High Rates of Hiv/aids in South Africa

High rates of HIV/AIDS in South Africa

The high rates of HIV/AIDS in the townships of South Africa are due to traditional beliefs about the sexually transmitted disease. South Africans in townships are uneducated, so they are very easy to be manipulated to believing false beliefs about HIV transmission. False beliefs such as people with HIV/AIDS are cursed which leads to isolating people that have HIV.  HIV/AIDS is more prevalent in South Africa than anywhere else worldwide.  About 12% of the South African population is affected by the disease, that percentage is going to rise to 18% soon.

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The HIV/AIDS prevalence in Africa

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Map-of-HIV-Prevalance-in-Africa.png

Women are very vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection because they are often economically and dependent on men and have a lack of access to education.  The female rate of HIV infection in South Africa are on average five times higher than male infection rates due to biological and social vulnerability.  Due to high infection rate of HIV in women, they are branded as the spreaders of the disease and face many physical abuse and abandonment.

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Source:  http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica

Women are not the only vulnerable targets to the HIV/AIDS infection, even young children suffer from it because of traditional beliefs. For example the Zulus of KwaZulu-Natal believe the traditional belief that raping a child virgin will cleanse an HIV positive individual of the disease, which absolutely wrong and just plain sick. The rape of children among Zulus has roughly doubled since 1994. in 1990 in Durban there was flyers posted around the township that claims that South African men could become immune to AIDs by raping Indian women. This belief have led to increase rape and sexual violence in South African townships, which has accelerated the spread of the disease.

Some of the cultural norms and practices in South Africa relates to sexuality contribute to the risk of HIV infection for example, Negative attitude towards condoms, as well as difficulties negotiating  and following through with their use. Men In Southern Africa regularly do not want to use condoms because of beliefs such that "flesh to flesh" sex is equated with masculinity and is necessary for male health. In some cultures where virginity is a condition for marriage, girls may protect their virginity by engaging in unprotected anal sex. Polygamy is when a man has multiple wives is practised in some parts of southern Africa. Even where traditional polygamy is no longer a norm, men tend to have more sexual partners and to use the service of sex workers, this increases the risk of HIV spread.

Sex working is a bad habit and is classified as a high risk of obtaining HIV/AIDS in South Africa, HIV prevalence among the sex workers varies between 34 and 69 percent depending on where they are located. A 2010 study, sex workers accounted for an estimated 19.8 percent of all new HIV infections in South Africa. Many sex workers  also inject drugs which increases their vulnerability to HIV infection. Female sex workers are particularly affected with one study reporting an HIV prevalence of nearly 60 percent among female sex workers compared to 13 % among women in the general population.  Sexual relationships outside marriage have become the norm for most men in urban areas. For women in Zimbabwe, sexual relationships are used as a mean of social and economical survival.  

In 2003 the South African government approved a national plan on HIV and AIDS care, management and treatment. This plan was evaluated and revised in 2006 and a new strategy was published. The strategy has clear targets and aims to reduce the number of new infections by 50% and get appropriate treatments, care and support to 80% of people who need it by 2011. It also has a strong focus on reducing the number of injections among young people.

The plan aims to educate every person in the community to understand how HIV and AIDS is spread and what they can do to protect themselves, Encourage people to change their sexual behaviours and to practice safe sex at all times and to make condoms freely available and distribute them in places where people can have easy access to them. The plan also creates a supportive environment.