A Silent Killer
Patrick Smith
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Opinion
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Through all this turmoil, many just live in flat out denial, suggesting the sickness that surrounds them is just part of their poverty. Some feel that they are cursed for not pleasing their ancestors. In South Africa, others believe the disease was introduced by the whites to control the black population.
There are those who are starting to become aware of AIDS as a sexually transmitted disease; however, large scale ignorance of it has allowed AIDS to turn into an epidemic.
The AIDS epidemic has had a strange effect on the demographic of sub-Saharan Africa. In most countries women live longer than man, but because two-thirds of all adults in the world who have AIDS live in sub-Saharan Africa, and 60 percent of them are women, the life expectancy of women has dropped below men. Women between the ages of 15 and 24 are two to six times more likely to die from AIDS than men. With women traditionally taking care of children, this leaves the burning question: who will be left to take care of the growing millions of orphans?
In South Africa the mortality rate is highest among people in thirties. This coincides with the period when people are most sexually active or right afterwards. This is having an adverse effect on the work force. People in their thirties usually make up the core of the working force, especially in countries dependant on agriculture. Many countries in the region can not afford a loss in crop production, and given current trends, there just may not be enough people left to work the fields.
With so many apparent AIDS-related problems, one would think it would be impossible to ignore this growing scourge. AIDS, however, is not the only one of Africa's problems. Civil war, mass genocide, famine, and poverty are all very evident in Africa. Left unchecked, though, AIDS will continue to ravage sub-Saharan Africa as quickly as any bombs or guns.
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