Article

2004-05-17 Africa: Subsaharan

Empowering women is the way forward in saving Africa from Aids devastation

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Posted by Zenster 2004-05-17 12:56:50 AM|| || Front Page|| [9 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Important as sex-ed and condoms are in stopping transmission of AIDS, another major problem in Africa is unsafe, non-sterile medical practices. There is rampant re-use of items that are supposed to be used but one time, such as needles, scalpel blades, etc. When you're dirt-poor these things happen but it makes the HIV infection rate even worse.

Uganda made significant strides in its HIV infection rate by combining sex ed and improved health care practices. That's how it has to be done.

Posted by Steve White 2004-05-17 1:58:56 AM|| 2004-05-17 1:58:56 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Steve, while sex-ed and improved medical practices are certainly important components of reducing overall infection rates there is another factor that might prove much more effective in the long term.

It is critical to break the "woman as chattel" mentality that is so ingrained into much of African society. Once a woman becomes pregnant, she is left to the mercy of this frequently misogynistic and brutal culture.

Long term time release female contraception in the form of Norplant could go a long way towards breaking the vicious cycle of nearly continuous pregnancy that is so deleterious to women's overall health.

Released from teenage childbearing, more women could obtain higher education and thereby throw off the yoke of dependence upon more traditional and repressive family structures that currently predominate. This would also translate into lower infant mortality rates due to better earning power for women.

With so much of the world's population shifting towards urban centers, having large families that support agricultural life styles is now less important than ever.

There are profound paradigm shifts that must occur if African women are to have any real chance of surviving the AIDS epidemic. One of them is overcoming the outmoded tradition of tribal male dominance. Higher education is one of the few hopes for such a sea change in Africa's stagnant culture.

Posted by Zenster 2004-05-17 2:36:19 AM|| 2004-05-17 2:36:19 AM|| Front Page Top

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