Aids In Africa Essays (2395 words) - Pandemics, HIVAIDS,

Aids In Africa As recently as 1990, there were some regions of the world that had remained relatively unscathed by AIDS. Today, however, there is not a single country around the world which has wholly escaped the AIDS epidemic. As the epidemic has matured, some of the developed nations which were hard hit by the epidemic in the 1980s such as the United States have reported a slowing in the rate of new infections and a stabilization among existing cases with lower mortality rates and an extension of post-diagnosis lifespan. However, despite the changing face of the global AIDS pandemic, one factor remains unchanged: no region of the world bears a higher AIDS-related burden than sub-Saharan Africa. This paper examines the demographic effects of AIDS in Africa, focusing on the hardest-hit countries of sub-Saharan Africa and considers the present and future impact of the AIDS epidemic on major demographic measures such as fertility, mortality, life expectancy, gender, age, and family structure. Although the sub-Saharan region accounts for just 10% of the worlds population, 67% (22.5 million) of the 33.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS in 1998 were residents of one of the 34 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, and of all AIDS deaths since the epidemic started, 83% have occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (Gilks, 1999, p. 180). Among children under age 15 living with HIV/AIDS, 90% live in sub-Saharan Africa as do 95% of all AIDS orphans. In several of the 34 sub-Saharan nations, 1 out of every 4 adults is HIV-positive (UNAIDS, 1998, p. 1). Taxing low-income countries with health care systems inadequate to handle the burden of non-AIDS related illnesses, AIDS has devastated many of the sub-Saharan African economies. The impact of AIDS on the region is such that it is now affecting demographics - changing mortality and fertility rates, reducing lifespan, and ultimately affecting population growth. Although Africa is the region of the world hardest hit by AIDS, and although no country has entirely escaped the virus, prevalence rates vary dramatically between regions, countries, and even within countries. In general, the southern region is the most affected, with Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe showing the highest rates, while West Africa has been less affected. In almost all countries, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is significantly higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Within the general population, the highest prevalence rates are found among the sexually active adult (15 to 49 years old) population. Women tend to get infected at earlier ages than males for a variety of biological and sociocultural reasons. In recent years an intensive government-sponsored HIV prevention campaign focusing on use of condoms and changes in sexual behavior has produced impressive results. Researchers however, have yet to satisfactorily explain the broad variation in HIV seroprevalence between Western and Eastern sub-Saharan Africa. As Gilks (1999) observes, in some of the countries of Western Africa such as Senegal, low levels of HIV prevalence in adults have been maintained for about a decade, despite many circumstances highly conducive to appreciable and sustained transmission (p. 181). In some Western African nations, early and sustained prevention programs may be responsible for the differences, although other reports indicate that comparatively low transmission rates prevail in most of the Western countries regardless of programs designed to encourage safer sex (UNAIDS, 1998, p. 2). Reports also show that differences in the rate of HIV spread between East and West Africa cannot be explained by differe nces in sexual behavior alone. AIDS researchers typically make a distinction between concentrated and generalized transmission patterns of the virus. In a concentrated transmission pattern, infection tends to be concentrated within vulnerable groups such as homosexual men, prostitutes, and IV drug users. In the generalized pattern, infection is diffused broadly through the population, typically by means of heterosexual transmission. In sub-Saharan Africa, where heterosexual transmission predominates, the pattern is that of generalized transmission. Compared to the U.S. little HIV transmission in Africa is related to IV drug use or unprotected homosexual sex. In addition to heterosexual transmission, transmission via transfusion and through contaminated medical equipment is not uncommon in sub-Saharan Africa. Africans infected with HIV die much sooner after diagnosis than HIV-infected persons in other parts of the world. Studies in industrialized countries that

Even Talent Requires Revision

Even Talent Requires Revision Even Talent Requires Revision Even Talent Requires Revision By Maeve Maddox A reader commenting on Dont Be Too Eager to Publish says: While I may agree that lengthy detail is unnecessary, I believe you are far too critical of the opening passage. Reading  with interest is a very personal matter. Why put a writer in a box where he must conform to the  way in which  a daydream is described? The reader makes a valid point. Although my opinion of the opening paragraph in question is that it could be improved, there is nothing so bad about it that it couldnt have appeared in a successful novelIF it introduced a compelling story. An unexceptional writing style alone is not enough to sink a book that is well-plotted and/or has fascinating characters. The DaVinci Code illustrates the point, as does the first Harry Potter book. A writers voice, like a readers preference, is a personal matter. Once a writer has found the voice that fits him best, he neednt pay too much attention to critics to whom it doesnt happen to appeal. Writing style, however, is only one aspect of a finished novel. Plot, characterization, and pacing are what pull the reader along. Self-publishing authors may have plenty of potential as writers, but their novels often suffer from insufficient revision. Bernard Malamud said First drafts are for learning what your novel or story is about. Revision is working with that knowledge to enlarge and enhance an idea, to re-form it. The first draft of a novel is not the novel. Its a lump of clay to be worked on during subsequent drafts. Some writers may go through ten or twelve drafts before they feel that the manuscript is ready for submission. Others may manage with two or three. Careful outlining may reduce the need for numerous drafts. Other factors are individual thought processes, previous experience, and the type of novel being drafted. The important thing is to get that first draft on paper without worrying about writing style. The next most important thing is to be willing to revise until each word contributes to a carefully-crafted scene that advances the story and keeps a reader turning the pages. Easier said than done. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:45 Synonyms for â€Å"Food†35 Genres and Other Varieties of FictionGlimpse and Glance: Same or Different?

Is the death penalty effective (argument) Essay

Is the death penalty effective (argument) - Essay Example Different studies conducted in different states have concluded differently about the deterrent effects of death penalty, which makes it difficult to deduce the effectiveness of capital punishment (Durlauf, Fu, and Navarro 1). Despite the subjectivity of its effectiveness from statistical observation, and the fact that death penalty is the harshest of all punishments that can be possibly given to the criminals, its usefulness and effectiveness in establishing peace in the society cannot be denied. Spending millions of dollars on death penalty is worth it because it is really effective in reducing crime rate, establishing the right justice system, and inculcating fear of law in the criminals. Capital punishment eradicates the possibility for the same criminal to reengage in crime ever. It is as simple as this; no more criminal means no more crime. Every criminal that is released from prison after completing the assigned duration of imprisonment carries the possibility of reengaging in crime. In fact, many criminals do reengage in crime. After their release, they are exposed to the same environmental, social, and cultural factors that convinced them to commit the crime before. This is the reason why many criminals are returning prisoners. Death penalty provides the most effective solution against crime recurrence. There is no recompense as fair as death penalty for certain crimes. The relatives of a person who has been murdered mostly want nothing less than murder of the murderer. The criminal deserves to be given death penalty because he/she has caused the same to someone else; â€Å"if those murdered are the sort inclined to forgive those who injure them, their murderers can take comfort that on dying they might be forgiven and at one, in the sense of having a morally balanced relationship restored, with their victims† (Aspenson 104). Fair judicial system demands that a criminal is granted punishment commensurate with the weight of the