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Questions and Answers about the Epidemic
For people with access to health care, the impact of the disease is a little hard to imagine. Think about it: At present rates of infection, the typical South African 15 year old has more than a 50% probability of dying of AIDS; for teenagers living in KwaZulu Natal or in neighboring Botswana, the likelihood of dying of AIDS exceeds 85%.
The epidemic is a terrible and growing crisis outside of Africa: in Asia, which accounts for 40% of people living with AIDS, in parts of the Caribbean, where AIDS is the leading cause of death among men between 14 and 44 years of age, and in Eastern Europe. The epidemic is also not over in wealthy countries like the US, where AIDS is heavily impacting many communities, particularly Latinos and African-Americans. |
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Durban, South Africa. Photo courtesy of the Red Hot Organization. |
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What factors contribute to the epidemic?
The biggest problem is this: poverty and many of the social problems that come with it. Contributing factors include low levels of education, weak health systems, corruption, and too little respect for human rights and democracy. But remember this: we don't have to wait until all these problems are fully solved before we tackle global AIDS - with multiple approaches people can and are addressing these problems jointly.
What's the connection to the rights of women and girls?
Rarely has there been a disease so linked to inequalities of power between men and women. For physiological reasons, the virus spreads more rapidly from male to female than from female to male. Yet, a woman's saying no to sex is simply not an option in many societies, where a culture of silence and male domination concerning sex is common. This makes it difficult for women to pro-actively negotiate safer sex or the use of condoms.
What makes this worse is that even though women are the primary producers of food, they rarely own the farmland, have rights of inheritance or even earn an income from their labor. Poverty and dependence often makes it impossible for women to negotiate the terms of their relationships. It is difficult for them to get out of relationships that put them at risk.
These are some of the reasons why it's so important to increase women's political, economic and social empowerment and promote equitable relationships. Plus, we have to make sure prevention methods that can be initiated and controlled by the woman, like the female condom-available now-and microbicide products under development, are fully accessible.
Isn't the problem linked to global poverty?
The roots of the crisis are deep. Colonization by wealthy European countries left a terrible legacy of dependency and social conflict. Even after the end of colonialism, superpowers like the United States and the Soviet Union supported undemocratic regimes that let social problems like AIDS fester.
At the same time, ill-considered economic development plans contributed to family breakdown and social dislocation. For example, families were disrupted, as workers were concentrated in agricultural, mining, and industrial job sites often with squalid, single-sex living conditions. Multinational corporations have often relied on these migrant, all-male workforces, making a lot of profit for themselves without making any provision for housing families or for promoting conjugal relations. There was also an unplanned and rapid growth of cities in what had been predominately rural societies. Racist policies, such as Apartheid in South Africa, were at the root of this process.
Outside advice about how to end poverty, from creditors like the World Bank and others, often proved faulty and helped lead to the continent's enormous indebtedness. Even today, governments and international agencies too often make economic decisions affecting access to health care without consulting the people most affected. By the time of the advent of the HIV virus, all of these factors had combined to create a perfect environment for it to grow and multiply.
Is there any hope?
For government and corporations to do the right thing and help stop the crisis, we'll have to tackle both indifference and racism. We have to recognize that the rich countries' failure to act to help stop AIDS is linked to the fact that the majority of those affected are impoverished and black. We'll have to empower women and young people, promoting positive relationships.
There's a lot to be done. But remember this: despite all the factors listed above, AIDS is being effectively dealt with in many parts of Africa as well as other regions of the world. And, political and social leaders are now committing themselves to addressing the crisis in a frank and honest way.
People are ready to tackle AIDS, if they have the tools they need. That's why we have to demand that wealthy governments and corporations, do their fair share to help provide those tools, so we can expand already proven, successful programs of prevention, care and treatment.
Sources: Center for Health and Gender Equity |
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