The spread of HIV/Aids in South Africa is a global concern, South Africa is currently the county with the highest number of infected citizens globally (UNAIDS, 2007). According to a report released by WHO in year 2007, South Africa had more than 5700000 infected citizens, which is approximately 12% of the country’s total population of 48 million. The infected population infected is relatively higher in adults as compared to a young population. Statistics shows that the top few countries with the highest number of HIV/AIDS patients are all neighbors’ of South Africa. In the recent past, there has been attempts to reduce the increased spread of the disease.
In year 2005, the World Health Organization (WTO) introduced anti-retroviral treatment (ART); the medication was supposed to restore health to the infected and reduce the spread rate of the virus. The figures of the South African citizens using ART rose from 4% in 2005 to 21% in 2006 of all infected citizens in South Africa. By the end of 2009, there was an estimated population if 10000 infected persons who were using the drugs. In the year 2010, more than 280000 South African died of HIV/AIDS. The Death Notification Survey Forms estimated that between 42% and 47% of the total deaths among South Africans were because of HIV/AIDS. The survey also shows that out of the total 543 856 nationwide deaths only 18325 deaths were because of the disease. Research also shows that the infection rate among the adults remains consistently high while infections among the teenagers remain low and declining. Between the years, 2005 and 2007 the infection rate among teenagers between 15-19 years dropped from 16% to 13% (The Global Aids Strategy 1-4).
The causes why high HIV/AIDS infections occur in southern Africa are not yet clear, as the infections are diverse across economic, political, and social platforms. South Africa and Botswana are one of the richest countries in sub-Saharan but also receive high rates of infections like other SADC countries like Mozambique. Mozambique unlike South Africa and Botswana, which are market by stable government and prosperity, is marked by the recently completed war that lasted for sixteen years. Nevertheless, the late of infections remain historically high across the SADC countries (The Global Aids Strategy 4-19).
In a bid to curb the spread of the virus, Southern African Migration Project carried out research on the causes of HIV/AIDS across South African countries. The research included more than 100000 direct interviews from rapid samples. The organization summarized several factors that might they main reasons why the virus is concentrated in the countries. The factors ranked highest in contributing the spread include; migration, poverty, drugs, gender inequality, opportunistic infection among other.
Poverty is a key transmittal factor. Many scholars have criticized the HIV/AIDS-poverty argument claiming that some of the highly infected countries are the ones with the most stable economies in the region. However, Balyamujura explains the three ways through which poverty becomes the main HIV virus-transmitting factor. The three ways are interrelated and directly relates to HIV/AIDS infections. The first one is Deep-rooted structural poverty found in the marginalized areas where residents are victims of gender imbalance, lack of access to information and ethnicity and geographical isolation. Such marginalized groups suffer from poor health and lack of health education, which consequently increases their vulnerability to the virus. Secondly, Balyamujura identified developmental poverty, which arises from unregulated social, economic, and demographic disruption.
Rapid population growth, environmental degradation, slums, rural-urban migration are the characteristics of developmental poverty. As a result, individuals subscribes to poor health, society vises, low living standard that contributes to the high rates of infections across the country despite their increasing GDP. He also identified poverty created by war as a key factor that leads to increased rates of infection. War leads to refugee camps where individuals survive with poor living conditions and overpopulation. In these camps, people from different regions converge to form on the big population comprising of individuals with different HIV/AIDS statistics, this makes the spread of the virus more rampant. Similarly, in the refugee camps there are increase social vises like rapes and opportunistic infection, which contributes to the high rates of HIV/AIDS infections (The Global Aids Strategy 4-69).
Poverty as a factor that contributes to HIV spread in South Africa has different effects to different communities and individuals. The individuals/communities’ ability to handle risk, to have access to health education and an opportunity to participate in programs eradicating such diseases are vital factors in determining how poverty affects every society in the region.
Other factors include; migration, which leads to diffusion of HIV/AIDS from highly infected population to scarcely infected population; prostitution, etc.
Nyabadza, Mukandavire, and Hove-Musekwa, in their work; Modelling the HIV/AIDS epidemic trends in South Africa they identify several future problems associated with current HIV/AIDS pandemic in the highly infected areas. They identified the main consequence as economic degradation and low GDP resulting from the high dependency ratio. The scholars argued that, the majority of infected persons are young adults of between 24-37 years. The majority of non- affected are the senior adults who are approaching the retirement age. The trend shows that there will be a high number of retired un-infected individuals and a few un-infected persons in the labor market. Consequently, there will be low GDP resulting from the high number of individuals and low productivity.
Secondly, the high rates of HIV/AIDS will cause local market capture by foreign markets. Following the low productivity in the future of the highly infected countries, there will be a substantial market gap, which will attract foreign investors and workers to come and fill it. Similarly, the low productivity and high depending population will lead to high demand of good but low supply; this will eventually lead to increased imports and disruption of the local market.
As the threat of a pandemic, continue to be realistic in South Africa and southern African region. World organizations, governments, and NGOs have recently started programs aiming at reducing the effects of the pandemic in the future.
The global coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBC) together with volunteer has identified several key ways that can be used to control the spread of the disease along the area. The programs and strategies include;
Risk assessment is done to assist in an effective reduction of the spread; the organization has embarked on carrying out inclusive risk assessment on the highly affected areas. The program uses any relevant data from all over the world to compare the HIV/AIDS trend in the region. The data helps the organization in approximation of future HIV statistics and estimate the possible value loss due to the disease. Using this approach, the organization can show the reality of the pandemic to both the victims and funders of the HIV/AIDS eradication programs.
CBG also employs a non-discrimination policy that ensures that all citizens receive the same amount of access to health education, HIV/AIDS seminars, ART treatment, and other HIV/AIDS sensitization programs. This strategy is used to reduce the infections that happen to socially and economically marginalized areas.
In addition, CBG in partnership with the WHO has started prevention and awareness programs. These programs are aimed at creating HIV/AIDS awareness to the public and educating them on several ways they can protect themselves from contracting the disease. The programs use the common ABC methodology, which teaches people to either Abstain, Be faithful or use a condom when one engages in sex. The employment of the methodology was inspired by its effectiveness in reducing the HIV infections in Uganda and other east African countries. The organization also uses donor funds to ensure that HIV/AIDS management and prevention is affordable to all individuals despite their geographic locations, political affiliation, or social-economic status. In this attempt, other donors have initiated programs that supply free condoms to low-class persons who are infected due to their inability to afford a condom.
After the creation of awareness the organization, offer free but voluntary counseling and testing. All aware individuals are encouraged to go and be tested to understand their HIV/Aids status, they are offered free counseling by professionals in prior to the test. The infected people are then advised of the proper diet and the right medication that can help them increase their productivity and pro-long their lives. Counseling and testing is a social activity aimed at helping the infected and affected increase their daily production, manage stress, and avoid opportunistic infections like TB and hepatitis C.
Other strategies employed include, care support and treatment, community involvement and corporate governance. Through these programs, the donors, NGOs, and participating government seek to reduce the infection rates and increase the productivity of the already infected patients. Similarly, the programs seek to handle the infected patients with care and understanding. This is meant to avoid panic and a feeling of neglecting, which occasionally lead to deliberate infection, trauma, and depression; in extreme case, it leads to vices and sometimes suicide (Nyabadza, Mukandavire, and Hove-Musekwa, 11-134).
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is not only a threat to South Africa and her neighbors’, but also a global threat, which calls for an international alliance to help and eradicate the threat. The world organization bodies should each start an independent program that should run alongside other main programs to ensure that they global population is aware of the virus and has the knowledge and financial capabilities to manage the disease. Such programs have proved useful especially I third world countries and developing countries (Hoen, Berger, Calmy, and Moon, 17).
In year 2000, WHO together UN and World Bank started a program to sensitize the young adults about the dangers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which was then a threat in the country. The organizations employed a site education where they would train people in their other individual project sites. The education was specifically aimed at training the marginalized groups and enabling them to protect themselves from infections. According to a report released in 2006 by WHO the methodology was accredited as successful and was able to reduce the annual infections in marginalized areas by 3%. I would recommend other.
It is also recommended for every government to have a countdown to the future where the country would be able to estimate the possible effects of the epidemic before they happen. For example, in year 1999, china initiated a revolutionary road map toward 2010, a society with zero HIV infections. The methodology was employed, and every registered practicing company was required to educate its members and come up with a strategy to reduce HIV infections to zero by 2010. They strategy was a legal requirement and every investor was required to create awareness of the disease. Despite the fact that zero infections are unlikely to achieve, the countdown was successful and reduced the infection per year by approximately 6%. Since then, other countries like Kenya and Rwanda have used similar strategy with Kenya’s countdown focused on 2030 while Rwanda focused on 2020 (Merli, Hertog, Wang, and Li, 91).
