Download AIDS/Other Diseases

AIDS/Other
Diseases
Sub-Saharan Africa
Cholera
• Inadequate sanitation and lack of a
clean water supply can lead to cholera –
an infection that is often fatal if not
treated
• In 2000-2001, widespread flooding caused
some cases of cholera in Mozambique,
but international relief efforts prevented a
widespread outbreak
Malaria
• Mosquitos carrying malaria – an
infectious disease marked by chills and
fevers that is often fatal – are common in
African countries
• The disease has become resistant to
standard drugs because of overuse of
those drugs in treating the disease during
the past several decades
AIDS
• AIDS – acquired immune deficiency
syndrome
• HIV – human immunodeficiency virus
• AIDS is often accompanied by
tuberculosis – a respiratory infection
spread between humans
• 70% of the world’s adult AIDS cases and
80% of the world’s children with AIDS are in
African nations
AIDS
• In 2000, AIDS took the lives of 3 million
people worldwide, and of that 3 million,
2.4 million lived in sub-Saharan Africa
• In 2000, nearly 26 million people in Africa
were living with either HIV or AIDS
• It is estimated that 2/3 of HIV/AIDS cases
reported globally are in Africa
• The 21 countries worldwide with the
highest HIV prevalence are in Africa
Economic Impact of AIDS
• People who are sick work less or not at all,
earn less, and thus are pushed further into
poverty
• AIDS patients’ medical care is expensive
• UNAIDS – program that studies the world’s
AIDS epidemic
• UNAIDS estimates that $4.63 billion will be
needed to fight AIDS in Africa
Nations Respond
• To fight malaria and other insect-borne
diseases, African nations have used
spraying programs since the 1930s to
reduce insects
• Some African countries, such as
Gabon, are fighting disease by
improving their health care systems