Discuss the AIDS epidemic, including its prevalence, where it is most problematic, and how it is linked to globalization.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Correct answer varies but could include that HIV/AIDS was first recognized in the U.S. in 1981 and has since been acknowledged as a scourge throughout not only the U.S. but also much of the world. Answer might also include statistics such as prevalence, outcomes, and regions such as Eastern and Southern Africa, but also Caribbean and Latin America, Asia and the Pacific, and Eastern and Central Europe. Students should link the spread to globalization, especially the increased global mobility associated with tourism (notably, sex tourism), the greater migration rates of workers, increased legal and illegal immigration, much higher rates of commercial and business travel, the movement of refugees, military interventions and the movement of military personnel, and so on. People who have the disease can travel great distances over a period of years without knowing they have been infected. They therefore have the ability to transmit the disease unknowingly to many others in widely scattered locales. The disease, as well as the many burdens associated with it, is having an adverse effect on all aspects of social and economic life throughout Africa. Some observers predict the failure of African states and the complete economic collapse of some because of the spread of the disease.