FREE AIDS in Africa Essay (original) (raw)

For the past two decades multinational drug companies have turned a blind eye on the AIDS epidemic in South Africa by refusing to sell antiretroviral drugs to them at discounted prices. The antiretroviral drugs are the standard virus treatment available to AIDS patients in the United States and other developed nations. The cost for the treatment runs between 10,000and15,000perpatientperyear.ThehighcostofthedrugsmakesitvirtuallyimpossibleforSouthAfricanstoafforditwhentheiraverageincomeislessthan10,000 and 15,000 per patient per year. The high cost of the drugs makes it virtually impossible for South Africans to afford it when their average income is less than 10,000and15,000perpatientperyear.ThehighcostofthedrugsmakesitvirtuallyimpossibleforSouthAfricanstoafforditwhentheiraverageincomeislessthan500 per year.
There are more than 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS. Last year 2.4 million South Africans died from the disease. Many were babies and teenagers, which are the most vulnerable of the population. The epidemic, which was once viewed as "being so large it defied a solution", has now reached pandemic proportions. Every man, woman, and child is either effected or affected with this deadly disease.
However, due to increasing public awareness regarding the high price of the drugs and the intense pressures from advocacy groups across the globe to lower them, the tides are beginning to turn. In the last six months 39 multinational drug companies have agreed to lower their drug prices to make them more affordable to AIDS patients in South Africa. This is the first positive step in a very complex process of providing the drugs to the afflicted. The next hurdle will be devising an effective plan to deliver and administer the drug to the millions of sick and dying South Africans.
In the past, drug companies have opposed selling their antiretroviral drugs at discounted prices to South Africa because it would have been unprofitable for them. Profitability is the name of the game in the business world. Drug companies are businesses; they are in business to make money. They have commitments to their employees and stockholders to be profitable.

1. AIDS In Africa

AIDS in Africa Africa is fighting a loosing battle against AIDS. ... Economically AIDS is greatly affecting Africa. ... AIDS is defiantly impacting Africa in many ways. AIDS is spreading in Africa for a couple of reasons. ... There are many reasons Africa's AIDS numbers are growing. ...

2. Aids in Africa

The AIDS crisis in Africa has become an enormous problem that cannot and should not be ignored. Out of all of the people in the world with AIDS, at least one third reside in Africa. Why do such a large number of people with AIDS exist solely in Africa? ... What can be done about the AIDS problem in Africa? ... AIDS has the potential to create severe economic impacts in many African countries. ...

3. Aids in Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is by far the region worst affected by HIV and Aids, according to the World Health Organization's latest report on the disease. Aids Epidemic Update says there were 3.4 million new HIV infections in Africa in 2001, almost 70% of the global total. ... The African governments have responded to the AIDS epidemic primarily by attempting to reduce the number of new HIV infections, and to some degree, by trying compensate the damage done by AIDS to families, societies, and economies. ... Efforts to reduce the number of AIDS infections have focused on increasing AIDS awarene...

4. Africa and Aids

South of the Sahara, HIV and AIDS are worse than anywhere else in the world, and this catastrophe is transforming the continent forever. ... President Bush has recently allocated billions of dollars of spending to be used to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. ... Anyhow, Communicable diseases more contagious than AIDS remain a problem, making AIDS just one of them. ... It is an unbiased killer that threatens the African population. With very little education, parentless children, and cultural and societal beliefs, AIDS will continue to run havoc on the continent of Africa. ...

5. Aids in Africa

AIDS IN AFRICA. What is AIDS and how is it transmitted? ... AIDS kills about 6000 people in Africa each day. ... Another factor that is causing the AIDS epidemic to skyrocket in Africa is poverty. ... Increasingly sophisticated treatments have cut the death AIDS death rate in the industrialized countries, but not in Africa the epidemic is gathering momentum. ...

6. AIDS Crisis in Africa

Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of Aids cases far exceeds that of all other geographic regions. ... One out of seven children in South-Saharan Africa will be AIDS orphans by the year 2005. ... The mining industry will suffer since it is dependant on labor from South African rural areas and other neighboring African countries, where the AIDS rate is the highest in the world. ... Few Africans can afford the drugs needed to fight AIDS, which can cost between 500and500 and 500and1,000 a month. ... No crisis poses such a threat to human dignity as the cris...

7. The Economic Impact of AIDs in Africa

The Economic Impact of Aids In South Africa For over ten years South Africa has been in denial of its most threatining problem. ... "AIDS makes most of South Africa's other problems seem trivial-(8210:8). ... The first case of AIDS in South Africa occured in 1987, where as the countries farther north than South Africa had their first AIDS cases way before. ... "A Quarter of a million South Africans were killed by AIDS last year. ... Many firms in South Africa are providing classes on AIDS. ...

8. AIDS In Africa

AIDS IN AFRICA AIDS is the number one cause of death in Africa and the fourth globally (Mayell 27). ... The AIDS virus has extremely affected the continent of Africa. ... South Africa continues to be the most severely hit region of Africa by the AIDS virus. ... The AIDS epidemic in Africa has created several problems. ... Jeffery Bartholet of Newsweek reports that since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, 14.8 million Africans have died from AIDS and 2.6 million AIDS deaths occurred in 1999. ...

9. Aids

Africa continues to dwarf the rest of the world in how the region has been affected by AIDS. ... The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa will not be stopped with drugs and "abstinence only" education, Sex education and condom availability are required for this battle. ... Condoms not only prevent HIV/AIDS but can also help control Africa's growing population challenge. ... My aunt died of AIDS when I was 13years old. ... The doctor informed my aunt that she had AIDS and passed it on to her son. ...

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