HIV/AIDS: The War We Choose to Ignore
“Out of sight, out of mind.” If something isn’t spoken about, it doesn’t exist, right? Wrong. “14,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa are being infected daily with HIV and 11,000 are dying every day due to HIV/AIDS related illnesses” (Mbirimtengerenji); however, because the topic of HIV/AIDS is still not spoken about nearly enough, people are not aware of the severity of this issue. Most people simply know that HIV is a sexually transmitted disease, and while this is true, what they may not know is that HIV can actually be spread in a number of other ways. The disease can be passed on “from mother to child during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding….” and also “by being stuck with an HIV-contaminated needle”, among other things (AIDS.gov). Another common misconception made about HIV/AIDS is that they are the same disease, and although they are closely related, this is not the case. HIV is the virus that ultimately causes AIDS, which is the weakening of an infected person’s immune system to the point that he/she has the potential to die from the common cold (Ellis). Not everyone that has HIV will get AIDS, and sexual activity is not the only way that these diseases can be spread. Obviously, the AIDS epidemic is not only taking over Africa; in fact, “one in every five adults is now infected with HIV….and the infection rate is rising at 2,000 cases a day” (Maclean).
In the more impoverished parts of Africa, people can be very old-fashioned and their lives are usually dictated by outdated traditions. In fact, according to an article published on BBC News, “many girls still do not attend school, because their parents are afraid of them meeting people who might drive them from their traditions” (Monekosso). The emphasis placed on tradition may seem unrelated to the issue of HIV/AIDS in Africa, but it seems that the areas that are being affected the most by this epidemic are the rural and old-fashioned parts of the continent. This includes tribal villages where people grow up knowing nothing but the traditions which they were raised to follow, and then they teach their children the same beliefs. This way, the cycle becomes seemingly never-ending, with no one making any efforts to stop it.
Because of the extent to which tradition is glorified in areas of Africa, polygamy and teenage marriage, among other things, are prevalent, creating the perfect breeding ground for HIV/AIDS. According to BBC News, “The practice of forcing a girl into marriage took hold centuries ago throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but it continues to be widespread, especially in countries with large Muslim populations” (Monekosso). When these young girls are forced into marriages, it is almost always because of the dowries that the families of the girls are owed when their daughters marry. As a girl ages, her dowry decreases, and because many of the families in regions where these traditions are followed are quite poor, they tend to give their daughters away as soon as they hit puberty (Mbirimtengerenji). However, the husbands of these child brides are practically never faithful, and because HIV/AIDS is primarily a sexually transmitted disease, it becomes far too easy for the girls’ husbands to contract it, ultimately infecting the young girls as well.
HIV/AIDS is a disease that has the potential to affect anyone, anywhere. It just so happens that some of the major hot spots for this horrendous virus are in rural Africa, where people neither know or care much about the virus’ deadly repercussions. Although it is quite simple to avoid contracting HIV/AIDS, the lack of knowledge worldwide about the matter mixed with the willingness of those that it hasn’t affected to “turn a blind eye” is really doing more harm than good. In regards to the areas in Africa that HIV/AIDS seems to plague the most, the practice of outdated traditions such as polygamy and teenage marriages has a clear correlation to the gargantuan numbers of people affected with the virus. “14,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa are being affected daily with HIV”, and that is 14,000 too many (Mbirimtengerenji).
Works Cited
"AIDS grips South Africa." Maclean's 4 Dec. 2000: 80. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
"BBC News | AFRICA | Africa's Forced Marriages." BBC News. BBC, 08 Mar. 2001. Web.
08 Mar. 2016.
"HIV and AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Overview | AVERT."
"HIV vs. AIDS: What's the Difference?" <i>Healthline</i>. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
"How Do You Get HIV or AIDS?" <i>How Do You Get HIV or AIDS?</i> Web. 07 Mar.
2016.
Mbirimtengerenji, Noel Dzimnenani. "Is HIV/AIDS Epidemic Outcome of Poverty in Sub-
Saharan Africa?"
