GilsonandTelinger1

AmberGilsonandRebeccaTelinger
Ms.AgarandMs.Bustle
EnglishIIHonors
1December2015
AIDSInAfrica
Therearemanycripplingdiseasesthroughouttheworldsuchascancer,depression,
malaria,andcountlessothers.Amongtheseisanotherdiseasethat,despiteonlybeingknown
aboutforashorttime,hasalreadykilledmillionsofpeople.ThisdiseaseiscalledAcquired
ImmunodeficiencySyndrome,otherwiseknownasAIDS.Asthenamesuggests,thisdisease
targetstheimmunesystem,leavingpeoplevulnerabletoattackfrominfectiousdiseasesand
oftenleadingtotheirdeath.Despitetheseverityandwidespreadoccurrenceofthisillness,
scientistshaveyettofindacure.TheAIDSvirus,adeadlydiseaseofAfricanoriginthathas
decimatedmanypopulationsworldwide,canbepreventedandpossiblycuredifeducationonthis
topicismadeapriority.
Althoughtheexactoriginofthisdiseaseisunknown,scientistshavesomespeculations.
ThefirstcasesofAIDSwerereportedtotheWorldHealthOrganizationin1983,andby1985,
otherplacesbegantoreportcases(Miller).Despiteitsfairlyrecentdiscoverythough,thisdisease
hasspreadalarminglyquickly.In1998,SubSaharanAfricawashometoapproximately10%of
theworldspopulation,yetabout70%ofallHIV/AIDScasesintheworldwerefoundthere
(
Miller
).Scientistsarestillunsuretheexactcauseofthisillness,butsomebelieveittobethe
resultofpreparationofbushmeat(wildanimals,includingprimates,huntedforfood)in

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Cameroon,andearlytomid20thcenturymedicalpractice(
Morgenstern
).Peoplearebeginning
tounderstandalittlebitmoreaboutthisillness,butitisstillshroudedinmystery.
InAfrica,theprevalenceofAIDSishigh,yetmanypeoplearestillignoranttowardsthe
problemscausedbythisdiseaseandhowitcanbeprevented.Therearemanyreasonsforthis,
includingcultural,religious,economic,andmedicalfactors.Africanculturehasalargeimpact
onthenumberofpeoplewithAIDS/HIV.InAfrica,thereisastigmaattachedtotheAIDS
virus.ManypeopleassociateAIDSwithdruguse,prostitution,orinfidelity.Thisstigmahasa
detrimentaleffectonboththetreatmentofpeoplewithAIDS,andthespreadofthisvirus.
Becauseofthestigmaassociatedwiththisdisease,manypeopledecidenottogettestedforthe
AIDSvirus.Ifsomeonehasthisdiseaseanddoesntgettested,theyremainunawareand
continuetobesexuallyactive,thereforespreadingtheinfectiontoothers(
Gelletly30
).Evenif
therewerenostigmathough,manypeoplewouldnothaveaccesstothecaretheyneeded
becauseoffinancialinstability.ThehighlevelsofpovertyinAfricahashadahugeimpactinthe
transmissionofthisdisease.Oneexampleofthisisthatinfectedmotherswhocannotafford
bottledmilkhavetobreastfeedtheirinfants,andasaresulttransmittheAIDSvirustothem.
Also,therearemanyinstanceswherehusbandshavepassedonHIVtotheirwivesbecausethey
hadnomoneytobuycondoms.AIDSisalsospreadwhenthepoorresorttoprostitutionsothey
havemoneytobuythebasicthingstheyneedtosurvivesuchasfoodorhousing.(
Gelletly29
).
ThehighlevelsofpovertycangiveanotherexplanationastowhyAIDSissoprevalentinSouth
Africa.ThesereasonsallcontributetotherampancyofAIDSinAfrica,butthemainreasonis
lackofeducation.InKenya,safesexcommercialsarebanned.Inaddition,in2009,thePope
Benedict,onatripthroughAfrica,bannedtheuseofcondomsingeneral(
Morgenstern
).There

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islittletonoeducationonsafesexinAfricancountrieswhichleadspeopletounknowingly
engageinunsafepractices,thereforecausingincreasedtransmissionofdiseasessuchasHIV/
AIDS.ItisimperativethatpeoplehaveaccesstoeducationonAIDSbecauseitissuchadeadly
diseasethathasadetrimentaleffectonnowonlythosewhosufferfromit,butalsotheirfamilies
andthecommunityasawhole.
HIVisavirusthattargetstheimmunesystemsTcells.Tcellsareatypeofwhiteblood
cellthatareresponsiblefortargetingandgettingridofantigens.Withoutthemthebodycannot
fightoffdisease,leavingthepersonsusceptibletotypesofinfectionthatwouldnotoccurin
someonewithahealthyimmunesystem(
Gelletly25
).Thisisparticularlydevastatingtoaperson
livinginanimpoverishedtownwithissueslikecontaminatedwaterandlackofhealthcare.This
iswhySouthAfricaissohighlyaffected.InanarticlewrittenbyDr.MichaelMorgenstern,itis
clearlyevidenttheextentofdamagetheAIDSvirushasonSouthAfrica:
Fewerthan50percentofSouthAfricansnowlivingwillreachtheageof60,compared
withanaverageof70percentfordevelopingcountriesand90percentforindustrialized
countries.WithoutAIDS,lifeexpectancyinSouthAfricawouldpresentlybe65,instead
of55(Morgenstern).
Everyyear,millionsofpeoplelosetheirlivestothisdiseaseorcomplicationsfromit.Thisfact
aloneindicatesthatsomethingmustbedone.TwoorganizationscalledtheJointUnitedNations
ProgrammeonHIV/AIDS(UNAIDS)andtheWorldHealthOrganization(WHO)havenoticed
thetragiceffectsofthisillnessandarenowleadinganaggressivecampaigntocontainand
controlHIV/AIDSinAfrica(
Miller
).Theseorganizationsandotherslikethemareassisting
countriesinAfricatocombatthisdisease.

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AlthoughtheAIDSvirushasalreadyhadadetrimentaleffectonnotonlyAfricabut
populationsworldwide,educationonthistopiccanhelppeoplepreventandeventuallycurethis
deadlydisease.DespiteaffectingpredominantlyAfricanpopulations,thisisanissuethatrequires
internationalattention.Peoplemustbewillingtodiscussthisevergrowingproblemand
understandwhatindividualscandotohelp.Evensomethingassimpleasdiscussingthisissue
canhelplessenthestigmaandmoveonestepclosertowardfindingacure.

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WorksCited

Gelletly,LeeAnne.
AIDSandHealthIssuesinAfrica.
Philadelphia:MasonCrest,2014.PDF.
"TheJourneyTowardsanAidsVaccine."AfricaNewsService15Oct.2015.StudentEdition.
Web.19Nov.2015.
Miller,KhadijahO."
AIDS
Devastates
Africa
."
GreatEventsfromHistory:TheTwentieth
Century,19712000
.Ed.RobertF.Gorman.Hackensack:Salem,2008.n.pag.
Salem
Online
.Web.17Nov.2015.
Morgenstern,Michael."AIDSInAfrica."Medwiser.N.p.,2005.Web.16Nov.2015.

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Outline
I.Introduction
A.Hook
B.Thesis

II.OriginofAIDSinAfrica
A.History
B.Whereitstarted

III.ContributingFactors
A.Culture
B.Poverty
C.Lackofeducation

IV.Impact
A.Symptoms
B.Treatment
C.Awareness

V.Conclusion
A.Summarizearguments
B.RestateThesis