CASE STUDY F HIV/AIDS in South Africa


It is predicted that populations in certain parts of the world will decrease greatly over the next 40 years, with over one-third of this reduction accredited to deaths caused by HIV/AIDS. Te areas which will be most affected by HIV/ AIDS will be South Africa and the Indian Sub-Continent.


GEO DICTIONARY


Antiretroviral drugs: medicines which slow down a virus’s ability to reproduce or attack the immune system


South Africa has a population of 53 million, of which roughly 12 per cent are infected with HIV/AIDS. If we exclude children, the percentage of adults infected rises to 18 per cent. However, this does not provide an accurate indication of infection: 13.6 per cent of black South Africans are infected, compared to 0.3 per cent of white South Africans. Delays in introducing effective treatments in South Africa have made the situation much worse than it should be, as both the government and MNCs prevented the widespread distribution of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to treat HIV. For many years, these treatments were available only to South Africans who could afford to pay for private healthcare.


Population size with and without AIDS, South Africa, 2000 and 2025 2000


2025 100+ Male Female


90–94 95–99


70–74 75–79 80–84 85–89


10–14 15–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59 60–64 65–69


0–4 5–9


3 2 (in millions)


: Fig. 2.25 The impact of AIDS on the population of South Africa


1 0 1 2 3 3 Age group


Actual estimated and projected population Hypothetical size of the population in the absence of AIDS


As it was mainly white South Africans who could afford private healthcare, the number of black South Africans contracting the disease continued to rise rapidly. Furthermore, treatment to prevent infected pregnant women from passing the disease onto their infants was also delayed by the government, which has largely contributed to the figure of 28 per cent of 15–24 year olds in South Africa being infected with AIDS.


Despite over two decades of media, international and national pressure, it was not until 2009, when Jacob Zuma won the presidency of South Africa that government barriers were removed to allow for widespread access to ARVs. As widespread treatment with ARVs now increases rapidly, the number of new infections among adolescents has been decreasing steadily. However, the


58 ELECTIVE 5 PATTERNS AND PROCESSES IN THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT 2 1 0 1 2 3 (in millions) Male Female


A


Z


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