Aids, Poverty and Ignorance in South Africa :: South Africa AIDS Disease Health Essays

Aids, Poverty and Ignorance in South Africa Twenty years after the first clinical evidence of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was reported, it has become the most devastating disease humankind has ever faced. Since the epidemic began, more than 60 million people have been infected with the virus worldwide. Data shows an estimated 57,520,805 infected people around the world with that number increasing by approximately 1,400 people per day (redribbon.co.za). AIDS is now the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. Worldwide, it is the fourth-biggest killer. At the end of 2003, an estimated 46 million people globally were living with AIDS. In many parts of the developing world, the majority of new infections occur in young adults, with young women especially vulnerable. About one-third of those currently living with AIDS are aged 15–24. Most of them do not know they carry the virus. Millions more know nothing or too little about AIDS to protect themselves against it. Dr. Malegaparu Makgoba, Presiden t of the Medical Research Council of South Africa, warns that â€Å"as Africa faces the challenges of its renewal or renaissance, there is no greater potential barrier to the attainment of this vision than the specter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic† (mrc.ac.za). The most affected part of the world has been Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular South Africa. The groundbreaking article released at the end of 2002 by the Medical Research Council of South Africa, the â€Å"Impact of HIV/Aids on adult mortality in South Africa† report is the first comprehensive examination of mortality statistics from the AIDS era. In a strongly worded introduction to the report, Dr. Makgoba states that as a consequence of early beliefs that AIDS was a disease exclusively due to homosexuality and that â€Å"many Africans promoted the notion that homosexual practices were ‘unAfrican’, thus sowing the seeds for denial to justify why AIDS would not be prevalent in their communities† (mrc.ac.za). He believes that â€Å"this denial was compounded by stigmatization, chauvinism, the distortion of scientific evidence, and ignorance† (mrc.ac.za). The report shows data proving that AIDS is the biggest killer in South Africa—with an estimated 40% of adult deaths during 2003 were caused by AIDS. According to the researchers of the ‘Impact of HIV/AIDS on Adult Mortality in South Africa’, AIDS will continue to be a growing problem in South Africa.

Sandy Hook

Alyssa Garcia Period 5, A & R Mr. Leighton 28 March, 2013 Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting On December 14, 2012 a horrible tragedy occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty year old Adam Lanza killed twenty innocent six years olds and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary. The shooting happened approximately around 9:30 a. m. , while announcements were being said on the loudspeaker to the students. This is a misfortune that will never be forgotten. We all have questions on how, when, what, where, and why Adam Lanza would do this. Some questions still have stayed unanswered.America’s most recent mass killer is Adam Lanza. Before the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, news articles have discovered that Lanza had killed his Mother Nancy Lanza, at their Newtown Connecticut home before he took action at Sandy Hook elementary. Lanza took his life as well at the elementary school after he killed twenty-six innocent lives. Adam must have had plenty of time to plan out the shooting. Nancy Lanza was shot four times in her bed with a 22 caliber rifle. Reports have discovered that his mother would teach him how to aim guns at a young age. People that knew Adam when he was a kid say he was an â€Å"odd† child.Marvin Lafontaine knows the Lanza family from New Hampshire through a Boy Scout program (Weiegand). Lafontaine said that Adam was very anti-social and did not like to be touched by others. When Adam was in middle school he was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome which is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized in the social behavior. As a child finding out that you are diagnosed with Asperger syndrome must be a challenge in life to obtain with. As a mother, it must be a difficult challenge to do the best to your ability to provide the needs for your child.Adams’ father Peter Lanza was divorced from Nancy when Adam was ten years old. The divorced must have made an impact in his life. Also, Adams’ older brother had moved out to attend a university out of state. At this point in his life he probably felt isolated and felt like he was different from others. He was identified as a child who is very likely to be bullied (Weiegand). I believe that Adam Lanza was motivated by violent video games and a mass murder. As a kid, Lanza and his mother Nancy would play video games.I am not assuming that his mother was part of the reason why he would do this massacre, but many people might believe that she influenced him. I am sure those were not her intentions at all. She was using video games to spend quality time with her son during the difficulty of the process of the divorce. Comparing the shooting at the elementary school and the video games are fantasies that he killed twenty-six lives and the deaths are counted as a â€Å"score†(Rodriguez). On December 17, 2012 the news said that Lanza kept a spreadsheet with five hundred names connected to past massacres in the past.Next to the names Lanza wrote each killer and the weapon to be used. The video game â€Å"Call of Duty† is about a mass murder named Anders Breivik who kills seventy-seven people in Norway in 2011. Lanza played this video game and I am sure it inspired some violence. Works Cited Bart, Brient. â€Å"Breitbart. com. †Ã‚  Breitbart News Network. N. p. , 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Bennett-Smith, Meredith. â€Å"Gene Rosen, Sandy Hook Hero, Harassed By Conspiracy Theorists Who Claim He's An Actor. †Ã‚  The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost. com, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Nhan, BRENDAN. â€Å"United States Project.   Columbia Journalism Review. N. p. , 22 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013 Rambo, Mindy. â€Å"Sandy Hook Shooting – Hoax †Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ JustMommies Message Boards. N. p. , 16 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Rivera, Ray, â€Å"Newtown Debates School’s Fate after Shooting. † The New York Times. January 13, 2013. Web. March 6, 2103 Rodricks, Dan, â€Å"Remembering S andy Hook on the way to Congress. † Baltimoresun. com. March 6, 2013. Web. March 5, 2103 Rodriguez, Jessica. â€Å"Sandy Hook Hoax Video: Conspiracy Claim Draws 11M Views on YouTube (VIDEO). †Ã‚  Christian Post. N. p. , 19 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Staglin, Douglas. â€Å"Conn.Paper Regrets Gun Ad next to Sandy Hook Story. †Ã‚  USA Today. Gannett, 3 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Stern, Mark. â€Å"The Slatest. †Ã‚  The Slatest. N. p. , 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Tracy, James. â€Å"Memory Hole. †Ã‚  Memory Hole. N. p. , 16 Dec. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2013 Tribune, East Valley, â€Å"Tempe Elementary District police take active role on school safety. † nbcnews. com. March 4, 2103. Web. March 7, 2103. View, The. â€Å"Experience ABC Online. †Ã‚  The View. N. p. , n. d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013 Weiegand, Davis, â€Å" PBS show provides more clues about Sandy Hook Shooter. † Newstimes. Com. February 17, 2103. Web. March 7, 2013

Adoption Is Very Popular Throughout The United States

Adoption is very popular throughout the United States. Most women can’t conceive or maintain a pregnancy, so if they really want a child, they’re forced to adopt. Infertility has increased dramatically throughout the past few years. Couple of issues have encouraged such discussion as has the theme of premature birth. Infertility specialists, Dr. Brian Cohen from Dallas, Texas said â€Å"from an international point of view the American woman is the most dynamic, most accomplished in the world. She also shows the highest incidence of postponing childbearing and problems associated with infertility. We pay a price for waiting. Over three million American couples and single women who really want a baby, but can’t, have to adopt. 96 percent of single mothers in the United States kept their baby. Most people turn to adoption to try and start a family. Agencies, the type of adoption I’m familiar with is regular Adoption Agency. Which there are hundreds out there. Adoptive parents with the opportunity to support a white child isn’t always easy. One reasoning is because the agency only has about thirty healthy children ready for placement. Children who are either mentally, physically, or emotionally handicapped, or African American have spent most of their lives in a foster home. Ev en though they deserve a name just like every child, most people only want healthy white children. Adoptive centers try and place the kids up for adoption where they have the same ethnic backgrounds. TheShow MoreRelatedCultural Globalization and Westernization698 Words   |  3 Pagesdifferent ideas, meanings, and values throughout the world, globally. International travel, television, music, the Internet and many different popular cultures influence it. Globalization has been questioned whether or not it actually leans towards the Western culture, or if it occurs due to western influences. 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