The Impact of Infectious Diseases (HIV/AIDS) on the Development of Africa

Assignment Task

Executive summary

The key health issue that I focus on is how HIV/AIDS is affecting the African people. Major fatal diseases are particularly prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa. The information summarizes the country’s morbidity and mortality rates, and what are the programs that the government taking against the disease prevention and treatment of the living and affected people of Africa.

Introduction

Globally, HIV/AIDS is a severe and leading disease that impact people now a day’s, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has the highest prevalence of people living with HIV, which was estimated at 69 per cent and 70 per cent of all deaths mostly by AIDS in 2011 records. HIV has increased the death rates and low life expectancy among adults ages between 20 and 49 by about 20 years.

Over 70 per cent of African people suffer from HIV/AIDS of the world’s 40 million people. It shows an extremely impact on Africa’s economy and development. With this, the people with HIV/AIDS in Africa face multiple diseases with more life-threatening comorbidities like diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, severe respiratory diseases like tuberculosis, which can lead to death, and hepatic disease.

The rate of increase of Africa's per capita income has slowed by 0.7 percentage points each year since 1990-97. The spread of HIV has been aided by several variables including poverty, unfairness, gender inequality, labor mobility, and ethnic fractionalization.

On the one hand, a decrease in labor force growth because of AIDS-related death would boost per capita income. This was most likely to happen if the government did not raise its external financing and the medical costs associated with HIV/AIDS were mostly covered by cutting domestic savings rather than consumption. Domestic savings would diminish as a result, resulting in lower investment and per capita income.

Literature Review

The term "Sub-Saharan Africa" refers to the region of the African continent south of the Sahara Desert. The demarcation line runs along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.

According to the United Nations Development Program, 46 of Africa's 54 countries are classified as "sub-Saharan."

Between 1950 and 2010, the overall population of Sub-Saharan Africa rose by more than 4.5 times. According to projections, the population of Sub-Saharan Africa will reach 2.7 billion by 2060. According to a recent survey, women in Sub-Saharan Africa had an average of 6.5 children during their lifetime.

Despite accounting for only around 11% of the world's population, Sub-Saharan Africa is the epicentre of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, and infectious diseases.

Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, more than 22.2 million people have died (UNAIDS 2000). AIDS-related illnesses are the leading cause of death in Africa. In practically all the nations where the HIV epidemic is growing, life expectancies are declining after rising significantly before the commencement of the epidemic. Life expectancy in nations with high HIV incidence is expected to drop to around 30 years, a level not seen since the turn of the 20th century.

HIV/AIDS is destroying human capital. Because of a lack of sufficient awareness about HIV/AIDS in the early 1980s, both high- and low-income persons became infected. As a result, a generation of highly educated civil servants, teachers, healthcare personnel, and professions would be rendered obsolete. Educated workers, on the other hand, are likely to become less infected over time as awareness of the HIV epidemic expands and competent people have

stronger incentives to invest in prevention activities. The evolution of wages is another aspect that helps to mitigate HIV/AIDS' initial impact on human capital. The return to schooling would increase to the extent that skilled labor salaries increased relative to those of unskilled labor. This is particularly important for young people who have not yet been diagnosed with HIV. Their motivations would be bolstered because of the higher payout.

These two reasons are in line with current behavioral shifts, which have primarily affected young people. According to UNAIDS records from the year 2000, subsequent surveys in both Zambia and Uganda have recorded a significant drop in the HIV prevalence rate among the 15-19 age group because of deferring initial sexual activity.

The first epidemiological models, established in the 1980s, emphasized sexual activity as the most important component in HIV transmission Following that, it became evident that sexual activity itself cannot explain the rapid transmission of HIV in several countries. For this to happen, other economic, sociological, and cultural circumstances were required.

Some of the most well-known economic determinants include average lifespan, international mobility, human resources, income disparities, and gender discrimination. The link between good health and HIV/AIDS is substantial, as one might assume. Because healthcare access is often linked to money, there is a link between HIV/AIDS and income disparity.

Uneven regional development within and within countries might lead to labor migration to cities or other countries. This rise in both recreational and commercial sex, as well as the risk of HIV infection, is typically accompanied by a corresponding increase in unmarried guys in metropolitan areas or on the sites of funding. Countries are more vulnerable to HIV as a result of sexual and economic disparities, as a poor woman has a far higher risk of catching the disease than a man.

According to studies, empowering women through education is one of the most effective ways to help them achieve their goals.

The purpose of improving women's financial freedom is to achieve two things:

Firstly, this provides people with the legal and financial autonomy they require to consider their own well-being when it counts most. Women who lack this independence are unable to use safe HIV prevention strategies that have been proven to minimize the risk of infection. Land inheritance regulations and legal barriers to opening bank accounts and launching enterprises are examples of limitations to independence.

• Secondly, the cost of prostitution as an option rises as more market work opportunities become available. However, this indicates that fewer women will work as commercial sex workers to support themselves and that commercial sex workers will use condoms. Education is the most significant factor in achieving financial freedom. As a result, it's unsurprising that education is linked to a decreased rate of occurrence. Education reduces the expense of infection, and it improves knowledge of the risks associated with unprotected sexual encounters, particularly if it incorporates sexual
• Both factors increase the amount of money left to invest in HIV prevention initiatives and explain why HIV and education have such a negative
• Ethnic diversity may play a role in HIV prevalence. Ethnically diverse cultures may have difficulty agreeing on spending priorities because some groups are more impacted by

HIV than others. As a result, government spending on public goods may be reduced. An increase in commercial sex could be linked to ethnic variety.

Conclusion

HIV/AIDS (Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is a chronic, potentially fatal disease caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV impairs your body's ability to fight infections and disease by destroying the immune system.

Among the deadly infections, HIV has shaken the African people and failed the government due to a lack of healthcare system, inadequate supplies and infrastructure, low literacy, and economic growth downsizing, all of which have contributed to an increase in the mortality rate, particularly among women aged 15 to 24 years.

To defeat not only HIV, but also the deadly communicable disease, the government should take responsibility for raising public awareness by educating children and the public about health-related issues, and by implementing sustainable programs to encourage changes in sexual behavior, affordable methods for preventing infection in high-risk populations, and expanded treatment options for HIV.

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