Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region of the world most severely impacted upon by HIV/AIDS. In 2008, Sub-Saharan Africa reported
67% of HIV/AIDS infections worldwide
68% of new HIV/AIDS infections among adults (with 40 percent of all new adults being children of 15+)
91% of new HIV/AIDS infections among children
Fourteen million children have been orphaned in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 72% of the world’s HIV/AIDS-related deaths are located here. The situation is worse for girls and young women. In Kenya, young women between 15 and 19 years are 3 times more likely than males to be infected, and 20–24-year-old women are 5.5 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS than men in their age group. Among people aged 15–24 living in the United Republic of Tanzania, females are 4 times more likely than males to be living with HIV/AIDS. Women are more vulnerable because of their limitation to negotiate for when, how and where to have sex. Biologically, their sexual reproductive system makes infection more likely than men. Heterosexual intercourse remains the primary mode of HIV/AIDS transmission in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the primary transmission of the disease to newborns and breastfed babies. There is increasing evidence that HIV/AIDS is transmitted by drug injection and men who have sex with men.
HIV/AIDS and Education
Education has
proven to be vital in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Educated young people have
decreased rates of infection, and better educated girls in particular, since
rates of infection amongst teenage girls are five times higher than boys as
presented in the previous section. Thus, HIV preventative education has become
known as the ‘social vaccine’. Uganda
is a good example of how HIV/AIDS related education in formal schooling, as well as community
education programmes reduced prevalence rates from 18% in 1992 to 6% in
2002. Governments have introduced HIV-related educational programmes that
include Lifeskills, Reproductive health programmes and other health
interventions in schools. HIV/AIDS has had
a big impact on pupils and teachers. Pupils have lost their parents to the
disease and schools are facing the challenge of dealing with orphans and
consequent high drop out rates amongst orphans who have lost one or both parent
to the disease. Teachers have also been infected and are dying faster than they can be replaced.
Additional
readings
Click here to view 'AIDS in Africa: Three Scenarios for the Educational Sector'.
Click here to view 'Global Report. UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic / 2010'.