AIDS AWARENESS
By Tarrah Vikter
AIDS in Africa
Africa is home to about 15.2 percent of the world's population, although Sub-Saharan Africa alone is estimated 69 percent of all people living with HIV and AIDS. In 2011 HIV had infected at least 10 percent of the population in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, etc. In 2008, Kenya had the third largest number of people in Sub-Saharan Africa living with HIV.
Where did AIDS start to spread in Africa?
The earliest known cases of human HIV infection have been linked to western equatorial Africa, probably in southeast Cameroon. At first, AIDS was considered a disease of gay men and drug addicts, but in Africa it took off among the general population.
How to prevent AIDS, or decrease AIDS in Africa
Nearly two thirds of the the world's HIV positive individuals live in sub-Saharan Africa, and over 75 percent of AIDS-related deaths occur in Africa. To prevent, help, and decrease the amount if people who are HIV positive, they can do the following:
- Help women become economically self-sufficient.
- Make condoms available, and use them.
- Increase education about and access to testing.
- Provide free antiretroviral medications.
- Increase access to supportive care.
- Provide nutritional support.
- Donate to charities to help people who are HIV positive in Africa.
AIDS in Africa