AIDS in Africa

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AIDS in Africa. How to stop AIDS in Africa. The truth about AIDS in Africa. The History of AIDS in Africa. Huge number of useful links on AIDS in Africa. Economic impact of AIDS in Africa. Orphans and HIV treaments. Read on....

AIDS prevention works - we can stop the spread of HIV - lessons from Uganda - Video

Order Free copies of "AIDS ACTION" book available now in English, Swahili, Luganda, Hausa, Spanish, French and Russian and many other , in bulk, to organisations for distribution in developing countries - from ACET International Alliance website, in partnership with OM. The widely acclaimed handbook "The Truth about AIDS" is available on the same basis. Save lives and care for those affected: donate to ACET online. $15 supports 10 AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe for a month; $130 supports a schools worker in Ukraine for a month; $50 pays for 150 books for project workers in India. You can also read the text of these books online (old editions).

Video above: comment by Dr Patrick Dixon to audience in South Africa about how corporations can help stop AIDS. HIV prevention can produce huge falls in infection rates in teenagers.

"I will never forget my first trip to Uganda in 1988, to find out about AIDS in Africa. Coffin makers lined the road from the airport to Kampala. AIDS in Africa is wiping out tens of millions of men, women and children. I have seen the pain, grief and suffering - in the poorest slum areas and in the wealthiest districts. AIDS in Africa hurts everyone, but children are always the most vulnerable. Born with HIV from their mothers, infected through breast milk, or in the past through unsafe medical treatments, seduced by adults who want "safe" sex with virgins, often orphaned and destitute, having to build their own homes, grow their own food, and care for younger brothers and sisters. That is the cruel reality of AIDS in Africa. Yet AIDS in Africa can be beaten if we all pull together."

- Dr Patrick Dixon Founder ACET International Alliance

This site contains two entire books covering many aspects of AIDS in Africa, plus large numbers of other AIDS in Africa resources. AIDS in Africa - statistics, AIDS in Africa prevention programmes, AIDS in Africa - community action, Causes of spread of HIV / AIDS in Africa, Poverty issues and AIDS in Africa, Government responses to AIDS in Africa, Funding for AIDS in Africa, Political issues raised by AIDS in Africa, Civil war encourages spread of AIDS in Africa, Early symptoms of AIDS in Africa, AIDS in Africa - a Christian response and AIDS in Africa - mobilising churches.

AIDS IN AFRICA SUMMARY

Sub-Saharan Africa had 22.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in 2009, with 1.3 million deaths that year and around 3 million new infections of which around 20% were in children.

It used to be the case that very, very few with HIV or AIDS in Africa got antiretroviral treatment. Many millions were not receiving medicines to treat opportunistic infections.  In 2011 the situation has improved but it is still hard for many millions of people with HIV in Africa to get the right treatment - or any treatment at all.  In cities it can be easier, but remember that in many parts of rural Africa, people may have to walk 20-30 miles to the nearest clinic - only to find they have run out of supplies.

It takes up to 10 years from infection to illness, so AIDS in Africa is often hidden. That means that people who need treatment, for whom treatment is available to slow down HIV infection, may have no idea that they are carrying the virus.

That is why one of the most effective prevention strategies for HIV is to encourage people to be tested.  Those who know they carry the virus usually change how they live to protect others, as well as being able to access treatment (hopefully).  Those who know they are not carrying the virus are usually relieved enough to reduce their risks in future.

In the absence of massively expanded prevention efforts, the AIDS in Africa death toll will continue relentlessly for another decade. The worst of the AIDS in Africa impact will be felt in the next decade and beyond. It is not too late to introduce measures to reduce that impact, including wider access to HIV medicines and help for the poor.

In four southern African countries, national adult HIV prevalence has at times exceeded 30%: Botswana (38.8%), Lesotho (31%), Swaziland (33.4%) and Zimbabwe (33.7%). Food crises faced in the latter three countries have been linked to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, especially on the lives of young, productive adults.  When people are half-starving, resistance to HIV is lower.

Yet, there hopeful signs that the epidemic of AIDS in Africa could eventually be brought under control. In South Africa, HIV prevalence rates fell to 15.4% in 2001 (down from 21% in 1998) for pregnant women under 20. Syphilis rates among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics also fell to 2.8% in 2001, from 11.2% four years earlier—suggesting that awareness campaigns and prevention programmes are working.

HIV prevalence rates are falling among young inner-city women in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Infection levels in women aged 15–24 attending antenatal clinics dropped from 24.2% in 1995 to 15.1% in 2001 (however, similar trends were not evident in outlying areas of the city, nor are they occurring elsewhere in the country). (Figures from UNAIDS).

In Uganda, infection rates among 15 year old girls fell from 22% to 7% in a decade - since risen a little again.

The picture is clear: AIDS can be beaten.  Prevention saves lives.

Symptoms of HIV and AIDS - worried about yourself or someone you love?

Free Chapter of Truth about AIDS book on HIV Symptoms

Dr Patrick Dixon explains about HIV symptoms: what happens when someone is infected with HIV. Early symptoms of AIDS. Risks of transmission? Why some people get infected with HIV and not others. Dr Dixon is a physician and founder of the international AIDS agency ACET, with prevention and care programmes in many of the poorest nations.

Background: Dr Patrick Dixon, author of these pages, first visited Uganda in 1988 to see at first hand the impact of AIDS in Africa. As a result, a new international organisation known as ACET (AIDS Care Education and Training) was started, with a particular focus on AIDS in Africa and a growing range of AIDS programmes based in Kampala Uganda (ACET Uganda).

Free copies of latest edition of "AIDS ACTION" books are available for organisations working in the poorest nations - while stocks last - from ACET International Alliance

Join the Debate! What are your own views?

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Bongani jiyane

May 05, 2014 - 17:04

what is the aim of the graphs and tables that you used

Valdir

September 26, 2012 - 07:24

wKLGeZXXSaiyyP

If you're really woerird about it, don't go to your doctor. There are always places where you can get tested and have the results kept confidential. Look in your city phone book, yellow pages. If you don't see anything, then look for your local LGBT equality center and they can tell you where one is, or call the AIDS Hotline, they can give you the location of your nearest testing site. With most of these places, the testing is free, however, if you want the results back right away, there is usually a charge, and you can get the results usually within 24 hours. If you opt to not pay, it takes a couple of weeks to get your test results back. In most of the places, you don't even have to give your name, they give you a number, and match your number to your test results.

Kristie Connors

October 29, 2008 - 06:35

Condoms for Africa

I am going on an internship to Kenya in 4 weeks time to work with abused and neglected children. Whilst planning this trip i thought i would network and try to raise 500 condoms.

This personal project has taken on a mind of its own and i now have 10,000+ condoms i am taking with me to Kenya to distribute to HIV/Aids clinics in Kenya and surrounding countries that educate, provide testing and that are desperately low in resources (Condoms).

Australian Companies and Individuals have donated these condoms through the goodness of their heart and i want to ensure that i am able to distribute them to the places that really need them.

Any advice, contacts, information you are able to provide would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Kristie Connors

Brandon Gardner

July 21, 2008 - 16:03

people of Africa

I am sorry for the people in Africa and the troubles that they face I will see if I can get my school to do something to raise money to help the people in Africa

Reply to Brandon Gardner

Patrick Dixon

July 21, 2008 - 17:31

Africa - practical help

Thanks - I helped startACET 20 years ago and a major part of this foundation is helping in Africa. My company is a major supporter. There are a couple of projects you may particularly be interested in. http://www.acet-international.org/zimbabwe.htm is a useful link about amazing work with orphans in Zimbabwe where inflation is now running at 1 million %. Patrick

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