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Health Care
How can African countries eliminate the diseases that
threaten their people and cultures?
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Main Ideas
• Epidemic diseases are killing
Africa’s people in huge
numbers.
• African nations and countries
around the world are using a
variety of methods, including
education, to eradicate
disease.
A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE On June 1, 2001, Nkosi Johnson died from the
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)—the virus that causes acquired
immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). He was the longest living South
Places & Terms
African child born with HIV. In February, he celebrated his 12th birthday—but weighed just 27 pounds. Living with a foster mother, the child
had become a symbol of hope in a nation suffering from AIDS. He
frankly discussed the problems of the disease and received cheers at the
world’s largest AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa, in July 2000.
His plight was typical of many on the continent, as African nations struggle to deal with this and other diseases.
malaria
AIDS
cholera
tuberculosis
UNAIDS
Disease and Despair
Controlling AIDS and other diseases is essential if Africans are to improve
their quality of life and live a normal lifespan.
SERIOUS DISEASES African nations are threatened by a variety of
diseases. Inadequate sanitation and lack of a clean water supply can lead
to cholera, an infection that is often fatal if not treated. In 2000–2001,
widespread flooding caused some cases of cholera in Mozambique, but
international relief efforts prevented a widespread outbreak.
Diseases in Africa, 1900 and 2000
Malaria
Malaria
First reference in Greece
around 400 B.C.
Ninety percent of world’s
estimated 250 million malaria
cases occur in Africa.
Sleeping Sickness
First described around A.D.
1300 in present-day Mali.
Smallpox
First evidence c. 1156 B.C.
in Egypt. Eradicated A.D. 1977.
Sleeping Sickness
Affects 60 million people
annually in Africa.
AIDS
Origins of HIV traced to
Central Africa in 1959.
SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Charts
MAKING COMPARISONS What was a leading disease in Africa in 1900 but not in 2000?
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS What disease occurs in Africa in 2000 but not in 1900?
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Mosquitos carrying malaria—an infectious disease marked by chills and
fevers that is often fatal—are common in African countries. The disease
has become resistant to standard drugs because of overuse of those drugs
in treating the disease during the past several decades. AIDS and HIV, however, create the most severe problems. Seventy percent of the world’s adult
AIDS cases and 80 percent of the world’s children with AIDS are in African
nations. AIDS is often accompanied by tuberculosis, a respiratory infection
spread between humans.
AIDS Stalks the Continent
In 2000, AIDS took the lives of three million people worldwide. Of these,
2.4 million lived in sub-Saharan Africa. In Swaziland, three of every four
deaths were attributed to AIDS. The AIDS epidemic in Swaziland has
caused life expectancy there to drop from 58 years to 39 years. In 2000,
nearly 26 million people in Africa were living with either HIV or AIDS.
A HIGH PRICE TO PAY Widespread disease has economic conse-
AIDS in Africa
quences. People who are sick work less or not at all, earn less, and thus
are pushed further into poverty. Economists project that by 2010, the
GDP of South Africa will be 17 percent lower than it would have been
if not for AIDS. Furthermore, AIDS patients’ medical care is also expensive. UNAIDS, the UN program that studies the world’s AIDS epidemic,
estimates that $4.63 billion will be
needed to fight AIDS in Africa.
Background
According to the
U.S. Agency for
International
Development, by
2010, nearly 30
million children
will have lost at
least one parent
to AIDS.
N
W
E
S
Nations Respond
Response to these epidemics comes
both from African nations and from
countries around the world.
Adults living with HIV/AIDS, 2000
Greater than 20%
11% – 20%
6% – 10%
1% – 5%
Less than 1%
Data not available
Source: UNAIDS Report on the
Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic, June,
2000.
SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps
REGION Which subregion has the highest infection rate?
REGION Which subregion has the lowest infection rate?
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A VARIETY OF ANSWERS To fight
malaria and other insect-borne diseases, African nations have used spraying programs since the 1930s to
reduce the number of insects. In 2000,
the Global Fund for Children’s
Vaccines pledged more than $250 million for use over the next five years for
immunization programs in Africa,
Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
Some African countries are fighting
disease by improving their health care
systems. Gabon, for example, has used
oil revenues to improve its health care
system substantially. In addition, the
African Development Fund approved a
loan of nearly 12.3 million dollars to
enable Mozambique to upgrade its public health facilities.
A. Answer Libya,
Algeria, Angola,
Republic of the
Congo, and
Nigeria
Using the Atlas
Using the atlas
and the map on
the left, which
other countries
could rely on
revenues from oil
to improve their
health care
systems?
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STRATEGIES AGAINST AIDS
B. Answer
Senegal used
education at the
outset to keep
infection rates
low; Uganda
used education as
well as treatment
programs.
SUCCESS STORIES Two coun-
tries, Uganda and Senegal, have
had success in reducing the
spread of HIV. Uganda’s government has spearheaded efforts to
combat AIDS. For example, in
1997, Uganda began to offer same-day HIV tests and education programs. Infection rates among 15 to 24 year olds have dropped by 50 percent. On the other hand, Senegal has controlled the spread of the disease
from the outset through an intensive education program. Infection rates
have remained below two percent since the mid-1980s.
UNAIDS says that HIV infection rates in 2000 in sub-Saharan
Africa dropped by 200,000 cases from 1999. However, UNAIDS cautions that the drop in HIV infection rates could mean that almost
as many people are dying of AIDS as are being infected with HIV.
Nevertheless, many African nations are taking action. With these
efforts, African countries can build an effective health care system
and make progress against the epidemics that threaten its peoples
and cultures.
PLACE Kenyans
gather outside a health
clinic near Nairobi to
learn about the
dangers of AIDS.
AFRICA
Making
Comparisons
What are the
differences in the
ways that Uganda
and Senegal have
tried to slow the
spread of AIDS?
Fighting and preventing AIDS is
being done on many levels. In
December 2000, South Africa
and Brazil reached an agreement
to work together on AIDS prevention and care. Brazil’s public
health policies to combat AIDS
and other diseases are considered a model for developing
countries.
Places & Terms
Explain the meaning of
each of the following
terms.
• AIDS
• cholera
• malaria
• tuberculosis
• UNAIDS
Taking Notes
Main Ideas
PLACE Review the notes you took
for this section.
Causes
Effects
Issue 2
• What are some of the serious
diseases affecting African
countries?
• How has AIDS affected
Swaziland?
a. What are some of the
causes of cholera and
malaria?
b. How is AIDS affecting the
population of Africa’s
countries?
c. Why might the drop in
HIV infection rates not
indicate progress in
slowing AIDS?
Geographic Thinking
Identifying and Solving
Problems How have African
nations slowed the spread of
the continent’s diseases?
Think about:
• the different programs
• international cooperation
RESEARCH LINKS
CL ASSZONE .COM
MAKING COMPARISONS Using encyclopedias or the Internet, find out what the leading
diseases are in the United States and identify their primary causes. Compare your findings
to the leading diseases in Africa in a chart on the topic.
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