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WHAT'S NEW
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Aids in Africa
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Give the gift of hope to Africa's women and join the fight to eradicate a deadly, widespread disease.
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By Jennifer Melo, Homemakers.com editor
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It has gained the attention of the United Nations, politicians and even rock stars. The spread of HIV/AIDS is vast, affecting every continent on Earth, but Africa is the most afflicted part of the world, with 26.6 million AIDS victims, 2.3 million deaths and 3.2 million new infections in 2003 alone (source: UNAIDS).
Here in North America, AIDS directly affects hundreds of thousands of people. 2003 figures for this continent reveal that there are an estimated 790, 000 to 1.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS; there are 12, 000 to 18, 000 reported deaths due to the disease and 36, 000 to 54, 000 new infections. (source: UNAIDS).
A vicious cycle
While AIDS is a pandemic that indiscriminately wipes out lives, Africa's women are dying in disproportionate numbers. In Malawi, there are twice as many women than men infected with AIDS (source: Allafrica.com). Considering such statistics, it's clear that this vicious disease will persist and continue to leave children without their mothers, sisters, aunts and grandmothers. As these lives are extinguished, a cycle of devastation unfolds: The crops, usually tended to by women, are abandoned and left to deteriorate as their orphaned children — who may be infected as well — are left to fend for themselves and their entire family.
Challenges and changes
There are several reasons why women in Africa are so vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Often, their socioeconomic status silences them and keeps them from empowering themselves. Sometimes they're infected by their own husbands, they may be victims of sexual violence and stigmas can keep them from seeking the antiretroviral drugs that can extend their lives and allow them to enjoy a good quality of life.
In a December 2002 address at Columbia University in New York, Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations, eloquently explained why it's so important to save the women of Africa. Click here to read Annan's speech.
*Mozambique first began losing its fathers and husbands to AIDS. Now it is the women who are dying, leaving behind fallow fields and hungry children. Get an up-close look at how AIDS affects a family in the October 2004 issue of Homemakers magazine.
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