Question

The outbreak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the 1990s has influenced many aspects of people’s life in the region. How do you think the HIV/AIDS epidemic will affect the process of demographic transition for SSA countries that are severely infected? Explain (Note: It is more important for you to provide economic reasoning for any possible effects rather than giving a conclusive answer)

Answer 1

                        As it is given in the situation, the outbreak of HIV/AIDS in the Sub-Saharan African region in the 1990’s have influenced the lives of many people in the region. With a contribution of only 11% of the Earth’s population, the SSA region is regarded as the world’s epicentre of HIV/AIDS. The spread of HIV is 1.2% worldwide whereas in the SSA region, it is almost 10%. UNAIDS have estimated that by the start of 2000, there were about 40 million people living with HIV in the world of which almost 29 million were in the SSA region. Although it is only the fourth leading cause of death in the world, it is the leading cause of death in the SSA region. The major impact of this is being seen at the life expectancy at birth which has reduced drastically due to this reason. The above cause remains the major reason for the shrink in the demographic transition in the SSA region. The combination of moderate birth rate and the increased mortality rate among the parents has meant that out of the total orphans in the world, 90% of them belong to this region. A belt of 16 countries from Djibouti to South African extends has seen a big dip in the economical stability also as a result of this. The following are the major economic impacts of the spread of HIV in this region

· The conditions following the disease has caused the increase of poverty in the region

· About 21 million people lives with the disease of which almost 7% lies in the 15-49 age group. This means that the contribution of the working population has been declined due to this impact which has severely affected the production capability of the nation.

· Almost 75% of the adults and 60% of the children are under retroviral treatment which means that the government has to spend much on the healthcare for this disease which has caused an economic burden to the state.

· The GDP rates and the economic succession has been dwarfed as much attention has to be diverted to the treatment of this disease across the region.

· Although there is a decline in the rates in the last decade, the women are being affected the most which means that it has a big impact on the demographic transition in the economy

All the above are the major features that has affected the economy of the SSA region as a result of the disease and how it affected the demographic transition in the region.