Mother to Child Transmission of Aids in Africa - 809 Words

Mother to Child Transmission of AIDS in Africa G.T. English Composition II A.L. Jan 26, 2010 How do you tell a child they have AIDS? How many kids are born with AIDS in Africa? Due to the epidemic of AIDS in Africa should the United States assist in supplying mothers who test HIV positive baby formula to discourage breastfeeding? HIV is not spread through pregnancy, but in breast milk. It would make a difference if mothers who are HIV positive in Africa did not breastfeed. Being that Africa can lay claim to having two-thirds of the worlds HIV positive population, one way to help stop the spread among kids would be to eliminate the breastfeeding altogether. While the world keeps supplying condoms and other†¦show more content†¦When volunteers do go Africa to do education, what and how are they teaching? The very first step should be teaching the proper use of condoms. This alone could help slow the spread of HIV however it will not stop the spread completely. Another myth that is very hard to believe exist is that infected males belief is that if they have intercourse with a virgin they will be cured of the AIDS virus. Getting volunteers to educate men about the false claims of this myth is very hard to do. This woeful myth leads to the rapes of very young girls to include babies as young as six months old. This has taken years and years to spread and will continue to spread until people are educated. In order to minimize the transmission of AIDS from mothers to infants, women should be encouraged to breastfeed for a shorter amount of time or, if possible, eliminate breastfeeding altogether. In a WHO study, out of 397 women who had HIV and breastfed, 24 of those infants died. This is compared to six out of 200 HIV-infected women who used formula (â€Å"HIV Transmission†). UNICEF suggests that â€Å"When replacement feeding is acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe, the avoidance of all breastfeeding byShow MoreRelatedThe Hiv / Aids Epidemic1072 Words   |  5 PagesSouth Africa has been performing poorly on certain health indicators (as seen in Table 1), with their biggest issue being in the fight agai nst HIV/AIDS (Country and Lending Groups, n.d.). They have one of the highest prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS in the world at 19.1%, and the incidence of new cases is increasing steadily (Milan, 2014; CIA, n.d.). To combat this growing problem President Jacob Zuma launched the largest HIV Counseling and Testing campaign in the world in April 2010 (â€Å"Global AIDS†, 2012)Read MoreHealth Issues in Africa1611 Words   |  7 Pagespeople isn’t as healthy as might be imagined. 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