of contracting and spreading the AIDS virus rather than walking miles for condoms.

Our friend Sean did feel however that the word is spreading across Africa and that remote areas are becoming educated on this disease, so this is a positive step but a mission that must continue. Some of the stories Sean has brought back first hand are so sad. Our generation CAN do more to make a difference to educate, treat and save the people in Africa. We can all do our share by supporting and donating to the various causes that are working hard to fight AIDS in Africa and around the world.
 
When culture is responsible for spreading disease, something needs to be done to change it. However, they are too deeply into it to change. The actions of the society and the way women are treated is a direct cause of the pademic, and while I want it stopped as much as anyone else, I can also understand the frustration of those who say you can't just keep tossing billions of dollars over there and having nothing ever improve, and seeing them all eventually die anyway. Money needs to be spent to educate and change things, it may take time, but it will save more lives in the long run than any immediate monetary fix or a truckload of drugs that only delay the inevitable.
 
Butterscotch said:
When culture is responsible for spreading disease, something needs to be done to change it. However, they are too deeply into it to change. The actions of the society and the way women are treated is a direct cause of the pademic, and while I want it stopped as much as anyone else, I can also understand the frustration of those who say you can't just keep tossing billions of dollars over there and having nothing ever improve, and seeing them all eventually die anyway. Money needs to be spent to educate and change things, it may take time, but it will save more lives in the long run than any immediate monetary fix or a truckload of drugs that only delay the inevitable.


The thing i disagree with is when you say nothing ever improves.... Gathering from what i hear if we make promises happen this means by the year 2015 we will stop ridiculous poverty like children dying from starvation.
 
Things can improve. Uganda is a good example. They launched a massive AIDS education campaign that involved putting up billboards and having local celebrities speak out about AIDS in TV commercials. Uganda was able to actually cut back it's rate of infection, once politicians were willing to recognize the AIDS issue and launch public campaigns for health education.
 
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