Why is AIDS such a problem in Africa?
AIDS is a particular problem in Africa for reasons including: • the lack of information and education about AIDS • poverty • cultural issues to do with sexuality • poor communication • taboos • lack of money for treatment • lack of social welfare AIDS has had a major impact on Africa because so many people have become infected in the productive years of their lives. As in many other developing regions, heterosexual transmission is the dominant mode of spread, and mother-to-child transmission is much more common in Africa than it is in industrial countries. AIDS currently kills more people in Africa per day than floods, wars and famines together. Contaminated blood products and equipment are a risk, especially for pregnant women and children suffering from anaemia as a result of malaria. Homosexual transmission is rare in Africa. What are the patterns of transmission elsewhere in the world? Homosexual transmission is much more common in South East Asia and Central and South America than
