HIV AIDS Africa
This is an excerpt from the paper...
The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa is out of control. To put the situation into perspective, three times the number of people who were killed in the Holocaust of WWII have already died of AIDS in Africa – 19 million (Census 2). The number of Africans who die on a daily basis from the disease is higher than all those killed in the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2002 – 6,000 (Census 2). Average life expectancy in Sub-Sahara Africa has dropped to 47 years from 62 years if the disease were not a factor (Rethinking 1). For a chart showing the complete breakdown by country of people infected with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa as of 1999, see Appendix I. In light of such overwhelming statistics, experts estimate that each year approximately $3 billion is required to pay for fundamental prevention, care, and treatment programs for HIV/AIDS in Africa (World 1). Money and others resources such as powerful anti-retroviral drugs are often blamed for the spread of the disease and untold suffering among millions. However, despite these factors playing a significant role in the development of the epidemic, it is also African leadership and African cultural beliefs and behaviors that make the disease difficult to manage. It is actually these factors that are least mentioned and significantly to blame that help keep the epidemic growing. Current estimates of the number of people who die annually of AIDS-related illnesses range betwe
. . .
one notes, “There needs to be a carefully made decision on the provision of drugs in the absence of a real support infrastructure” (Steps 1). Access to drugs is one of the most controversial issues associated with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa.
HIV/AIDS Drugs
The controversy over access to drugs to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa is controversial for two reasons. The first is the enormous cost of these drugs. While drugs like AZT, fluconazole, and others used to cost $10,000 or more per year they are now approximately $400-$500 per year (Wolfensohn A21). However, this lower cost is still prohibitive to the vast majority of Africans where even the approximately dollar per day cost of such drugs is out of reach. Another part of the controversy regarding anti-retroviral drugs is the fact that many pharmaceutical companies who manufacture them are fighting African governments trying to import much cheaper, generic versions of the drugs.
Recently pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, Glaxo Smith Kline, and Bristol Myers Squibb, all manufacturers of anti-retroviral drugs to combat HIV/AIDS, brought suit against Pretoria for importing generic AIDS drugs at a fraction of the price charged by major drug manufacturers. People around
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Sub-Saharan Africa, Equatorial Guinea, HIV/AIDS Epidemic, Museveni Uganda, South Africa, Cape Town, Africa World, HIV/AIDS Africa, Leadership Government, Finally African, sub-saharan africa, hiv/aids epidemic, hiv/aids africa, spread disease, african leaders, pharmaceutical companies, spread hiv/aids, healthcare infrastructure, wolfensohn a21, anti-retroviral drugs, hiv/aids epidemic africa, african leaders rest, adults children estimated, united rep tanzania, hiv/aids sub-saharan africa,
Approximate Word count = 2751
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
|