Technological Fix 1. Why is there inequality in access to technology ? a) What is technology and how is developed? b) Global distribution of a range of technologies in relation to level of development c) Implications for those who lack access to basic technology d) patterns of access using factors such as patents, religion, cost, politics. Learning Objectives: Identify the implications for those who lack access to basic technology Describe the AIDS problem and how the lack of access to basic technology is causing this disease to spread

35.7 million adults and 2.1 million children are living with it.

This year also saw 2.9 million deaths from it.

The overwhelming majority of people with the disease, some 95% of the global total, live in the developing world.

What is Aids? Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, a disease in which the immune system is weakened and therefore less able to fight certain infections and diseases. How does this link to this unit? How technology is being used to tackle the spread of AIDS and are technological breakthroughs accessed equally?

High-income countries HIV infections are on the rise in the United States and Western Europe. UNAids says unprotected heterosexual sex is now a major cause. Such infections more than doubled in western Europe between 1997 and In the UK, HIV has become the fastest- growing serious health condition.

Latin America More than a third of the 1.7m adults with HIV in Latin America are now women. Brazil has the most people living with HIV = infection levels of 60% have been reported among drug users in some Brazilian cities.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia HIV infections in eastern Europe and central Asia have soared by 40% - the second-fastest rise in the world. Russia has the largest epidemic in Europe - an estimated 860,000 people have HIV there. The spread of the virus is driven mainly by intravenous drug use, especially among young men. Condom use is generally low among young people.

Asia Asia is the fastest-growing HIV region in the world. There was a 50% increase in infections in East Asia between 2002 and 2004, for which the growing epidemics in China, Indonesia and Vietnam were largely responsible. East Asia also shows the sharpest rise in cases among women - 56% in the past two years. The Asian epidemic is fuelled by injecting drug use, sex work and sex between men, but is starting to spread more widely from these high-risk groups.

Caribbean The Caribbean remains the second-worst-affected region in the world. Although the cause there is predominantly hetrosexual, UNAids and the WHO say sex between men - which is highly stigmatised - is fuelling the epidemic. National HIV prevalence has reached or exceeded 3% in three Caribbean countries - the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti. The Dominican Republic faces a serious epidemic, but public education is beginning to have an effect.

Sub-Saharan Africa Nearly two-thirds of the people who die from Aids live in Sub-Saharan Africa. While prevalence has remained fairly stable, UNAids and the WHO fear this may be because the numbers dying of Aids roughly match the number of new HIV infections. While sustained prevention efforts in a few countries - notably Uganda - continue to demonstrate that HIV/Aids can be checked, there are far fewer signs of progress elsewhere.

AIDS IN AFRICA 1986

AIDS IN AFRICA 1991

AIDS IN AFRICA 1996

AIDS IN AFRICA 2001

African Aids Prevention Posters.

By the Year 2015… HIV/AIDS will reduce life expectancy from 64 to 47 in the following countries: BotswanaMalawiNamibia KenyaMozambiqueRwanda South AfricaZambiaZimbabwe David Satcher, MD Surgeon General of the United States, Vol. 261, No. 16

Kenya Population: 31.5 million 15.7 million children under AIDS orphans 72% Primary School attendance children living with HIV/AIDS 78 babies in 1000 will not live past the age of 5 23% population live on less than $1US a day Current Issues: children are living on the streets or working in dangerous environments Safe water and sanitation access have declined Malnutrition and child mortality have risen

TREATMENT APPROACHES Biomedical Condoms Treatment for STDs Protection of blood supply Voluntary HIV testing and counseling Research (microbes, vaccines,drugs) Behavioural High-risk behaviour – Needle-sharing – Unprotected sex Empowerment of women – Prenatal testing – Self-protection in sexual relations

Potential solutions? The Chibolya Anti- AIDS Club performs a short play to promote awareness and prevention of HIV and AIDS in Lusaka, capital of Zambia. 1,200,000 people in Zambia were living with HIV, and 570,000 children had lost one or both parents to AIDS.

The role of religion "Religion plays a central, integrating role in social and cultural life in most developing countries… there are many more religious leaders than health workers. They are in closer and regular contact with all age groups in society and their voice is highly respected. In traditional communities, religious leaders are often more influential than local government officials or secular community leaders.“

Plenary How likely do you think it will be that there will be universal access to HIV/AIDS care by Debate