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Social and Economic Effects of Hiv

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Social and Economic Effects of Hiv
Social and Economic Effects of HIV/AIDS on Poverty in Africa Within the last thirty years, it has become well recognized that HIV/AIDS is a serious disease that takes many lives every year. However, we may not be getting the full story. What people don't realize is the extreme social and economic effects that result from the spread of HIV in Africa. This should be a serious concern of every person of every country, not only because of the massive loss of life, but because of the danger posed by such a powerful disease that doesn’t stop at the borders. Through the articles I have evaluated, I have come to a reasonable understanding of the suffering of those in Africa. My hope is to show the severity of the social effects like being shunned by friends and the economic devastation that truly results from AIDS in Africa, a place where over 18% of people suffer from it. The goal and intent of my topic is to show that AIDS in Africa is not just killing people. It is creating a massive sinkhole in the economy by lowering the size of the workforce, stealing a large portion of family budgets that would otherwise contribute to the economy to pay for medication, and forcing women into prostitution to afford basic necessities. AIDS is also a plague on many social facets of Africa. It is the primary cause of great mistrust in relationships between married couples, it diminishes relationships between married women and other women who they mistrust, it leaves many children orphans, it is straining the bonds of family networks, and it is draining the resources and savings of families trying to save loved ones. As a requirement of discussing HIV/AIDS, it must first be established what exactly HIV/AIDS is. AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a fully lethal disease affecting approximately eighteen percent of adults and two percent of children under eighteen. HIV is an infection that weakens the immune system, and while it is not necessarily true that you have AIDS if you


References: Adedigba, M., Naidoo, S., Abegunde, A., Olagundoye, O., Adejuyigbe, E., & Fakande, I. (2009). The economic burden of HIV and AIDS on households in Nigeria. African Journal of AIDS Research (AJAR), 8(1), 107-114. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database Bachmann, M., & Booysen, F. (2003). Health and economic impact of HIV/AIDS on South African households: a cohort study. BMC Public Health, 314-8. http://www.biomedcentral.com/ Bachmann, M., & Booysen, F. (2004). Relationships between HIV/AIDS, income and expenditure over time in deprived South African households. AIDS Care, 16(7), 817-826. doi:10.1080/09540120412331290220. Himmelgreen, D., Romero-Daza, N., Turkon, D., Watson, S., Okello-Uma, I., & Sellen, D. (2009). Addressing the HIV/AIDS-food insecurity syndemic in sub-Saharan Africa. African Journal of AIDS Research (AJAR), 8(4), 401-412. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. Jones, S., Sherman, G., & Varga, C. (2005). Exploring socio-economic conditions and poor follow-up rates of HIV-exposed infants in Johannesburg, South Africa. AIDS Care, 17(4), 466-470. doi:10.1080/09540120412331319723. Kuhanen, J., Shemeikka, R., Notkol, V., & Nghixulifwa, M. (2008). Junior-headed households as a possible strategy for coping with the growing orphan crisis in northern Namibia. African Journal of AIDS Research (AJAR), 7(1), 123-132. doi:10.2989/AJAR.2008.7.1.12.440. Marais, B., Esser, M., Godwin, S., Rabie, H., & Cotton, M. (2008). Poverty and human immunodeficiency virus in children. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,113621-27. doi:10.1196/annals.1425.012. Quentin, W., König, H., Schmidt, J., & Kalk, A. (2008). Recurrent costs of HIV/AIDS-related health services in Rwanda: implications for financing. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 13(10), 1245-1256. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3156.2008.02142.x. Stockemer, D., & Lamontagne, B. (2007). HIV/AIDS in Africa: explaining the differences in HIV prevalence rates. Contemporary Politics, 13(4), 365-378. doi:10.1080/13569770701822847 Thege, B. (2009). Rural black women 's agency within intimate partnerships amid the South African HIV epidemic. African Journal of AIDS Research (AJAR), 8(4), 455-464. http://www.nisc.co.za/journals/aids/about.htm

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