When you think about AIDS/HIV what comes to your mind? It’s Africa, this is because they have the highest rate. Without care and treatment there will be 68 million more deaths between now and 2020!!!!!!. Just think about for a second……………ok. Crazy isn’t it?. Botswana, which is suppose to be one of the wealthest countries according to our guest speaker, has the highest HIV infection rates in the world. Almost thirty-nine percent of adults are now living with HIV. AIDS/HIV also has a relation to poverty, the poor are more vulnerable to the HIV infection. Ninety-five percent of infections are in developing countries, seventy percent are in sub-Saharan Africa where eighty percent of the deaths occur.

In Africa Women are more vulenrable than men; young women are 4 to 5 times more more vulenarble than young men. When the AIDS/HIV epidemic hit California as the “gay plague” nobody realized that the disease was already well established in Africa. There is a constant view in Africa as unimportant and has been neglected. This fight against AIDS in Africa has been dominated by Western prejudices against African sexuality and cultural practices. For example, in the early 1980s when the speculation about Haiti starting AIDS everyone quickly went Anti-Haiti. I believe the only way AIDS/HIV can be stopped is if it is a cure, i don’t think by people giving out condoms and other things will be that much helpful. Hopefully a cure is coming soon!!!!