The United States of America and the War Against HIV/AIDS in Africa

Abstract

There is no doubt that the world has rapidly become more vulnerable to the eruption and the global spread of both old and new infectious diseases. Nothing symbolizes this new global vulnerability more than the AIDS pandemic. According to the United Nations Report for 2000, over 36million people were infected with HIV and another 22million have died from the effects of AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated 29.4million infected has become the epicenter of the pandemic. In the year 2002, the epidemic claimed the lives of an estimated 2.4million Africans. To combat the spread of this disease, the UN and the developed economies of the world have been playing an important role. In particular, the U.S government has been in the forefront in the crusade against HIV/AIDS in Africa especially in this new millennium. American governments involvement is characterized by the setting up of the AIDS Marshall Plan and the Global AIDS Trust Fund, among others. It is against this background that this paper appraises the efforts of the U.S government in fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. It looks at the degree of success so far achieved, examines the challenges to the American efforts and offers suggestions on how the government could perform this role better in the 21st century.