AIDS A Case Study of Economic and Social Consequences

AIDS is an incurable disease lurking in the immune system of people in the US. However, in rich countries people live with AIDS, in poor countries they die of it. In Africa AIDS drugs are too expensive.

AIDS deaths worldwide = 3 million (2.3 million in Africa) HIV weakens the immune system and the victim can then die from TB, malaria and other diseases

Social Consequences Many of the millions of AIDS orphans live without adequate education, healthcare or nutrition Most live with their grandparents and must live with the psychological loss of their parents

Social Consequences Women are more vulnerable to AIDS than men, due to their lower social status and economic dependence on men as well as a lack of education. Those between 15 and 24 are most vulnerable

Social Consequences AIDS is a major cause of maternal death. In 1992 AIDS accounted for 90% of all deaths among urban women of childbearing age in Rwanda. Transmission of AIDS from mother to child within the womb is common

Economic Consequences A generation of workers, teachers and parents have been decimated In some of the most affected countries AIDS victims occupy half the available beds (a strain on medical care)

Economic Consequences The limited pool of skilled workers is being lost Life expectancy is dropping. Botswana’s has dropped from 62 in the 1980s to 37 In hard hit countries up to one quarter of adults are affected by AIDS

Prevention AIDS is the number one killer in Africa. It is the fourth most common cause of death worldwide Many countries have developed education programmes to prevent the spread of AIDS

AIDS in the CIS (Confederation of Independent States, the former USSR) The Ukraine has one of the sharpest increases in HIV infections. Cities bordering the Black Sea, where drugs are easy to obtain and where ‘the holiday sex industry’ is booming, have the largest number of cases. In the small town of Nikolaev HIV infection among drug users has increased from 1.7% to 56.5%

Whale Sharks Whale sharks and all types of sharks are being killed for their fins. Shark Fin Soup is a famous and expensive dish in Asia Hunters cut off the shark’s fin and throw the shark back into the sea where it drowns The food web and a species are threatened

Female Circumcision Worldwide 130 million women have undergone this painful and dangerous practice It is practised in 28 countries across Africa Parts of the female genitalia are removed and some are sown together It is carried out in unsanitary conditions and without anesthetic, many get infections or die from shock In some cultures uncircumcised girls are seen as unclean

Honour Killings Throughout the world as many as 5000 women and girls a year are murdered by members of their own families. The male family members of the females, who are responsible, go unpunished Kifaya (12) lived in Jordon,she went for a walk without her father’s permission. He beat her to death with a chain for dishonouring the family.

Trafficking in women and children Estimated 4 million women and girls are bought and sold worldwide into marriage, slavery or prostitution Each year at least girls and women enter Thailand from poorer neighbouring countries and end up in the sex trade