AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death from illness on the planet, second only to heart attack, stroke and pneumonia. It is a disease that is present in the most diverse continents of the globe, however, Africa is the continent most affected by it.
AIDS is the main mortality factor in Africa. The scale of the epidemic is so great that it interferes with the continent’s demographic projections. In the 38 most affected countries, the population in 2015 is expected to be 10% smaller than it would be in the absence of the disease.
The life expectancy of the African population is also affected by the spread of the disease. In countries like Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, the population lives 28 years less than they would have lived without AIDS. The main obstacle to reducing cases is poverty.
The high cost of medicines (cocktails), low quality public services and the lack of guidance continue to make Africans the most vulnerable to AIDS.
The first cases of the disease in Africa were detected in the early 1980s, and until 1990, about 10 million people were infected, that is, in a decade 10 million Africans affected by the disease were registered. Since then, cases of the disease on the continent have not stopped, currently about 45 million Africans are infected with the virus. In addition, the disease has killed approximately 23 million people and left 13 million orphans.
About 1 in 3 adults in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe is infected. By 2020, the most affected African countries may lose approximately 25% of their population due to the disease.
Global policies must be developed with the objective of minimizing the action of this disease on the African continent, as only with the help of developed countries will there be a reduction in AIDS cases in Africa.
