StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

The HIV and AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
Topic: HIV/AIDS pandemic in Sub –Saharan Africa, A focus on Kenya Name of student Lecturer Date of presentation Since Kenya made the first diagnosis of HIV infection in 1985, the country currently has an adult HIV prevalence rate of approximately 6.3% compared to sub-Saharan Africa that has 7.5% and the global prevalence rate of 1.1%.Young people and married couples are the hardest hit groups resulting to about 80,000 deaths from HIV related illnesses per year (Avert, 2010)…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.9% of users find it useful
The HIV and AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The HIV and AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa"

Download file to see previous pages

In this respect, we must put a lot of focus on all segments of population, starting with the hardest hit groups. I expand on these findings in the following narrative. The country is one of the worst hit countries in the world by HIV/AIDS epidemic, with approximately 1.5 million people infected with HIV, and over 2.4 million children are orphans after their parents died of the pandemic. With a population of about 38 million people, the percentage of the total population infected by HIV/AIDS is about 5%.

In 2009 alone, the country lost 80,000 people from complications arising from HIV infection (Avert, 2010). About 240 people die daily from the disease and according to OSIPHP (2007), over 50% of the total population in the country lack access to HIV preventive and management services. Only 33% of children in need of HIV preventive service have access to the necessary health care (Avert, 2010). In Kenya, the HIV/AIDS pandemic affects virtually all segments of the population directly or indirectly.

The prevalence rate differs among specific demographic groups in accordance with age, location, and gender (USAID, 2010). Women account for about 65% of all adults living with HIV/AIDS in the country compared to sub-Saharan prevalence rate of 57% among women. In addition, the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in women is almost twice that of men in Kenya. Most of HIV infections in the country occur in young people aged between 15-30 years through heterosexual sex. However, the infection rate differs remarkably between males and females at different ages (USAID, 2010).

According to Avert (2010), the highest proportion of Kenyan population becomes sexually active between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years and young women are more vulnerable compared to their male counterparts. Between 15-19 years, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in young women is 2.7%, four times greater than of young men of the same age group. Similar trend is observed in women between 20-24 years, whereby 6.4% are infected, compared to about 1.5% of their male counterparts of the same age.

However, the highest number of infections occurs in young women between a 15-24 years and men below 30 years (Avert, 2010). Kenyan people who engage in heterosexual sex are the most vulnerable group, and in regular relationship, they contribute to about 45% of new infections while casual heterosexuals accounts to about 21% of new infections (Avert, 2010). Other vulnerable groups include men who have sex with men and in prison population who account to about 15% of new infections. In addition, transmission through commercial sex, people who inject themselves with drugs and infections in health institutions account to 14%, 4% and 3% new HIV infections in Kenya respectively (USAID, 2010).

Due to the high HIV prevalence rate among married couples and people in regular heterosexual relationships, many parents die leaving behind many children. In this respect, orphans and children living with HIV/AIDS account to a significant proportion of people affected with HIV/AIDS in Kenya. About 200,000 children are infected with HIV/AIDS while the number of children orphaned by AIDS is about 2.4 million in Kenya (USAID, 2010). The major risk factors that contribute to high rate of HIV/AIDS i

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Tags
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The HIV and AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa Research Paper”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1409549-the-hiv-and-aids-epidemic-in-sub-saharan-africa
(The HIV and AIDS Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa Research Paper)
https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1409549-the-hiv-and-aids-epidemic-in-sub-saharan-africa.
“The HIV and AIDS Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa Research Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1409549-the-hiv-and-aids-epidemic-in-sub-saharan-africa.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The HIV and AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa

Poverty Alleviation in Sub-Sahara Africa

About 840 million people globally are malnourished, the biggest proportion of these numbers being found in africa.... The degree of the crisis in africa has currently reached unparalleled crisis levels; World Food Summit (2002) that several 38 million people, in africa face "an urgent and impending threat to their security, stability and peace". The reasons as to why action plans addressing food security in africa have continued to fail can be accredited to defective analysis and defective actions....
15 Pages (3750 words) Essay

Symptoms and Treatments of HIV/AIDS

We know from reading the hieroglyphics on the temple and pyramid walls of ancient Egypt that the Egyptians of nearly five thousand years ago had a similar epidemic where people mysteriously died of immunosuppressive (weakening the immune system) disorders very much like what we see today in AIDS patients.... The essay "Symptoms and Treatments of HIV/aids" proves that the mainly infects cells bearing the CD4 surface molecule, which acts as a specific receptor for the viral envelope protein, gp120....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

Aids in Africa: Demographic Transition

africa is the worst hit continent in the world by HIV/AIDS.... South africa comes second with 19.... africa is a beautiful continent with its many countries, animals and diversity.... Despite these positive aspects, africa is suffering from one of the world's worst AIDS epidemics.... It is said that in South africa, one of every ten people has AIDS.... Some 17 million people in africa have died representing almost 80% of AIDS deaths worldwide....
16 Pages (4000 words) Essay

Aids in Africa: Demographic Transition

The essay gives detailed information about the quantity of adult infected population in africa.... % and South africa - 19.... When it comes to sex in africa, the man is always in charge.... It is the worst hit continent in the world by HIV/aids.... Zimbabwe life expectancy has dropped from 65 to 43 years as a direct result of HIV/aids.... hellip; The essay shows that those most affected by aids are women and children....
16 Pages (4000 words) Essay

Malaria among pregnant women in Sub-Saharan Africa

Both diseases are found prevalent in sub-saharan africa (Global HIV/AIDS epidemic update 2001) thus, the deadly co-infection of HIV and malaria in pregnant women in sub-saharan africa is common in many of its areas.... It is estimated that at least there are about 440, 000 women in sub-saharan africa infected with malaria during pregnancy due to HIV, as HIV infection weakens pregnant women's immunity to P.... 2004, 643) – the most deadly among the four main parasites causing human malaria; the most common malaria parasite in sub-saharan africa, to which the extremely high malaria-related mortality in this region is attributed (Greenwood 1999, 617); and more common in pregnant than non-pregnant women that causes both prematurity gestation of less than 37 weeks and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) (Guyatt and Snow 2004, 760)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

HIV and AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa

The paper “HIV and AIDS in sub-saharan africa” concerns the need to conduct an aggressive educational policy for the population of African countries to prevent promiscuous sexual relations, use measures of contraception methods, strengthen birth control of infected babies etc.... nbsp; AIDS is the fifth major cause of death in middle-income countries, the third in low-income countries and the leading cause in sub-saharan africa.... nbsp; Treatments that are available to help control hiv and aids are not widely available in developing countries, and the nature of the treatment as it requires a developed program that is consistent and regimented makes distribution difficult....
14 Pages (3500 words) Coursework

Africa: Seriousness of AIDS Virus

nbsp;  The disease is primarily caused by the hiv virus i.... "africa: Seriousness of AIDS Virus" paper states thta the African region has been one of the least developing regions for a variety of reasons.... What will be of significance for the African region is that the sub-saharan region the fall is expected to be around 15 percent which roughly translates to 400,000 fewer African infections in 2008 than in 2001.... The poorest nations in the sub-saharan African region remain the most heavily affected region by HIV....
6 Pages (1500 words) Article

HIV and AIDS Infection in South African Youth

The researcher of this paper “hiv and aids Infection in South African Youth” aims to analyze factors contributing to high infection rates of HIV and deaths associated with HIV in South Africa and Uganda as well as the role of the faith community in curbing HIV spread.... Research reveals that most youths do not realize the potential risk of contracting hiv and often feel that they are at minimal risk.... In South africa, there were reported cases in the early 1980s but these were mostly white gay men....
19 Pages (4750 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us