Globalization and AIDS In Africa

AllAfrica.com reports on the effects of globalization on HIV prevention in Africa: It may seem odd to link globalisation with HIV/Aids in Africa. After all, one is about open markets and trade policies and the other is simply a health issue, right? Wrong. The ability for African countries to respond to HIV/Aids themselves is dependent on their ability to better control the terms of trade, elicit more favourable patent policies on medications, and climb out of poverty, all issues linked to globalisation. While globalisation has garnered some benefits for the urban elites in Africa - information, communication and technology - these positive outcomes have not reached the urban poor and rural folk who form over 80 percent of African populations. Over 60 percent of Africans live below the poverty line. Meanwhile, every day in Africa, HIV/Aids kills 6,500 people; 9,500 people are infected with the HIV virus; and 1,400 newborn babies are infected during childbirth or by their mothers' milk. Link