HIV in Sub-saharan Africa

Sub Saharan Africa has a very serious HIV / AIDS epidemic with
millions of its people living with the disease. It has now become a
human tragedy in many areas of the world, but most affected is sub
Saharan Africa. It is no coincidence that the countries suffering most
with HIV / AIDS are also the poorest. HIV / AIDS is now considered to
be the single most important impediment to social progress to many
countries in Africa .

Independent of each other, poverty and HIV/AIDS have the capacity to reverse development processes in the Sub-Saharan. The combined negative impacts of these two phenomena that is poverty and HIV and poverty can present an even greater challenge for the region. The Sub-Saharan is generally characterized by low income. Poverty has plagued the countries for decades despite national and international efforts and has been a main impediment to development prospects. In the Caribbean, the percentage of people living below the poverty line is within the range 14-39 percent. Poverty is not simply having an income below the poverty line which can be solved with increases in incomes, but it is a multidimensional concept which explains human deprivation from a number of necessities such as shelter, health care, education and a job.
There are pre-established links between poverty and health and poverty and HIV/AIDS in the literature. Even though there is no claim that there is a uni-causal relationship between poverty and HIV/AIDS, the relationship between the two can be described as bi-directional. In the context of HIV, poverty increases vulnerability on two fronts. The first resulting from the lack of resources or facilities to prevent or treat HIV while the second, results from the need to generate income which may be via activities that increases the individual’s risk of contracting the disease. In fact, studies in Africa have shown that the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS increases with growth in poverty levels. In addition, the impacts of HIV such as loss of income, death of bread winners and increasing expenditure on medical services are all contributors to poverty.
Given the relationship between poverty and HIV/AIDS described above, it may seem that HIV infection rates for lower income regions/countries would be higher than for higher income regions/countries.