Washington, DC — According to the United Nations agency coordinating the global response to the epidemic (UNAIDS), more than 28 million African men, women and children live with HIV/AIDS. In 2001 alone, 3.4 million Africans became infected with HIV.
In Botswana, at least 36 percent of adults live with HIV/AIDS. According to UNAIDS, seven countries in Southern Africa have infection rates of more than 20 percent. Infection rates exceed 10 percent in nine other African countries.
The death toll is staggering, with more than 19 million dead Africans. Most of the dead perished at the prime productive stages of their lives: 25-49 years, parents of small children, and many years of education. African women are at the receiving end of this epidemic, with 30 percent or more infected expectant mothers in maternity clinics in Southern Africa. Mother-to-child transmission continues unabated in many African countries, with Africa accounting for more than 90 percent of all infected newborns in the world. For the first time in Africa, the vaunted social safety net known as the extended family system is collapsing from the avalanche of more than 13 million AIDS orphans.
The health sector in Africa, already reeling from years of apathy and official neglect took a megahit from AIDS. In Southern Africa, AIDS patients now occupy at least six of every ten hospital beds. Scarce healthcare resources are now increasingly diverted to palliative care for terminally ill AIDS patients. The health workers are not spared either: doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers are getting sick and dying in droves. Africa's healthcare system appears hit by a quadruple whammy: apathy, neglect, brain drain to the West, and AIDS.
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Perhaps, the most important health related effect of HIV/AIDS in Africa is the lack of access to lifesaving antiretroviral drugs to individuals living with the disease. Of the 28 million Africans living with HIV/AIDS, between 25,000 and 30,000 individuals are estimated to have access to these lifesaving medicines. Even with conservative estimates by the UN and Harvard University of the 3-4 million Africans that "can benefit immediately" from lifesaving medicines, only a fraction will have the opportunity to experience the extraordinary impact of these drugs enjoyed by their peers in the West. It appears that survival from this terrible disease may depend on the geographical location of the infected individual.
Africa is now without question the site of an unprecedented AIDS killing field. The question is how many more will die before the international community rises in unison to take specific remedial action. Because of 100 deaths from "mad cow disease," Europe took unprecedented action to safeguard the publics' health. The anthrax scare in this country elicited extraordinary response from the government. Perhaps, one day 28 million lives will elicit a similar response from both the United States and Europe.
We will discuss the economic impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa in the next article.
Chinua Akukwe is a Member of the Board of Directors, Constituency for Africa, Washington, DC.
Melvin Foote is the President/CEO, Constituency for Africa, Washington, DC.
