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MakaylaFritsandTatianaPerrault
Mrs.Smith
EnglishII
17March2016
AIDSinAfrica
Isitfairthatmillionsofinnocentchildrendieeachyearbecauseofadiseasethatsoutof
theircontrol?ManypeoplearoundtheworlddonotunderstandtheeffectsofAIDS.Millionsof
innocentpeopleofeveryageinAfricaareaffectedbyAIDS,andinordertopreventthespread
ofthisdeadlydisease,interventionsneedtobeputinplace.
AIDSisanautoimmunediseasethatisalsoclassifiedasanSTD.Thisdiseaseisthe
endingstageofHIV,thevirusthatstartsitall.Whenapersonfirstcontractsthisvirus,thevirus
isactuallycalledHIV,notAIDS.HIVturnsintoAIDSwhenapersonsTCellcountgetsbelow
200.TCellsareapartofthehumanimmunesystem,andthisisthepartofthebodythat
HIV/AIDSaffects.AnormalTCellcountisusuallyaround1,200,sothisshowshowmuchthe
immunesystemisaffectedbythisvirus.HIV/AIDScanstaysilentforupto12years.Thereare
differentstagestothisvirus,andeventhoughapersoninfectedwiththismaynothaveany
symptoms,

thedeadlyvirusisstillthere..Thisiscalledasymptomaticinfection.Youstillhave
HIV,anditmaybecausingdamagethatyoucantfeel(Robinson19).Manypeoplebelievethat
thisdiseasecanbespreadthroughsaliva,simpleskincontact,orjustbeinginthesameroom,but
thisisnotthecase.HIVismostcommonlyspreadbybodilyfluids,likeblood,semen,and
vaginalfluids,duringsexualcontact(Robinson25).Althoughthereareonlyafewwaysaperson
couldcontractthisvirus,thestatisticsarehigh.About70percentofthoseinfectedworldwide

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liveinsubSaharanAfrica.Morethan24millionpeopleareinfected,andapproximately2.7
millionnewinfectionsoccurredin2005.Twomillionpeoplediedfromthevirusbetween2004
and2005(Hinds59).ThepeoplewhohavediedfromAIDSmostlikelydidnotdiefromthe
disease,butmorelikelydiedfromaninfectionthebodywasnotabletodestroy.Theseinfections
arecalledopportunisticinfections,whicharesimpleinfectionsthathealthypeoplecangetover
inafewdays,butwillpotentiallykillapersonwithAIDS.SinceAIDSaffectstheimmune
system,peoplewilldiefromtheopportunisticinfections,likeStrep.Penicilliosisisoneofthe
opportunisticinfectionsthatcanaffectpeoplewithAIDS(Hinds62).Thisisonehugething
thatmostpeopledontunderstandaboutAIDS,becauseofthelackofeducationpeopleneed.
AmongalloftheadultsthatareaffectedbyHIV/AIDS,therealsoareseveralchildren
thatarebeingaffectedbythedisease,becausetheparentsareinfected.Thechildrensparents
willeventuallydie,leavingthechildrenalonetosurvive.Manychildrenhavelosttheirparents
toAIDSorarelivinginhouseholdswhichhavetakeninAIDSorphans,andtheymaybeforced
todropoutofschooltostartearningmoney,orsimplybecauseschoolfeeshavebecome
unaffordable(Nakaya32).Sincechildrensparentsaredying,someofpeoplecantgetan
educationthatisdeservedbecauseofmoneyissues.Childrenareforcedtogetajobtohelpearn
moneyfornecessities.TheeffectoneducationisthatAIDSnowthreatensthecoverageand
qualityofeducation(Nakaya32).Moreandmorepeoplearegettinginfectedbythisdisease
sincethereisnocureormedicine.Schoolteachersaregettinginfected,whichwillleavestudents
unabletogettheeducationneeded.SixteenAfricanCountriessouthoftheSaharahavemore
thanonetenthoftheadultpopulationaged1549infectedwithHIV(Nakaya30).AIDSaffects
peopleofallages,butmostlywithinthisrange.Thisisevidencethatevenchildrenareableto

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getthisdisease,leavingthemstrippedofchildhoodandlife.IfawomanhascontractedHIV
andispregnant,itispossiblethatshewillpassthevirusontoherchild.Thismayhappenduring
pregnancy,childbirth,orbreastfeeding(Houle30).Thisshowsthatunbornbabiescanalsobe
affectedifthemotherhasthevirus.Manyinnocentbabiesarebornwithadiseasethatis
uncontrollable.Menandwomenneedtobeinformedaboutpotentiallyhavingthisvirusbefore
bringinganotherinfectedpersonintothisworld.
AfricaishometothemostpeopleaffectedwithHIV/AIDS.InplaceslikeAfrica,the
Caribbean,andSoutheastAsia,thereisadesperatelackofhealthcareworkersand
infrastructure(Nakaya59).Notenoughhealthcareworkersarehelpingwiththisdisease,and
somethingneedstochange.Infectedbabies,children,andadultsarenotgettingtheproperhelp
thatisneededbeforeitstoolate.ARVsareadrugthatwillslow,orlessen,thesymptomsof
HIV/AIDShowever,itwillnotcurethedisease.WhileARVscanextendthelivesofthe
HIVpositiveandreducetransmissionofthevirus,avaccinemaybetheonlywaytoeradicate
AIDS

(Gelletly41).AvaccinewouldbeveryhelpfultotheAfricancommunity,considering
millionsofpeoplearedyingeachyear.AIDSAlertInternationalisanorganizationthatworks
topreventthespreadofAIDS,throughcommunitybasedresearch,publications,workshops,
conferences,andsupportprograms(Nakaya28).ThisorganizationhelpswithAIDSbyworking
toprovideinformationaboutthediseasethatpeopleinAfrica,sotherewontbeasmany
uneducatedpeople.Thisissomethingveryimportantthatneedstohappen,andcouldchangethe
livesofmany.
Inall,AIDSisaseriousissueallaroundtheworld,especiallyinAfrica.Millionsof
peopleofallagesinAfricaareaffectedbyAIDS,andmanychangesneedtohappeninorderto

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helptheinnocentpeople.Whilesomethingshavealreadybeenputinplacetohelpwiththe
spreadofthisdisease,otherproceduresneedtobeconducted.Childrenarelosingeducation,
adultsaredying,infantsarecontractingAIDSfrominfectedmothers,andifnothingisdone,
thesethingswillcontinuetohappen.

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WorksCited
Gelletly,LeeAnne.AIDSandHealthIssuesinAfrica.Philadelphia:MasonCrest,2014.Web.
Hinds,MaureneJ.FightingtheAIDSandHIVEpidemic:AGlobalBattle.BerkeleyHeights,
NJ:Enslow,2008.Print.
Houle,MichelleM.AIDSinthe21stCentury:WhatYouShouldKnow.BerkeleyHeights,NJ:
Enslow,2003.Print.
Nakaya,AndreaC.AIDS.Detroit,MI:Greenhaven:Thompson/Gale,2006.Print.
Robinson,Richard.FrequentlyAskedQuestionsaboutAIDSandHIV.NewYork:RosenPub.,
2009.Print.

Outline
I.

Introduction
A. Hook:Isitfairthatmillionsofinnocentchildrendieeachyearbecauseofa
diseasethatsoutoftheircontrol?
B. Thesis:MillionsofinnocentpeopleofeverygenderandageinAfricaareaffected
byAIDS,andinordertopreventthespreadofthisdeadlydisease,interventions
needtobeputinplace.

II.

WhatisHIV/AIDs
A. Thedisease
B. Howisitcausedandspread
C. Statistics

III.

Effects

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A. Educationeffects
B. Ages
C. Babies
IV.

Prevention
A. Whatcanwedo?
B. Whatisalreadybeingdone