Social+Impact+of+AIDS+in+Swaziland

The people of Swaziland are reacting to the AIDS epidemic in a way that could cause more harm than good. The people of Swaziland are resorting to the solution of having more children, similarly to when there was no modern medicine and the life expectancy was very low. This is also referred to as "panic breeding" (IRIN Africa). To make matters worse, the government does not have a population police or an AIDS policy. The lack of a police and policy causes people to take matters into their own hands which, in this case, is not good for the country.
 * Social Impact of AIDS:**

From the time of the British rule of Swaziland to the year 1991, there was a huge increase in population. The life expectancy was higher as well, due to the new developments in the health sector. The population grew a remarkable 200 percent in thirty years. But by the year 1997, it seemed as if all the progress that was made in those thirty years had been completely reversed by the spread of AIDS. Also a lot of the babies being born are contracting HIV from their mothers who are infected with HIV themselves. Despite the number or babies contracting HIV, the population is growing too much with the panic that is occurring, and the increased number of children being born.

A report was done by the Swaziland National AIDS/STDS Program to document the extent of AIDS in Swaziland, and its effect on population growth. This report showed that half of the Swazis with sexually transmitted diseased had AIDS, and 78.6 percent of Swazis with tuberculosis were HIV positive. They noticed in this study that it seemed to be effecting female patients more, and the HIV rates were much higher than the rates for men. Many people don't like to admit that they have AIDS due to what their family might think. One AIDS patient admitted "I don't want to have a lonely funeral, because my relatives would not come if they learned I have AIDS. They think they can catch it from my corpse" (IRIN Africa). This fear of catching AIDS is tearing families apart. At funerals, if the family attends, the cause of death is just referred to as the disease that was not curable, for admitting the cause of death was AIDS would turn people away. The citizens that seem to impacted the most by AIDS are the children. The trauma caused by the loss of loves ones to AIDS is nearly unbearable for kids. Not only do they lose their parents, but they lose their childhood as well. There are times when children at a very young age have to take care of their entire family which can include several siblings. Not only do they have to take care of the house hold chores, but they must also earn income and produce enough food for the entire family. With all of the work these children have to do and the stresses they face, it is difficult for them to have adequate nutrition and basic health care. More and more children now are becoming orphaned by AIDS. Some are being raised by extended family and some are just left on their own to be in charge of their households.

Because of the increasing number of orphans, many people have called for an increase in institutional care for children. Unfortunately, this would cause more problems for society. There are alternate solutions though. An example of one of these solutions is an idea that was developed by church groups on Zimbabwe. This approach includes community members being recruited to visit orphans, whether they live with extended family, foster parents, or in child-headed households. Citizens of Swaziland and the rest of Africa agree that the only way to make any progress is to focus on prevention.