South Africa: Many Problems, Many Futures
South Africa, as we know, is a relatively large country situated in the region known as Sub-Saharan Africa. Being located or associated with this region immediately leads one to assume that there are several social, economical, and political issues preventing the country from further development and a higher world economic and political standing. This is true in South Africa, even though it continues to be one of the most highly developed countries in the entire Sub-Saharan African region. One of the biggest problems that South Africa must deal with everyday is the infection and treatment of a great percentage of its population with HIV-AIDS. A key player in the prevention and treatment of this highly deadly disease is the South African government. I will also highlight the many ways that the government of South Africa has failed its people in this area, which as you will see, has been a major issue around the world for many years.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the virus that causes AIDS. AIDS, or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome occurs when an individual's immune system is weakened by HIV to such an extent that the individual develops one or more of about 25 "opportunistic infections" (OIs), conditions that take advantage of a weakened immune system (Get The Facts). AIDS has become a highly deadly pandemic disease, especially in Southern African countries, including South Africa itself. AIDS has further tightened its deadly grip on Southern Africa, already the epicenter of the global epidemic. The only seven countries in the world with adult infection rates above 20 percent are all in this region, including Botswana, with a 38.8 per cent infection rate, and Zimbabwe, where one in three adults is HIV-positive (Fleshman). In South Africa itself, the infection rate is 10.8% of the total population. Unfortunately, the infection rate of pregnant women is a staggering 29.1% (HIV & AIDS). This obviously does not bode well for the future of...
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