INTRODUCTION: The Invisible Cure: Data

•Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a

disease that causes acquired immunodeficiency
Understanding The Cultural Do not always use a
condom with a non-
Choice-
disabled
condom use
More than one
partner in the
Experienced
partner violence
in the last year
Feel they
are at risk

Factors Preventing the Control

  regular partner (%) (%) last year (%) (%) of HIV (%)
syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which Botswana 12 10 20 15 50
the immune system begins to fail, leading to life- Lesotho 26 37 25 16 47

threatening opportunistic infections

of HIV in Southern Africa
Malawi 30 9 6 13 35

64 20
•Truly staggering epidemic, estimated that 37 Mozambique 36 15 53

15 17
million people are living with HIV and 2/3 live in By Brian Norton Namibia
South
14 14 46

23 16
sub-Saharan Africa Africa

7
11

10
14 33

Swaziland 18 14 52

•HIV-1 is global and HIV-2 was discovered in Tanzania 25 22 17 17 32

Zambia 27 15 12 20 47
West Africa and found principally in West Africa Zimbabwe 21 18 10 17 40

•HIV-1 is more virulent, has a faster progression

and is associated with greater morbidity Table 1
HIV risk characteristics among all
Retroviruses- Deadly Intruders respondents. The results vary significantly
depending on the country, but many risk
characteristics, such as improper condom use
and multiple partners, are not extremely high.

  Had an HIV test in the last year (%) Plan to have an HIV test (%)

Botswana 64 93

Lesotho 33 78

Malawi 46 74

Mozambique 24 64

Namibia 49 84

South Africa 46 66

The worldwide AIDS epidemic is ruining families, villages, businesses, and armies, Swaziland 44 81

and leaving behind an immense sadness that will linger for generations. However, Tanzania 31 78

the situation in Eastern and Southern Africa is uniquely terrible and severe. In their Zambia 36 74
Zimbabwe 31 63
general populations, the virus has spread widely despite most people not behaving
in what experts consider high-risk behavior, such as unprotected sex, intercourse Table 2
•A retrovirus is an RNA virus that is replicated in with prostitutes, multiple one-time partners, and having partners that are drug users. Although a high percentage of those polled
a host cell via reverse transcriptase to produce Why is the epidemic in East and Southern Africa so severe? planned and knew where to get an HIV test, a
DNA low percentage of those people ever get
•DNA is then incorporated into the host’s genome Equity in HIV testing: evidence from a tested.
and replicates using the host’s copying
machinery
cross-sectional study in ten Southern Conclusions:
HIV- Unstoppable Retrovirus African countries •HIV testing uptake was not higher among those with
higher risk of HIV, yet these people ought to test
more
METHODS: •Social, economic, political, and environmental
•This paper conducted a household survey of 24,069 people in communities factors directly affect HIV risk and vulnerability
of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, •Solutions to these issues must be pursued just as
Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. fervently as scientific resolutions

•Attacks white blood cells (CD4 cells) that help protect
the body from disease
•100 billion new HIV viruses are churned out each day in
an infected person
•Antibodies cannot completely clear disease because
HIV has a high mutation rate, making it difficult for the
body’s immune system to destroy
•Asked about testing for HIV in the last 12 months, intention to test, HIV risk
behavior, socioeconomic indicators, and access to information.
References:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2945979/?tool=pubmed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2919838/?tool=pubmed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2845133/?tool=pubmed
•HIV cannot be looked at as a disease of shame
•Weak health care infrastructure in these South
African countries contributes to lack of control of HIV
•Government denial that HIV causes AIDS
contributes to the spread of the disease
•Based on the data gathered from question, most
people in this region do not exhibit high-risk sexual
behavior. However, they do have multiple faithful
partners, which creates an HIV super-highway for the
spread of the infection.