HIV in South Africa - Research Paper Example

?HIV in South Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s most HIV/ AIDS affected area with more than 25 million people infected with the disease. The most affected population is the youths between the ages of fifteen and twenty four years. The most affected part is the Southern part with the republic of South Africa leading in HIV/AIDS prevalence. Other countries in Southern Africa which show high rate of HIV include Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland. The paper will discuss cultural factors contributing to spread of HIV in South Africa, cultural assessment model and a plan to achieve the success of the model. The following are some of the cultural factors which contribute to increased rate of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. HIV in South Africa Tiruneh (2009, p.106) argues that in South Africa the rank of women is below that of men and the society is male dominated. During socialization, women are meant to the belief that women are inferior to them. Women are supposed to be submissive and have respect for men. Inequality in power between the two sexes put women at a higher risk of contracting the disease. Because of the position they hold in the society, women have no say on sexual matters. The choice of whether or not to use condoms is entirely depended on men. Discrimination against people with HIV makes it hard for prevention of the disease. Patients fear seeking medical assistance because they will be discriminated by the rest of the community members. Because of fear of signaling the HIV status, infected people fear adopting behaviors related to the disease. For instance, breast feeding mothers continue to breastfeed their young children for fear that other people will question them the reasons behind lack of breastfeeding. Infected men fear using condom for fear of being suspected by their partners (Human Sciences Research Council, 2009, p.66). Sexuality is perceived as a source of economic benefit. Commercial sex workers are very many in South Africa, an aspect which contributes to the high rates of HIV and Aids transmission. Material possession and association with many partners is a sign of prestige among South African black men. In exchange for money and large gifts, young ladies are tempted to engage in sexual activities with aged men. The young ladies affect young men who in turn infect other women and the cycle goes on. The disease is also spread to older women by their husbands (Tiruneh, 2009, p.115). According to Tiruneh (2009, p.117), many people in South Africa, especially the illiterate ones, lack adequate knowledge concerning HIV disease, how it is transmitted and the risks which expose an individual to the disease. Illiteracy levels are higher among girls who in most cases fail to complete basic education (Buve, Bishikwabo-Nsarhaza & Mutangadura, 2002, p.2014). The culture of South Africa requires women to undertake domestic chores which make them lack time to interact with the outside world. Lack of guidance and counseling on sexuality issues and poor access to protective devices like condoms make youths engage in unsafe sex. Other people fail to buy condoms for fear that it will portray them as immoral. Some of the cultural practices which are related to sexuality increase the prevalence of HIV and Aids disease. Many South Africans have negative attitudes toward condom use. First, it is associated to mistrust and unfaithfulness in relationships. Secondly, South African men believe that sex without condom is more pleasurable and it is good for human health (Brummer, 2002, p.12). Cultural Assessment Model Cultural assessment models include research design, cross-cultural and panel. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression will be used in the estimation of models used within the paper. The method will be used to determine the impacts that HIV disease has on regional, cultural, political and socioeconomic factors. Prevalence of the disease among the adult population will be used as the dependent variable. The number of infected people between the ages of 15 and 49 will be estimated. The literacy rate will be measured by the level of education. These will include people above the age of 15 who are able to read and write. I will refer to this variable as education. The next variable will be economic development. This will depend on gross domestic product (GDP) (Tiruneh, 2009, p.118). The type of regime will be measured by Freedom House democracy. House freedom is concerned with civil liberties and political rights. Presence of political parties, voting rights, free and fair elections is what entails political rights. Freedom of expression, speech and press is civil liberty. This variable is type of regime. The next variable will be religion (Caldwell, 2000, p.126). The two major religions in South Africa are Islam and Christianity. Religion will be measured through calculating the number of Muslims and Christians in the country. Here the variables will be Islam and Christianity. Most of the people in South Africa do not seek medical assistance because of fear of being discriminated. I will expect that more money will be spent on HIV because its spreading rate is high. The variable is healthcare. Political instability is a contributing factor to spread of HIV and Aids. During wars, civilians are exposed to sexual abuses like rape, which increases rate of transmission. The variable will be political stability (Tiruneh, 2009, p.121). Results The results of the study showed that regional, cultural, economic and political factors affect the spread of HIV AND Aids disease. The results showed that illiterates were the most affected population in South Africa. This is mainly because they lacked knowledge on how the HIV virus is spread. Others did not know the preventive measures of the disease. Out of ignorance, most of them found themselves contracting the disease. Literates had knowledge on how to prevent the diseases and most of them had moved away from the traditional values, like negative attitude toward condom use and polygamy. Many embraced modern ways of using condoms and retaining one sexual partner. The type of regime is directly related to spread of HIV and Aids. The study showed that increase in spread of the disease was directly related to the fact that the country is democratic. People are not questioned for their actions. Because of this freedom sexual offenses within the country are high. For instance, most of the rape cases go unreported which has seen increase in the spread of the disease in the country (Tiruneh, 2009, p.122). Tiruneh (2009, p.122) points out that the spread of HIV virus was more among Christians than Muslims. This is because Christianity involves democracy, while Islam has strict religious values which must be adhered to. For instance, if a lady was caught in adultery act, she could be killed. Because of fear of the implications of their actions, many do not engage in irresponsible sexual behaviors. On the other hand, Christians do not take seriously issues of irresponsible sexual behavior and victims go unpunished. Because of strictness of the Islamic religion, less people were found to be affected. According to the study, most of the poverty stricken areas realized more spread of HIV Aids. Most poor people could not access quality health care and resources like condoms, which prevent transmission of HIV Aids. The state of political instability in the country contributed to increase in infections. During internal wars, civilians and especially women fall as victims of sexual abuse including rape. Many contact HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Finally, the disease was mainly spread among the blacks in South Africa. This was mainly because most of the blacks are deeply rooted to the traditional cultural values like polygamy, female genital mutilation and wife inheritance which increase risks of infection (Bongaarts, Reining, Way & Conant, 1989, p.375). During female circumcision, one tool is used for all the girls. The disease then spreads to the girls. The overall results of the study showed that HIV spread and transmission is influenced by cultural, economic and political factors (Tiruneh, 2009, p.122). Plan to Reduce HIV Transmission In order to prevent further spread of the HIV VIRUS IN South Africa, the following should be done. First, the community should be enlightened on the importance of educations. The government should then ensure that they establish schools all over the country and employ enough teachers and make education compulsory for children. This will help fight the high levels of illiteracy. Secondly, the government should establish health centers in the interior where people lack adequate health facilities. They should have free guidance and counseling services for HIV positive and negative patients. The topic on sexuality should be made public issue. Sexuality should be taught to people from all age groups. This will make people and especially young know resulting consequences of engaging in irresponsible sexual behavior. One of the reasons as to why HIV is widely spread is because the subject of sexuality left to teachers alone. Health professionals should guide parent to actively participate in teaching their children sex education without fear (Buve, Bishikwabo-Nsarhaza & Mutangadura, 2002, p.2015). Many children mess up because they lack knowledge on sexuality. The other factor is creating employment opportunities so that the poor can earn something to sustain their lives. This will reduce sex commercialization which is aimed at making money. If youths are provided with jobs, the number of prostitutes will go down. Finally, the government should abolish some of the cultural practices which increase the risk of HIV spread, like female genital mutilation. The government should establish rules against communities practicing such cultural values. Implementation of cultural strategies According to Tiruneh (2009, p.122), establishment of policies governing some of the cultural practices may limit HIV and Aids transmission. According to me, the most important cultural strategies to be implemented should be restriction of polygamy and female genital mutilation practices. Female genital mutilation is still widely practiced in the indigenous communities of South Africa, especially among the blacks. If the government bans the practice completely and enlightens the community on the impacts of the disease, the problem will be minimized. Secondly, the issue of polygamy and wife inheritance should be banned. If the government of South Africa can afford to initiate policies and succeed in eradicating polygamy and wife inheritance in the region, the degree of HIV spread and transmission would be limited. Evaluation of the Results After banning polygamy, wife inheritance and female genital mutilation, the success of the policies can be evaluated through carrying out a research. The research will be conducted using sampling method, and people will be selected randomly from different areas in regions which initially practiced polygamy and FGM. Previous results of HIV prevalence among circumcised girls and non-circumcised will then be compared. In addition, the number of monogamous couples with HIV and Aids will be compared to that of initial population in which polygamy was common. The results are expected to show decrease in the number of HIV patients. Eradication of such cultural practices will have reduced HIV prevalence (Tiruneh, 2009, p.121). HIV spread is linked to cultural practices not only in South Africa but all over the world. Indigenous cultural practices like polygamy, FGM, wife inheritance and male dominance are still retained in some of the modern communities and contribute to increased rate of HIV and Aids in the modern world. Modern cultural practices like homosexuality and anal sex also contribute to the disease. To prevent the spread of the disease, public awareness concerning the diseases should be enhanced (Tiruneh, 2009, p.122). Reference Bongaarts, J., Reining, P., Way, P., & Conant, F. (1989). The relationship between male circumcision and HIV infection in African populations. AIDS, 3: 373-377. Brummer, D. (2002). Labor migration and HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa. Pretoria, South Africa: International Organization for Migration Regional Office for South Africa. Buve, A., Bishikwabo-Nsarhaza, K. & Mutangadura, G. (2002). The spread and effects of HIV-1 Infection in sub-Saharan Africa. The Lancet, 359: 2011-2017. Caldwell, J. (2000). Rethinking the African AIDS epidemic. Population and Development Review, 26(1): 117-135. Human Sciences Research Council. (2009). South African National HIV prevalence, incidence, behaviour and communication survey, 2008. Retrieved on 7 April 2012 from: http://www.mrc.ac.za/pressreleases/2009/sanat.pdf. Tiruneh, G. (2009). Determinants of Adult HIV/AIDS prevalence in Africa: Do cultural variations matter? Midsouth Political Science Review, 10,103-123. Read More