IMPLICATION OF HIV
The burden of HIV/AIDS has profound implications for four sectors of African society; development, health state and academia. These impacts confronting many African states and society pose challenges to their management of their epidemics now and into the future.
According to the guidelines of World Health Organization in 2009, 1.3 million Africans lost their lives as a result of AIDS and 14.8 million children in Africa lost one or both parents to become AIDS orphans. Beyond this devastating count HIV/AIDS burden has compromised the achievement of key millennium development goals in Africa. The IMF also agrees that it has a negative impact on total gross domestic product and most of these affected countries require the most climatic increase in healthcare spending to meet their treatment goals.
On the development side there is a negative impact especially in high prevalence countries. High related sickness and premature adult death compromise household stability and investment in children; stress extended family and broader social networks and diminish labour supply and productivity while increase cost of households, public institutions and private sector companies.
In the household sector HIV/AIDS infects and kills young and middle-aged adults preferentially the age groups that compromises household heads, mothers, fathers of young children and adolescent caregivers for the old and sick, transmitters of agricultural and livelihood knowledge and skills and custodians of social safety nets. Sickness and possible death draw down on household existing financial servers and compromises the sick member income-earning and food producing potential. This erosion of household resilience undermines the care of and financial investment in children. This weakens long-term development prospects.
In terms of food security HIV/AIDS has exacerbated the food shortage in Africa. This hypothesis is based on several observations that there is food shortage including areas not affected by drought. This has been linked to decline in household food production. Infection and decline in agricultural land use and also in land use patterns including stopping cultivation of labor-intensive crops and reducing farming management practices.
Some families try to cop how to support orphaned and vulnerable children. In response to increased healthcare cost and income reductions families adopt ‘erosive’ coping strategies such as taking children out of school, diminishing food intake. Households without health insurance or saving are at a risk of adopting erosive coping measures strategies jeopardize future livelihood option and undermine children’s education and future livelihood potential because most orphans are being cared for by frail, elderly grandparents who often need to be cared for and lack adequate support system.
In addition to the other impacts HIV/AIDS affects economic growth since many Africans economies suffer from extreme unemployment and underemployment of their labour forces, since many firms don’t replace their workers who have succumbed to HIV/AIDS infections and even if they want to replace workers they replace them at a low cost hence any are not willing to enroll themselves.
It also brings out supply and demand, cost and benefits since dedicated funding to increase access to HIV/AIDS treatment and care introduce another dynamic as the supply of HIV/AIDS related treatment and care increases, so too does demand for the new services while the provision of complex lifelong treatment to an ever-expanding number of patients will only continue to create extra demand for healthcare resources driving up provider incomes and the prices of all healthcare.
Everlyn Ndwati
According to the guidelines of World Health Organization in 2009, 1.3 million Africans lost their lives as a result of AIDS and 14.8 million children in Africa lost one or both parents to become AIDS orphans. Beyond this devastating count HIV/AIDS burden has compromised the achievement of key millennium development goals in Africa. The IMF also agrees that it has a negative impact on total gross domestic product and most of these affected countries require the most climatic increase in healthcare spending to meet their treatment goals.
On the development side there is a negative impact especially in high prevalence countries. High related sickness and premature adult death compromise household stability and investment in children; stress extended family and broader social networks and diminish labour supply and productivity while increase cost of households, public institutions and private sector companies.
In the household sector HIV/AIDS infects and kills young and middle-aged adults preferentially the age groups that compromises household heads, mothers, fathers of young children and adolescent caregivers for the old and sick, transmitters of agricultural and livelihood knowledge and skills and custodians of social safety nets. Sickness and possible death draw down on household existing financial servers and compromises the sick member income-earning and food producing potential. This erosion of household resilience undermines the care of and financial investment in children. This weakens long-term development prospects.
In terms of food security HIV/AIDS has exacerbated the food shortage in Africa. This hypothesis is based on several observations that there is food shortage including areas not affected by drought. This has been linked to decline in household food production. Infection and decline in agricultural land use and also in land use patterns including stopping cultivation of labor-intensive crops and reducing farming management practices.
Some families try to cop how to support orphaned and vulnerable children. In response to increased healthcare cost and income reductions families adopt ‘erosive’ coping strategies such as taking children out of school, diminishing food intake. Households without health insurance or saving are at a risk of adopting erosive coping measures strategies jeopardize future livelihood option and undermine children’s education and future livelihood potential because most orphans are being cared for by frail, elderly grandparents who often need to be cared for and lack adequate support system.
In addition to the other impacts HIV/AIDS affects economic growth since many Africans economies suffer from extreme unemployment and underemployment of their labour forces, since many firms don’t replace their workers who have succumbed to HIV/AIDS infections and even if they want to replace workers they replace them at a low cost hence any are not willing to enroll themselves.
It also brings out supply and demand, cost and benefits since dedicated funding to increase access to HIV/AIDS treatment and care introduce another dynamic as the supply of HIV/AIDS related treatment and care increases, so too does demand for the new services while the provision of complex lifelong treatment to an ever-expanding number of patients will only continue to create extra demand for healthcare resources driving up provider incomes and the prices of all healthcare.
Everlyn Ndwati
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