Breakin a Cycle

The story about Malawi focused much attention on the HIV/ AIDS epidemic that is occurring there right now. Although the story did show what a huge impact this disease had on so many people there and even gave some figures I thought that it only began to scratch the surface as to showing how huge of a problem this is. A particular issue within this epidemic that I saw as a great tragedy was the amount of AIDS orphans. Because so many adults are infected with AIDS when they end up dying from the disease they end up leaving an entire family of orphans like what happened in the story where the oldest one may end up caring for younger siblings. Estimates are that there are nearly 600,000 children living in Malawi who have been orphaned by AIDS. I believe that education about the prevention of AIDS to these younger people will probably be the only way to save them from this cycle of death. If the people are not educated about how AIDS is transmitted then it will continue to be rampant among society and things will never get any better. Poverty in Malawi is another huge problem that adds fuel to the fire and makes it even more difficult to solve complex societal issues such as an AIDS epidemic. With poverty there is a huge lack of healthcare, food, and education. Breaking this cycle of AIDS and poverty I think are definitely connected and its going to take small steps in the right direction to eventually conquer this huge problem.
Another tragedy in the Malawi story was when the girl transmitted HIV to her infant child. “She’s almost a year old Miriam tells me the local hospital has said Sunshine is too young to be tested.” I think this quote shows many of the problems that the people in Malawi face. First is education, you would think that a place like a hospital would give you factual information when in fact the infant was old enough to be tested but Miriam was simply lied to. Two is the inadequate health care, with better health care Sunshine could have been born by a mother having AIDS but be totally free of AIDS herself with the right procedures. This also shows the poverty people in Malawi face because she is driven on a bicycle to deliver her baby which does not give her the time needed to receive proper medical care that she and the baby needed. In the end Sunshine will probably end up as an AIDS orphan just as many others in Malawi are before her own life is taken by the disease.