The Impact of HIV and AIDS in South Africa
The spread of HIV and AIDS in South Africa is a wide spread epidemic. In South Africa alone there are 6,800,000 known cases of people with the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). The virus is commonly contracted by people in the age range of 15 to 49 years old. More than half (around 3,900,000) of the known cases in South Africa are young women ages 15 and up. There are 340,000 children from infants to age 14 with the virus and sadly 230,000 children are left parentless because their parents die from complications due to the HIV and AIDS viruses. Many factors play a role in the fast and wide spread epidemic of both these viruses. Some of these factors include poverty, prostitution, inequality and …show more content…
Many South Africans migrate to areas that are more urban. Also, men migrate from different regions to seek work in the mines of South Africa to harvest gold, platinum and diamond. Many young and unmarried adults from rural environments migrate to more sexually permissive African cities. This type of migrant is responsible for the much higher infection levels that were observed in urban than in rural areas. In South Africa, many male migrants have been forced to live and work in overcrowded sex hostels. These hostels became resources for sex workers seeking relief from poverty. This high-risk behavior increased the rates of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, which spread quickly back to the homes of the migrant workers. Poverty drives many of these migrants to …show more content…
In many places they are offering teacher’s training on the issues of HIV and AIDS transmission. Some schools are hesitant to include a Life Orientation module in all teacher training. In some cases teachers say that they feel uncomfortable about teaching a curriculum that contradicts with their own values and beliefs. However, school drop-out rates compromise the effectiveness of the sexual education programs offered to the students. Now they want to pursue offering prevention programs to younger children before many of them become sexually
The spread of HIV and AIDS in South Africa is a wide spread epidemic. In South Africa alone there are 6,800,000 known cases of people with the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). The virus is commonly contracted by people in the age range of 15 to 49 years old. More than half (around 3,900,000) of the known cases in South Africa are young women ages 15 and up. There are 340,000 children from infants to age 14 with the virus and sadly 230,000 children are left parentless because their parents die from complications due to the HIV and AIDS viruses. Many factors play a role in the fast and wide spread epidemic of both these viruses. Some of these factors include poverty, prostitution, inequality and …show more content…
Many South Africans migrate to areas that are more urban. Also, men migrate from different regions to seek work in the mines of South Africa to harvest gold, platinum and diamond. Many young and unmarried adults from rural environments migrate to more sexually permissive African cities. This type of migrant is responsible for the much higher infection levels that were observed in urban than in rural areas. In South Africa, many male migrants have been forced to live and work in overcrowded sex hostels. These hostels became resources for sex workers seeking relief from poverty. This high-risk behavior increased the rates of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, which spread quickly back to the homes of the migrant workers. Poverty drives many of these migrants to …show more content…
In many places they are offering teacher’s training on the issues of HIV and AIDS transmission. Some schools are hesitant to include a Life Orientation module in all teacher training. In some cases teachers say that they feel uncomfortable about teaching a curriculum that contradicts with their own values and beliefs. However, school drop-out rates compromise the effectiveness of the sexual education programs offered to the students. Now they want to pursue offering prevention programs to younger children before many of them become sexually