HIV/AIDS in Africa

What is the difference between HIV and AIDS? HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disease in which the body's immune system breaks down and is unable to fight off certain infections, known as "opportunistic infections," and other illnesses that take advantage of a weakened immune system. You can be HIV positive but not have AIDS Once your CD4 cells go below a certain number you then have AIDS Aids is the last stage before death

How do you get it? Through exchange of body fluids You CANNOT get it by causal contact such as hugging, sharing food and drink, toilet seats etc. It CANNOT be transmitted through mosquito's

How did it start? Our best understanding of the origin of HIV is that it started in central Africa and started spreading, slowly at first, around It spread to cities along newly built roads, probably via sexual activity of people who were traveling From Africa HIV spread to Europe and the United States

Start cont: Scientists believe because of political unrest people from Africa emigrated to Haiti carrying the virus with them Haiti was a popular vacation spot for homosexuals from the US and Canada. Sexual activity during the vacation resulted in the spread of the virus to the US

Treatment Once you have AIDS you have AIDS Medication is available but it just prolongs life AIDS IS NOT CURABLE!!!!

You Should Know: In ,000 people were infected with HIV, today there are over 40 million- which means it has reached and EPIDEMIC LEVEL. At least 3 million people die every year from AIDS

Africa and AIDS It is a disease of HETEROSEXUALS Sub-Sahara Africa has 70 percent of the world’s HIV/AIDS cases and 75 percent of HIV/AIDS deaths. A 15 year old boy in Botswana has an 80 percent chance of dying of AIDS In some countries 40 percent of the population has HIV/AIDS

Why is it Continuing? Tradition Culture Ignorance Fear Poverty Stigmatizations

Why Should We Care? “AIDS is tearing apart families and communities, robbing people of a life with dignity and hope for a better tomorrow.” They will be knocking at our doors. It is reversing all the forward steps Africa has taken It will end up effecting all of us Because we are human

What we will be doing We are going to do the exact same thing the UN and geographers are doing together. Through researching primary and secondary topics we will find correlations to AIDS and hopefully come up with some ideas about what can be done