Austin+M.+-+ASI+-+FA09

__AIDS__ **
 * History of Zambia**

Zambia was practically untouched by Europeans until 1855 when David Livingstone discovered the waterfalls on the Zambezi River. He named the falls after Queen Victoria, then proceeded to name the Zambian town near the falls after himself. The country was then claimed by the British by Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes received a mineral rights concession from local chiefs, cementing England's political and economical interest in Central Africa. The area Rhodes discovered (now Zambia and Zimbabwe) was named Rhodesia and split into North and South. South Rhodesia was granted self-government in 1923. Eventually both North and South Rhodesia joined with Nyasaland (now Malawi) to form the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Northern Rhodesia caused turmoil and crisis in the country because the Africans living there demanded greater participation in the government, but the Europeans were afraid of losing political control of the country. Due to political issues in October and December 1962, North Rhodesia seceded from Nyasaland, forming its own more democratic government under a new constitution. North Rhodesia soon made peace with Nyasaland the next year, following its independence on October 24, 1964. (History of Zambia)

The new Republic of Zambia underwent many challenges in its first years. Zambia remained a very uneducated country, resulting in few trained Zambians being able to run the country's government. Also, Zambian economics were priorly run by foreign expertise, again being caused by the country's lack of education. However, the country's economy was sustained thanks to the Chinese-built railroad that went through the country to Tanzanian. Zambia's economy was back in trouble by the mid-1970's. Copper (Zambia's primary export) prices had significantly decreased and Zambia had to turn to foreign aid. Soon, Zambia's foreign debt was racked one of the highest in the world. Today, The country is still buried in dept. This one one of the reasons why it also has an enormous problem with AIDS. Instead of the government being able to focus on the health epidemic going on in the country, it needs to stay on top of Zambia's debt to other countries. (History of Zambia)

Zambia's first confirmed case of AIDS was recorded in 1984. The next year 17% of hospital patients in the nations capitol were found to be living with AIDS. Throughout this time, the president, President Kaunda, covered-up the issue and refused to educate Zambians on the prevention of HIV and AIDS. Nearly one in every five people in Zambia were estimated to be living with AIDS because of the president's lack of spreading awareness. In 2004, President Mwanawasa declared HIV/AIDS a national emergency and promised to provide antiretroviral drugs to 10,000 people by the end of the year. (HIV/AIDS in Zambia)


 * History of South Africa**

South Africa was first exposed to Europeans (Portuguese) in 1488, but was settled by whites until 1652 by the Dutch East India Company. The group settled on the Cape of Good Hope. Over time more European settlers, such as the Germans and French, began to colonize the cape as well. Soon the native tribes there began to suffer from the European's culture. The first war between the tribes and the Europeans took place in 1779 between the Dutch authorities and the Xhosa, eventually leading to England taking over South Africa at the end of the 18th century. The English takeover lead to the Afrikaners tribe migrating north, called the "Great Trek". This migration lead to conflicts between the Afrikaners and other northern tribes. One of the most powerful forces was the Zulus under the leadership of Shaka, who conquer most of the territory between the Drakensburg Mountains and the sea (now Kwazulu-Natal). The Zulus also defeating the British in the historic battle of Isandhlwana. The defeat allowed for the independent Boer Republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State to be created. The new country had a surplus of diamond mines that attacked English immigration and investments. But the Boer Republic was looking to set itself away from the English, who which they recently seceded from, and eventually lead to the -Boer Wars of 1880-81 and 1899-1902. The British Empire prevailed and took control of the colony. South Africa was merged with the Cape and Natal British colonies, forming the Union of South Africa. The Union was a self-governing dominion of the empire that kept political control in white hands. The white government continued to create laws that oppressed blacks' rights for centuries, despite many black groups fighting against it. Groups such as the ANC and PAC rebelled against apartheid even after being forced underground. South Africa finally declared itself a republic and separated itself from the apartheid in May, 1961. (History of South Africa) Nearly twenty years after South Africa claimed independence it establish a new constitution that allowed for blacks and Asians to participate in some forms of government. However, the government was still mainly dominated by whites. This all started to change in February, 1990 when State President F.W. de Klerk denounced the banning of anti-apartheid groups in the country and released Pan-African leaders such as Nelson Mandela. 1991 marked the abolishment of acts known as the "pillars of apartheid" and lead to a new constitution in 1993. Nelson Mandela became the first president of the new country after its first nonracial election in April, 1994. (History of South Africa)

Over the past few years, South Africa's mortality rate has dramatically increased. In 1997, some 316,559 people died, but in 2006, 607,184 people passed way. While some say this is not all because of AIDS, the age group of 25-49 year olds attributed to 41% of the mortality in 06, up from 29% in 97. This age group is the group that is most likely to fall victim to AIDS. Today it is estimated that more than 280,000 under fifteen year olds are living with HIV and that there are over 1.5 million AIDS orphans. (HIV/AIDS in South Africa)  **Political Impact

AIDS has left a huge impact on Zambian and South African politics. Zambia's government has been put in a place that traps them between solving the country's foreign debt and solving a health epidemic. The government has chosen to eliminate debt which is causing lack of support from the rest of the country. Death rates have gotten so high that few Zambians make it past their forties (NationMaster). This is the age of most politicians in western nations, another reason why Zambia's government is so corrupt. Its hard enough to support a country while in so much debt, but with Zambia having such a young and inexperienced government, it's no surprise things aren't improving for the country.

South Africa suffers from many of the same issues. Even though they claimed independence in 1961, school segregation issues remain today. In 1976 a school revolt occurred and ended with best students being forced into exile and schools being overrun by political activity (Sachs, Johnny). Today, white students still receive a better education than black pupils. One of these reasons is because most people living in South Africa with AIDS today are black. AIDS prevents a lot of African students from receiving the education they need, in turn preventing South Africa to establish a solid government that can support them.

Economic Impact  ** **As stated above, Zambia is in over their heads with debt to start with, but with almost half a country constricted with an immune system disease, it's becoming more difficult to fill jobs. Zambia has an economy based on its surplus of copper and other rare metals. However, to retrieve these metals workers must enter mines that are known to be leading causes of lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses. As you can imagine, this is not exactly good for people without a properly functioning immune system. This is putting Zambia in more and more debt because it does not have enough exportable goods to support the economy and get the country out of foreign debt.

As for South Africa, 52% of people between the ages of sixteen and thirty are unemployed, most of which are due to lack of education (Bollinger & Stover). When so many children being born with HIV, it's hard to keep them in school. Often times other members of the family have to stay home from school and work to look after the sick person. Not only does the sick child lose out on their chance of education, the family as a whole doesn't make enough money because one family member has to miss work to watch after the sick child. Hous ****eholds aren't making enough money to support themselves, let alone support local businesses.

** **Social Impact

AIDS is obviously a social issue that affects a large amount of people in many different ways. First, children can be born with AIDS, which practically gives them an early death sentence. Also, millions of children are currently orphaned by the AIDS virus. Parents and people of the middle generation are also affected by AIDS. If they were born with AIDS, they are probably coming to the end of their lives. Even if someone is not living with AIDS, they still have to watch their friends, family, and tribe members suffer from the illness. Every few people in Zambia and South Africa even make it into their fifties because of the disease, along with various other reasons. AIDS could cause tension between tribes as well. If a member from one tribe gave it to a person in another, it would allow for a new strain of the virus to enter the tribe and could be passed through out them, giving new Zambians and South Africans AIDS and making others' cases worse. The original two people from different tribes would essentially seal the fate of others around them.

****Future of AIDS**

It has been established that both Zambia and South Africa have issues with AIDS and that it's affecting their countries. To solve these issues, the countries must spread education on AIDS, continue to accept money to help those struggling with AIDS, and create AIDS treatment centers. Zambia and South Africa have already started spreading the word about AIDS and HIV and how dangerous it is. To improve this method, they can also give away condoms at medical centers to support sexual protection. South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world and is another reason why they need to educate people on sex. Raping someone is not only morally awful, it is also a prime way of spreading HIV; the rapist can get it from the victim, or vice versa. Simply educating people on abstinence and protected sex will dramatically lower the number of people living with AIDS and HIV in future generations. The second solution for AIDS and HIV in Zambia and South Africa is for the countries to continue to accept money for AIDS research and actually use the money to support the people. It's very easy for these countries' governments to simply get themselves further out of debt with the money, but it's important for them to use the money to supply people with more medicines and treatments for their disease. With the help of medication, people living with HIV and AIDS will be able to live a somewhat normal life. Also, medicine will allow them to return to work and support their families and the economy. The third way to improve Zambia's and South Africa's war on AIDS is to provide an inexpensive treatment center for those suffering from AIDS. In both of these countries, victims' family members have to stay home from school and work to look after the dying. With an inexpensive or free treatment center for victims nearby, people will be able to stay at the center where they will receive professional medical help for their conditions. Young people would also be provided with education during their stay. The center would be like a nursing home where patients would be able to live a less restricted life, but also have the medical attention there to help them. Their families wouldn't have to struggle to support everyone and victims would have less of a chance to spread the disease.

** Bollinger, Lori, and John Stover. "The POLICY Project." __The Economic Impact of AIDS in South Africa__. 9 Sep. 1924 .
 * Works Cited

"HIV/AIDS in South Africa." __AIDS & HIV information from the AIDS charity AVERT__. 24 Sep. 2009 <http://www.avert.org/aidssouthafrica.htm>.

"HIV/AIDS in Zambia." __AIDS & HIV information from the AIDS charity AVERT__. 24 Sep. 2009 <http://www.avert.org/aids-zambia.htm>.

"History of South Africa." __WorldRover - Country and Travel Guides__. 24 Sep. 2009 <http://www.worldrover.com/history/south_africa_history.html>.

"History of Zambia." __WorldRover - Country and Travel Guides__. 24 Sep. 2009 <http://www.worldrover.com/history/zambia_history.html>.

"NationMaster - Zambian Population pyramids." __NationMaster - World Statistics, Country Comparisons__. 24 Sep. 2009 <http://www.nationmaster.com/country/za/Age_distribution>.


 * Sachs, Johnny. "South Africa as the Epicenter of HIV/AIDS." __Vital Political Legacies and Current Debates__. 9 Sep. 1924 <www.tc.columbia.edu/cICE/archives/3.1/31sachs.pdf>.