Hiv/aids
(ugochukwu ogbonna)
HIV/AIDS war zone
By the end of this decade, ten times more sub-Saharan Africans will die of AIDS than will be killed by fighting. For this reason, we need very much to worry about HIV/AIDS, even amid the confusion of a war zone.
A recent report, HIV and Conflict: A Double Emergency, published by Save the Children, revealed how conflict is a catalyst for the spread of HIV, speeding up transmission rates in the developing world. In food insecure conflict zones young girls are being forced into sexual bartering so that they can eat. Forced migration and military movements in conflict zones are contributing to the more rapid transmission of the virus.
Conflict and HIV feed upon one another. Around 70% of people living with HIV/AIDS reside in sub-Saharan Africa, where most of the world's conflicts are concentrated. And of the 17 countries with more than 100,000 children orphaned by AIDS, 13 are in conflict or on the brink of emergency involving conflict.
Consider the facts:
In Ethiopia, at the end of its long struggle with Eritrea, an estimated 1 million children had lost one or both parents to AIDS
Military personnel have 2-5 times higher HIV infection rates than their civilian counterparts.
In Uganda, one of the AIDS-prevention 'success stories', 27% of military personnel have tested HIV positive.
In 2000, statistics indicated HIV prevalence rates among some South African military units of between 60% and 90%.
HIV infection in the military is estimated at up to 50% in Congo, 75% in Malawi and 80 per cent in Zimbabwe.
In Burundi, up to 13% of young women and 8% of young men are believed to be living with HIV.
Now consider the nature of modern conflict, in which a distinguishing line between the military and civilians is the exception rather than the rule, and rape - from Bosnia to Rwanda - is often just another weapon in the arsenal. The link between war and HIV/AIDS could not be more apparent.
Resumos Relacionados
- Aids
- The Lost Children Of Aids
- Hiv Infection In Children
- What Went Wrong
- Should You Get An Aids Test?
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