AIDS In The USA

Information About AIDS in the USA

Posts Tagged ‘Sub Saharan Africa’

When will the cure for HIV in Africa be proven. People are dying everyday in hundreds?

This is because HIV/ AIDS is a scourge that must be stopped previous to Africa is wiped off the surface of the earth. Inspite the campaign on HIV / AIDS the sciurge is still outrageous, people in the most premitive parts of Africa does not know and they that do, do not judge it is right that HIV is real. Besides the preventive or treatment rather which is not even the cure is not reaching the real people. The infection rate is far beyond the treatment rate. They are treating two while fifteen is contacting it.

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The Resurrection of the African-American Family

I admit that I had deep reservations about writing this essay. I had doubts, uncertainties, and insecurities. Would I be able to clearly and concisely capture my strong opinions and emotions about a sensitive subject and its relevance in history? After much deliberation, I chose I had no choice but address this topic that merited my concentration. Ultimately, my subject chose me as a conduit to reveal both unlikable truths (past and present) and hope for the prospect.

Writing about issues of race is challenging. As much as our society has evolved, most people are uncomfortable with the realities of slavery in America and its aftermath. I suspect this is one of the reasons J. H. Plumb neglected to make any references to the black family in America or its unique history in his essay, “The Dying Family” (Plumb 6-10). Hundreds of years of slavery killed the original African family unit. But, contrary to Plumb’s assertions regarding the fragmenting of family life in general, the black American family is reinventing itself and becoming more cohesive.

It is impossible to consider the plight and prospect of the black American family without first considering family life in sub-Saharan Africa previous to slavery spread throughout the Western world. Nathan Irvin Huggins, a professor of history at Columbia University states, “the traditional family in Africa extended itself beyond the nuclear assemble, linking in mutual obligation much of the village itself” (Huggins 162). An African village thrived when its families fulfilled specific needs of the collective assemble. There was small sense of individualism or autonomy. Each family in a village benefited from the success of other families in the village. Similarly, if the village suffered economic or social hardship, all of its families were affected. For occasion, if there was a severe drought, the entire village was susceptible to famine. Therefore, the families of the village cooperated with one a further to secure food from other sources. If a family stored food in preparation of a natural disaster, it was shared with the other village families without expectation of payment in return. The village was the extension of family. This type of establishment worked because every family made contributions to benefit their neighbors. Within individual families, the hierarchical agreement predestined that each family member fulfilled an vital, valuable role. Ownership of property was collective. This concept is hard to fathom because we live in a world everywhere the entrepreneurial moral fiber is prized and individual success is valued. But, traditional family life in Africa was thriving within a very different social dynamic, and had been thriving for centuries, perhaps millenniums, in Africa (Huggins 162). Unfortunately, the slave trade everlastingly disrupted this way of life for about ten million Africans sold into slavery (Blassingame 5).

The Western concept of ownership could not have been fathomed by most Africans. Africans sold into slavery became property. Lack of ownership of their very bodies made traditional family life impossible. They were no longer members of a collective village. In fact, the family unit itself was ruined. John W. Blassingame, former professor of history at Yale University, asserts “the most brutal aspect of slavery was the separation of families” (Blassingame 173). Some owners of slaves prohibited marriage between slaves. If slaves were permitted to marry, they faced the reality that they would not be able to care for and bring to somebody’s attention their own children. They lived in unremitting dread of separation from their offspring; the weight of this real threat no doubt haunted them. A miserable condition of the absence of a cohesive, permanent family lasted “between the sixteenth and the mid-nineteenth century” for enslaved Americans (Blassingame 5). But would the destruction of the traditional African family everlastingly disable blacks in America from making a new family model? American history reveals that they eventually were able to reestablish family life.

Reestablishment of the black family structure did not happen immediately when slavery became illegal and blacks were granted freedom. Sometimes, newly freed blacks traveled hundreds of miles to reunite their families and search for relatives. Usually, their searches were fruitless, leaving them with no choice but to start new lives, forever separated from relatives (Huggins 239-240). Huggins even argues that “the loss of communality” continued to have disastrous consequences on the black family over seven decades into the twentieth-century (Huggins 246). This account of black history is painful, but it is a tale that would not be hopeless.

In recent years, historians have observed the resilience of the black family unit despite media depictions of desperation. Stephanie Coontz, an historical author at Evergreen State College, notes that “young African Americans receive less material aid from their families and contribute more income to their families than do white youth” (Coontz 189). Coontz also relates other positive trends among black families in comparison to their white counterparts. For model, African-American women have made “the largest income gains relative to men of any economic assemble” (Coontz 254). Black high school seniors are setting the trend for the decline in drug use in schools. Black husbands do more to support their wives in housework and childcare than white husbands (Coontz 254). This is just a truncated list of reasons why one can be optimistic about the prospect of the black family. There is more powerful evidence than these facts.

During the early 1980′s, blacks learned a new way to “redefine and rebuild the family social system,” according to M.H. Zoll, a national free-lance journalist (Zoll). They started a tradition of annual family reunions. Extended families started to meet during summers over three-day weekends. Reconnection with family guided persons who spearheaded the reunions. Now, every year, thousands of American black families unite in celebration of their kinship and heritage. Ancient African traditions are “revitalized” (Zoll). The youngest members of families are exposed to the history, tales, and legends passed down from the oldest family members. Together, extended families are able to trace their family roots using census data, property records, and real estate deeds through access of public records now available on government information internet sites (Zoll). Hard work and ingenuity have resulted in the establishment of sustainable reunions, often resulting in complex webs of extended families linked across the people.

Despite this fantastic progress, it would be inaccurate to depict family life among all black Americans as being utopian. Release parenthood, unemployment, and poor housing are still problems that adversely change maintaining a nuclear family among blacks. These same issues are faced, not only by blacks, but by other poverty stricken ethnic groups. These are not racial problems. They are socio-economic problems that plague modern society as a whole (Coontz 253).

Facility Cited

Blassingame, John W. The Slave Convergence–Plantation Life in the Antebellum South. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. 1972.

Coontz, Stephanie. The Way We Never Were. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc. 1992.

Huggins, Nathan Irvin. Black Odyssey–The African-American Ordeal in Slavery. New York: Random House, Inc. 1977.

Plumb, J. H. “The Dying Family” The Small, Brown Reader. Ed. Marcia Stubbs, Sylvan Barnet, and William E. Cain. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. 6-10.

Zoll, M. H. “Modern African-American Families Gain Strength from Tradition.” 19 Aug. 1999. American News Service. 19 Feb. 2008 <http.//berskshirepublishing.com/ans/HTMView.asp?parltem=S031000102A>.

I am a biotechnology major and writer of a novel, small tales, and editorial essays. I have 15 years of experience in broadcast television and radio. During this time, I’ve worked in news and commercial production, and as an account executive managing local, regional, and national business advertising accounts with a FOX affiliate. I’ve also developed advertising campaigns for non-profit organizations. I’ve received extensive training in marketing, sales, commercial production, and branding.

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Debt Relief: What’s Good for the Nation is Good for the Individual

Debt relief is within your reach and you may only need a helping hand to get you there. It is needed for entire nations international debt, as well as on an individual basis for people who have bought more debt than they can realistically repay in a timely manner. Debt relief is urgently required in Africa and the nations of Africa deserve a new commitment of resources from the United States of which debt relief is but one vital part .

Africa’s debt is so generous in comparison to the continent’s income that it cannot be repaid ($324 billion of which $203 billion is owed by sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa). It is a band-aid solution to a hemorrhaging problem. Rock star Bono’s recent statement equating debt relief to a “… journey of equality that took a further step today, and broke free millions of people in some of the poorest countries from the bondage of immoral and one-sided debts,”. It is a valuable tool, but it must be balanced against other policy instruments, such as direct enhancement help. It is not always the aptly response to address a people’s enhancement needs.

Debt relief is the aim of any debt consolidation company. Debt relief can be any consolidation curriculum that provides freedom from debt or help in the process of elimination. Getting out of debt is a topic on a lot of consumers’ minds these days, and with excellent reason. American credit card debt in 2001 was $692 billion, triple the amount from 1989. Credit counsellings as a form of credit card debt relief is best for individuals who have the capacity to post regular payments but are otherwise negligent and undisciplined in handling their month-to-month finances. Credit card debt relief will not end all the debt hassles we have in life, but it will help. Credit card debt is the most common cause of small business failure we see today. If you want a thriving business, do not carry a balance on appeal charging credit cards. The best way to avoid needing debt relief is to not let your spending get out of control.

Chad Nadler is a financial adviser, & a real estate guru living in Chicago, Illinois. For free financial advice visit www.GlobalFinancialHelp.com

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Misdirected Rage

MISDIRECTED RAGE BY ERNEST EMAKU ENVULADU

A few years ago I went to a newspaper vendor’s shop in the previously serene Central Nigerian city of Jos to “browse” through some of the daylight papers previous to picking the one I could afford. Moments later I met a middle aged man, who by every indication was educated. Our discussions soon veered from the newest political and financial scandal hitting our obscenely corrupt corridors of power to the state of the people’s economy, which as usual was in its characteristic parlous state. I was enjoying his presence previous to the discussions suddenly took a sharp turn and the issue of the Middle East cropped up.

As a practicing Muslim it wasn’t surprising everywhere his loyalties lay in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. What got my nerves boiling was when he started building the sort of wild, irresponsible explanation about what he believed was the irredeemably diabolical nature of the Jewish people, which he wanted me to judge was “central to their makeup”. This clown wanted me to judge such hogwash, like what he said, was the Jewish invention of mobile phones to aid them in policing the Palestinians and other Arab people, so as to give them services supremacy over their eternal rivals. He also talked about the East Asian financial crisis as the handiwork of Jewish enemies of Muslim progress! This man would have made the writers of Mein kampf exceptionally proud.

On that day I could know the link between madness and the incorrect type of education. I came to a swift understanding of the seemingly innocuous nature of the perverted mind. The problem with many African busybodies of his religious inclination is their laughable attempt to make an idealistic oriental worldview and living interval that would incorporate the Muslim minority in sub Saharan Africa, without understanding the fundamental fact that the lack of sympathy with which these so called coreligionists of theirs view them and their kind is dusted only by the loathing that they have for the Jews. Darfur is a most chilling case in point. This is an ongoing case in which Muslims have killed and raped fellow Muslims because they feel that the other on is of a lesser grade. Rather than focus on the glaring slaughter in the Sudan and Africa’s numerous other problems they would mischievously draw parallels with apartheid South Africa.

The problem in the Middle East goes beyond the evil Israel and the saintly Palestinians. To look at this problem from this very myopic prism would do a splendid deal of injustice to such a complex problem of cataclysmic proportions. Without taking into consideration the historic context for the founding of the state of Israel and the necessity for its very fundamental Jewish identity we will constantly be at crossroads as to the very solution to this unresolved impasse of splendid tension. The problem with some Arabs and their fellow Islamists is that they constantly repeat the mistake of believing that they can translate the genocide of their hearts to reality-they wish that they can go to bed and wake up in the nineteenth century. I laugh when western liberals suppose that one of the reasons for suicide bombing and international terrorism is the unresolved dispute between the Palestinians and the Israelis. This betrays so much naivety and ignorance on their part. It betrays a lack of understanding of the nature of fascism and extremism. The extremist would use any excuse to wage war against the system he seeks to ruin. Remember Hitler’s rage at the Carthaginian treaty of Versailles?

There is a most virulent strain of Arabism and Islamism that threatens everyone, a strain that is intransigent, bellicose and hostile towards anything civilized, a strain that would want us back in the seventh century and not in the twenty first. Terrorism only serves as a most conspicuous manifestation of that monstrosity. The Arab rage that manifests itself in the most horrendous terrorism goes beyond the problems in Israel. It is an Arab reaction to their despair and backwardness in a world that has been fashioned in the western liberal tradition. It is their most lame reaction to a world that they do not control. They fight not against oppression as some of them have claimed, but against the system that has been merciless to persons clueless weaklings like them whose culture and ethos has consigned to the periphery and lowest pedestal of the world’s social, economic, cultural and political life. If today the Americans went out of Iraq and the Palestinians are granted a state these extremists would still find ample reasons to attack and maim liberalism and the west. The militant Islamist dreams of the reinstatement of the splendid caliphate of the Abbasids; he is powerless to know the role of place, time, circumstance and values in the creation of cultures and civilizations

It is glaring to the perceptible that this unlikely and unholy obnoxious communion between western liberals and eastern terrorists in the criminal extenuation of Arab and Islamic terrorism is at the heart of the problem. This is especially the case in aiding the recruitment of persons whose dismal economic, spiritual, mental, emotional, economic wellbeing makes susceptible to belief in the warped notion of an eternal paradise with all its carnal comforts as the just reward for death in the process of carrying out mass murder. Persons who by their own events denigrate their God by making the notion of a God who despite making the world would still need individuals to fight for him. Of what use then is the final discrimination?

Peace in the Middle East would only come when cooler heads on both sides accept the necessity of staying together. It would come when the Arabs gather, not just to tolerate Israel, but accept it as an vital part of the region and as a partner for progress and enhancement. There would be peace when the Arabs see Israel, not as a royally creation and imposition, but rightly as an organic state in divinely predestined, historically and culturally sanctioned continuity in the direction of the next chapter in its four millennium march in that glorious journey in pursuit of the building of the historical process, and that invaluable process in the creation, enhancement and codification of man’s ethical standards in the direction of that ultimate destination in the enhancement of human ethos and civilization in this scheme of equipment-freedom. Who knows, Israel’s Arab neighbors could even benefit from its presence if they choose to wash their eyes with soap previous to looking at that splendid small people. As a splendid American politician said during the campaigns leading to the election of Barack Obama “they the Arabs with their hordes of tyrants, dictators and sultans should look at Israel with its democracy and associated freedoms and gather from it”. This might show the miracle of bringing civilization and freedom to an area previously thought of as being inherently illiberal.

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In the Name of Humanity

I often wonder how many people would choose to visit any of the hunger and pain stricken cities of Africa, instead of going to the Caribbean or any other gorgeous place for their vacations.-

Nobody wants to see, feel and confront the horrible truth that is destroying the lives of

millions.- Misery, hunger, poverty, queasiness and fatalities,- is something you try to avoid above all equipment.- You watch it on T.V., and read it in the newspapers, but latter try to dismiss it from your mind.- Too “Depressing”.-!!!

WELL, I THINK IT IS ABOUT TIME WE CONFRONT THE TRUTH:

More that 590,00 persons, including children have already died in a period of one year in Kwazule – Natal, South Africa, due to HIV, Tuberculosis, influenza, pneumonia, intestinal infectious diseases and hunger.- This number is followed by Guateng and the Northern Cape – Limpopo, everywhere the number of deaths is 200,000 and raising.- 65% of deaths related to HIV and AIDS.-

In some other cities, like Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique,- the number of deaths is estimated at 800 per day. That is 288,000 a year.-

This implies that around 5.5 MILLION of South Africans are living with HIV, including

250,000 children under 13 years ancient.

There are 825 “MILLIONS” of hunger stricken people worldwide, as a result of oppression poverty, lack of drinkable fill up and many other factors.

Africa, Asia, India, Afghanistan, parts of the Middle East, North Korea, Ethiopia, Central and South America, Haiti.- Among the most food and fill up stricken countries:

Mozambique,- Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi (All in South Africa).-

From 30 to 40 MILLION People in Sub-Saharan Africa (Kikuyu, Nairobi, Kenya).- Are suffering and will probably die,- due to Poverty, thirst, hunger, diseases and AIDS.-

More than 1 “BILLION” PEOPLE WORLD WIDE, including children “ARE” chronically

dying of hunger, lack of medications, medical concentration, drinkable fill up.-

Every year, 13 to 18 MILLION PEOPLE die as a result of hunger and illnesses.- That is

24 human beings “EVERY MINUTE”–, 18 of whom are children under 5 years of age.- The majority in AFRICA.

More people have died from hunger and other diseases, than all persons who were killed in World War ONE and World War Two. (Combined).-

The number of people who die EVERY DAY is equivalent to the number of persons who were killed instantly by the Hiroshima Bomb, and the worst tremor in modern history

(500,000), in China in 1976.

The numbers are “STAGGERING”,- SO IMMENSE that nothing can describe the situation of poverty and desperation of these countries.

To make matters worse,– in AFRICA,-there is a prolonged drought that has withered harvests of the small amounts of produce they were trying to grow – Specially South Africa:

Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. But even if the rainy season produces crop, it doesn’t do much excellent if there is no one to return it .- Most of them are either dead or dying,-

The help of The Red Cross and other organizations in Africa, is like a drop of fill up in the Sahara Dessert.- Other sources like United Nations, Convergence Food Bank (CFB), UNICEF,- provide food, medicines or money, which are confiscated by the corrupt government of these countries for their own pockets and personal benefit.-

The Holocaust in Germany, as horrible and insane as it was,- can not compare to the horrifying situation of these people. At least, the Holocaust had an end.- I do not see an end for the terrible situation of these “BILLIONS” of people.

This, specially in Africa, is a “GENOCIDE”, and there are many who must be held responsible for this horror.- Early with the many corrupt governments of these forgotten countries.-

And PLEASE, DO NOT BLAME GOD for this terrible situation.- He gave us brains, hands, eyes, and ears, but it is up to us what we do or how we act in THE NAME OF HUMANITY.-

To reckon that OUR PETS live better than these poor human beings,- simply makes my mind spin.-They eat and have fresh fill up every day. We take them to the veterinarian for a simple injury or illness.- Some people leave millions of dollars, after their deaths, just for the prospect care of their pets.

Others spend Millions on houses or apartments, bracelets, Cars,–without thinking, for one release second, of going to one of these countries and helping a family.- With just $5,000.00 US Dollars, they could save the lives of 50 children – As long as the money goes directly to the families, not through any government. –Just reckon how many families and children could be saved with only one million dollars, which is just “pocket money” for these millionaires.

Lets pray that more people open their hearts in trying to help these human beings,- that after all,- ARE AND WILL ALWAYS BE OUR BROTHERS.-

Eva de la Torriente Diaz

June 7, 2008

writer – political, family and other issues.

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Why Do They Weep?

The question has plagued me for reasonably sometime. What is it exactly that makes the Palestinian suffering unique? I had seen suffering operating in all forms laced throughout the world. As one’s experience is invariably relative, I inadvertently started juxtaposing my perceptions of people’s suffering in afflicted areas with others. This naturally started with the geographical mass most notoriously known to internalize pain – sub-Saharan Africa. It was later compared with other areas devastated by issues ranging from poverty, crime and disease to natural disaster and anthropogenic catastrophes…

The most remarkable suffering seemed to materialize not from pre-disposed or common conditions, but instead, persons generated by mankind. Of course, most of these phenomena were preceded by undesirable conditions as well. But, I did not envisage the most concentrated suffering in areas suffering from natural shortages. Instead, this occurred more often in areas devastated by unequal divides and the powers that induced these inequalities. This was a curious observation, because most of us reared in the West hold on so tightly and depend so greatly on our aspects of materialism and technology that we cannot perceive a world without them. Clearly, but, these comforts would be worthless to us if we were never exposed to them to start with…

Prior to arriving in the Middle East, I had circumnavigated all corners of the globe. I had witnessed an uncountable amount of suffering – and it subsequently altered my comfortable Western perspective. Upon exposure, I started to travel a different route and all aspects of familiarity, social parameters, and ideological priorities kept mutating. I saw famines and infectious diseases operating on monumental levels…

Yet none of this suffering struck me as hard as the child in South Africa dying from a viral grim reaper that never gave her the opportunity to cognitively like – mostly because the government at the time refused to cover the cost of an HIV/AIDS preventative medication that was placed out of the reach of the population by the pharmaceutical industry. None touched me so much as the 12 year-ancient Port-Au-Prince slum-thriving AIDS-plagued Haitian boy made by the hands of the infamous sex tour route for wealthy Americans. None deprived me of so much sleep as the 14 year-ancient Bombay beauty sold into sex slavery to fund the cost of her 3 older sisters’ dowries.

Why was this exactly? Why were these circumstances so much more unbearable than the ones causing edema-induced potbellies amongst wide-eyed children saturating the screens of our beloved Christian charity infomercials? Once I started to analyze these forms of human tragedy – I started noticing an irreducible trend. All of these people, these breathing, smiling, aching, once innocent, heart-warming children were suffering at the hands of other humans. It wasn’t the conditions that emanated from natural states or even resolution poverty that caused them to inordinately suffer. It was the circumstances generated by the atrocious human traits profusely recorded in most theological narratives.

Anyone who grasps the ability to listen or read in today’s world is all too familiar with the problem benignly dubbed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This conundrum dominates our feast tables and break rooms. At the same time, but, so many of us fail to fully know the intricacies of this energy-consuming nightmare. I was one…

Therefore, upon arriving, I quickly started absorbing everything around me. My alacrity to gather the history, perspectives and sociopolitical conditions was matched by the fantastic wealth of information available. Yet my baseline ignorance was soon supplanted by the unknowns and curiosities that emerge due to erudite knowledge. I chose I needed more. I needed to reify these abstract statistics and historical narratives with irreplaceable reality. I would soon penetrate that “bomb-ridden, terrorist-proliferating” forbidden land that us Westerners only read about in our suspense novels or Hollywood blockbuster films. I was on my way to the occupied Palestinian Territories…

Prior to arrival, based upon the disproportionate amount of concentration focusing on this geographical area smaller than Los Angeles county, I expected to encounter sheer unequivocal hell. I anticipated the antithesis of pure joy and wellbeing. But, how could conditions deteriorate that much further beyond persons I had encountered in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America or South Asia? I naturally assumed they could, as media coverage is theoretically proportional with such tragedy and suffering. Oddly enough, this socially constructed dread and nervousness was soon met by stunning geographical landscaping, lush vegetation, evenhanded infrastructures, a paucity of superficial infections and diseases, and well-fed stomachs. How could this maybe be?

Upon my repeated excursions into the West Bank, I started noticing something entirely divergent from my experiences in other developing nations. I started to acknowledge populations seemingly void of emotion. This was new to me. One of the heartwarming aspects of effective in least developed countries was the prevalence of warmth, gratitude and appreciation targeted towards the outsider. Indeed, despite the disproportional poverty, famine, presence of triadic pandemics, desperate acts of violence, and sociopolitical volatility existent in myriad developing parts of the world, many of these people are so enthralled by witnessing the “white man spectacle”…

Vernacular couldn’t even start to elucidate this seemingly adversative reality. There is so much vibrancy to be found in these areas of civilized infancy, uncensored by the metaphorical barriers that our obedient society so faithfully lives under. Their culture – deep, enriching and entrancing – is personified in all of their events. And the experience of witnessing this manifestation, this ongoing celebration of life, is nothing less than spectacular…

But, Palestine did not resemble any other area that I had traveled to previous to. Was it possible that these people were inherently cold and apathetic? After traveling to and subsequently researching several other parts of the Arabic world – it became inordinately clear that this was a cultural impossibility. Nevertheless, my observations were persistent and accurate – they were suffering from a pain undetectable by the prototypical differential diagnosis. The Palestinians did not seem to reproduce the knee-jerk laughter, bewilderment and playful mocking of our awkward Western ways. After marinating on the etiology of their discernable malaise, my conjecture invariably landed on one specific source of pain – systematic oppression…

Subsequently, I argue that the Palestinian suffering is not rooted in the traditional forms of poverty and disease. Instead, it is the direct result of the daily oppression enforced upon them by their Israeli occupation in conjunction with the indirect result of two other factors. The proliferation of unplanned checkpoints, the repeated taunting by their Jewish settler neighbors, their inability to lead dependable and fulfilling existences all converge upon a suffering that is not veteran in most other parts of the globe…

Of course, the world is overrun by brutal sociopolitical and structural violence, but I argue that three noteworthy components cause a divergence in outcomes. First, the majority of other forms of government or insurgency-led oppression are facilitated by members of the same or similar national, ethnic, religious or racial assemble. I argue that the more features that differentiate between two groups – the oppressors and their subjugated prey – the more their shared ideologies will rupture, the more resistant the marginalized assemble shall be, the more detrimental too shall be their consequences…

Second, most other domination manifests either in subtle, undetectable and persistent forms (i.e. structural violence) or random and transient varieties. Therefore, the seemingly infinite formal and structured oppression of the Palestinian is internalized differently – as a barrier to hope, dreams and a realistic prospect. A university education cannot be properly sought after, a family cannot be appropriately plotted for, a life cannot be organized if hope is an abstract concept.

If these restrictions on natural liberties do not seem to fade with time; if the strong Arabic pride is denigrated by children watching their mothers bear children or sisters die of acute trauma at services checkpoints; if no topic how much resistance and infighting persists nothing positive ever seems to materialize – these people are gradually drained of the life that causes the human condition to subsist.

These two factors mentioned thus far reverberate well with the conditions observed under the Apartheid regime in South Africa. But why? Why attempt to whip the non-conformist into resolution docility? I argue that the inclination to make such human dynamics emanates from a general culture of dread that we all live in. Aung San Suu Kyi stated that “It is not power that corrupts but dread. Dread of losing power corrupts persons who wield it and dread of the scourge of power corrupts persons who are subject to it.” Curiously enough, prolific infectious disease and relative poverty still proliferate in South Africa, yet the element of human suffering has inarguably declined since 1994 and the dissolution of the oppressive Apartheid state…

Third, I argue that although debate is a general catalyst to maintaining dialogue, sharpening thoughts and attaining mutually agreeable solutions – the Israel-Palestine debate has really had the reverse look. The flurry of conflicting thoughts and hostile animosities has effectively blocked the respiratory passage of the Israel-Palestine peace process. The more global media concentration is narrowed in on an unnecessarily complex dispute, the more obfuscation is made, the less pragmatic thoughts are able to fluently float through this passage. Moreover, people entrenched in this quelling of thoughts seem to adore blaming such an impasse on “history” without setting their sights on present and prospect resolutions…

What benefit could this maybe produce for either side? The U.S.-Israeli lobby appears to use such suffocating tactics in peacefulness to obscure a very simple strategy of Palestinian oppression and violation of human rights. Whether or not this quells further violence and terrorist acts from emerging in either the occupied Palestinian territories or Israel proper goes beyond the scope of this thesis, as I am solely analyzing the root of Palestinian suffering. This way, Israel is able to evade the real issues caught up and retain much of their post-1967 borders (minus Sinai). On the other hand, the Arab camp applies this smokescreen in peacefulness to reap international sympathy to further validate their quest to resist Western domination…

The end result of this overshadowing is an exorbitant amount of confused international observers hopelessly siding with their respective philosophical basecamps – with complete disregard for the real record caught up. This seems like an ultimate agreement for all caught up parties, save one – the Palestinian. The more they scream, the more the Israeli chalks them up to be savage barbarians…the more the Arab sketches them as innocent suffering children deprived of their homeland…the louder they scream…the more hopeless and apathetic they inevitably become….

Human systematic oppression is a denial of physical freedom. From empirical research, the obstruction of this basic entitlement seems to be the most potent catalyst to realize human suffering. This epitomizes anthropogenic destruction and is frequently conjoined with two other indirect factors making quintessential suffering – extreme poverty and relative misery…

Resolution poverty is the number of people living below a certain income threshold or the number of households powerless to afford certain basic commodities and services. Extreme poverty is clearly the most severe state, everywhere people cannot meet the basic needs for survival (i.e. food, potable fill up, shelter, education, etc.). The World Bank has set the criterion for such to be persons living on less than $1/day. Approximately 1.2 billion live under such atrocious conditions – 2.8 billion have a daily income of less than $2.

Extreme poverty is not due to a lack of natural resources available, but instead is the acute result of human greed and oppression conjoined by foreign encroachment and exploitation. A people with homogenous poverty is tragic – but morally digestible. What is downright morally repugnant, but, is when a relative amount of wealth exists, but is hoarded by a select few. Let us than say that an friendship exists between greed and moral degradation. Indeed, Gandhi purported that “…the world has enough for man’s need…but not enough for man’s greed.”

An additional variant of poverty exists which has a much wider array of social ramifications – relative poverty. It may be defined by reference to the living standards of the majority in any given society. More specifically, it describes a person as poor – in direct comparison to other members of their society. Therefore, if the vast majority of these people have access to particular resources; the minority who are excluded from these commodities and services on financial foundation may be said to be living in relative poverty…

Therefore, the real underlying drive that induces suffering is not resolution poverty – but economic inequality. It is not the fact that one is lacking, but the acknowledgement that a further is thriving at the expense of their less fortunate counterpart. Therefore, it seems relative poverty is most noteworthy when considering the motives for violence, and crime in general. Terrorism is an extension of crime on a nationalist extent. It is grounded in despair and frustration as well as a lack of access to fundamental resources and fed with a modicum of religious fervor…

The social etiology of violence may be more appropriately attributed to what Link and Phelan refer to as the “fundamental causes” model. This theory stipulates that people will be “at (greater) risk of risks” if they are living in more unequal societies and located at the bottom of these respective social gradients…

These “fundamental causes” are class, race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. Examples may include knowledge (i.e. education), finances (i.e. income), power, prestige, and social connections (i.e. capital) that determine the extent to which people are able to avoid risks for relative poverty, crime and terrorism…

Therefore, we may speculate that a privileged income inequality translates into a greater incidence of relative poverty. This relative poverty than bleeds into lower social prosperity, which leads to privileged rates of crime and terrorism. Case in point, economic prosperity very nearly invariably enhances the incidence of crime in the form of more commodities and services to steal from and internalize resentment over.

Therefore, this suspected “excellent” merely contributes to the presence of chaos. In fact, crime is least likely to be a serious dilemma in a society that is economically challenged and subject to restrictive behavioral restraints. Cuba is a perfect model with a relatively non-existent crime rate.

On the other hand, in modern urbanized societies (e.g. Israel), in which economic growth and individual success are imperative values, there is small reason to assume that crime and terrorism will not continue to elevate on the other side of the income divide (e.g. Palestine). When you juxtapose an infant mortality rate of 24.45 deaths/1,000 live births (Palestine) and 6.89 deaths/1,000 live births (Israel) in conjunction with a GDP per capita of $24,600 (Israel) and $1,100 (Palestine), it becomes clear that the average Palestinian wonders why their lighter-skinned Ashkenazi neighbor is 25 times richer than they…

Psychosocial environmental factors change perceptions of place in the social hierarchy. If I am on the same aircraft with a man who is stretching out his feet while being served champagne and filet mignon; while I am cramped in between two heavy people with screaming children buzzing around me, while consuming something that abstractedly resembles fried chicken – the question may arise: why is he better than me? Adam Smith offered us a similar analogy centuries ago, everywhere the lack of a linen shirt and leather shoes in Victorian England translated into relative deprivation of being fully integrated into society – i.e. social exclusion…

This relative deprivation may lead to frustration, social conflict, diluted social capital and cohesion, and finally – perceived and resolution discrimination. Paradoxically, many social changes that are perceived as progress may, in essence, realize counterproductive ends – thus instigating a privileged incidence of crime and terrorism.

In conclusion, fantastic and incessant human suffering need not exist amidst the relative abundance of resources and technological proficiency that we possess in today’s world. Yet it does. Jeffrey Sachs points out that the world’s 200 richest people more than doubled their net value between 1994 and 1998 – to more than $1 trillion. The assets of the top three billionaires are more than the combined GNP of all 43 least developed countries and their 600 million people. Furthermore, the distance between the richest and poorest countries was 3:1 in 1820, 35:1 in 1950 and 72:1 in 1992…

The fact that nine out of ten scientists and engineers who have ever worked on this planet are alive today further demonstrates that the fabric of human society has and continues to fail. Encapsulating these facts, approximately 20% of the world’s population possesses 80% of the world’s wealth, so while some people delight in a high standard of living – many others live in miserable poverty and show misery powerless to satisfy even the most basic needs…

Human anguish is tragic at every amount. From my observations, but, human suffering is most acute when materializing from three man-made conditions: systematic oppression by a assemble much different than the majority, relative poverty and its most profound extension – extreme poverty. All three seem to coexist within the same algorithm that perpetuates the desirable conditions and wealth of the status quo. This is at the direct expense of others. And this theoretical concept is personified by the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Authority.

While it is understandable that the Israeli government take several precautions to make sure the protection of their citizens, it is my strong belief that they not assume that the present Israel-Palestine dynamics can subsist much longer. This fault lay not solely on their shoulders – but also rests upon the combined weight of the current key players of the Arabic world as well as the Palestinian administration. The Palestinian will continue to ail and subsequently harm others most extraordinarily until an alternative agreement is implemented…

If the Israeli, Arab and Palestinian governments care anything for ameliorating flagrant human pain – it behooves them to address these three underlying fundamental causes. It is essential for the international convergence to place insurmountable pressure on achieving this resolution of peaceful coexistence as they did in South Africa without the obfuscation of the clear and concise record of events…

Most parties caught up have suffered similar torment in the past. George K. Anderson accurately coined this peculiar and illogical condition by stating “What man has done to man is the saddest chapter in the history of the world. The tale of the peoples of the earth is in generous measure the tale of how the world whipped the nonconformist with its displeasure and visited upon him dishonor and ignominy, torture and death.” It is high time we wipe the tears of anthropogenic human suffering by drawing from lessons in the past and applying them to solutions in the prospect…

Tyler B.Evans, MPH earned his Bachelor of Knowledge

degree in Gerontology from the University of Southern California; and Master of Public Health degree in SocioMedical Sciences/History & Ethics from Columbia University Mailman School of Public

Health. He is currently a medical student at Tel Aviv University/Sackler Faculty of Medicine. He has extensive experience in the field of HIV/AIDS, human rights promotion, and medical humanitarianism in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Middle east and Asia?effective with Doctors without Borders, Physicians for Human Rights, UNICEF, as well as various non-legislative organizations. He currently resides in Tel Aviv, Israel and can be contacted at te2105@columbia.edu.

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Calculating Life Insurance – Where To Live If You Want To Die Old

According to the life expectancy world map on Wikipedia if you want to live past your 80s then your best opportunity is to be a citizen of Canada, Australia, Japan, Norway, Sweden, France, Switzerland or Iceland. This is based on the estimated length of life from birth. Life Expectancy is generally referred to as the total number of years a person will live. It can also be calculated as the remaining time someone is expected to live. It can therefore be calculated for any age.

The average life expectancy at birth for the World in 2007 is 65.82. The UK is well above this world average as people in Britain are expected to live until they are 78.7. The UK is 37th on the CIA list slightly below Belgium (78.92) and Germany (78.95). At 37 the UK ranks 8 places above the USA on the table. Americans are expected on average to live until they are 78.

Sub-Saharan Africa demonstrates the lowest life expectancies. Swaziland is bottom of the list with a desperate life expectancy of 32.23 years. Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Angola and Zambia all have expectancies below 40 years ancient. Andorra tops the list with over twice that of the bottom five at 83.52 years. Japan is third on the list with an expectancy of 82.02 years.

The life expectancy of Swaziland is comparable to Upper Paleolithic times when the average life span for a human was 33 years ancient. People living in Classical Greece, Classical Rome and Medieval Britain were expected to live between 20 and 30 years with the introduction of sewer systems and augmented medical care facilitating a rise in life expectancy to 30-40 in the early 20th century.

In Europe gender differences have been lessening in recent years but women are still expected to outlive men. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is said to fundamentally blamed for the low expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa. Whilst other regions of the world have experience a steady increase since 1950 Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region to have veteran a decrease in life expectancy.

Insurance companies use the information found in mortality tables to price their insurance products. The people that make these calculations are called Actuaries. In life insurance Actuaries use mathematical and statistical methods to estimate the risk of death of a policy holder. The three main variables that change a mortality table are gender, age and the use of tobacco.

The mortality tables help ascertain; the probability of someone exceeding a particular age; a person’ remaining life expectancy; the proportion of the original birth cohort that are still alive and; is able to estimate the characteristics that contribute to longevity. Tables are usually calculated differently for Men and Women. Life Insurance companies will often require a generous amount of information from their potential clients. This enables them to estimate the policy effectively.

Shaun Parker has been caught up in the life insurance industry for many years. He currently offers impartial advice for people that want to buy a variety of insurance.

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Managing Global Economic Challenges

MANAGING GLOBAL ECONOMIC CHALLENGES

INTRODUCTION:

The modern day global economy is a highly interconnected one. With the augmented connectivity the challenges previous to the global economy has achieved an altogether new dimension. On one hand is the positive impact of instant access to the global information network. On the other hand, market volatility is using the economic inter linkage channels to spread like wildfire.

The International Monetary Fund revised down the estimated world growth rate for 2008. This was a fall out of the US sub fill in crisis. At present economies through out the world are facing stock market volatility and rising unemployment facts as an after look of the US crisis.

As per estimates, around one billion people worldwide carry on on less than a dollar per day. Over one billion do not have access to clean fill up. Basic hygiene facilities are absent for around 2.4 billion people. Around 5 million children worldwide die from starvation.

CHALLENGES BEFORE THE GLOBAL ECONOMY:

To sum up, the challenges previous to the global economy are by no means simple. Timely intervention in the form of appropriate policies and fiscal help from the world bodies are needed to tide over the crisis. No less vital is the political will needed for the seamless implementation of the policies.

1.Poverty

Sub-Saharan Africa has been witness to the most severe form of poverty. Nearly 50% of the population survives on less than $1-a-day. Famine, internal conflicts, dreadful diseases like AIDS and improper legislative measures are the main reasons behind this extreme poverty.

As far as poverty goes, it is the Southeast Asia that comes next to sub-Saharan Africa. Around 85% of the total population of the Southeast Asia survives on below $2-a-day.

Despite 50% of population living under $2-a-day, the number of poor people in Eastern Asia and Pacific has declined much in recent past. It is mainly due to the social and economic progress achieved by China over the passage of time.

When it comes to Latin America, inequality in income distribution resulting from poverty is a topic of splendid concern.
Some 300 million of India’s people still live in miserable poverty, and a further 300 million hover precariously above the poverty line. One challenge is to reach the poor with programs and policies that work

2. Inflation

Considering the failure of US sub fill in market and the subsequent recession in US economy, controlling the increasing rate of inflation is the greatest challenge that the world is confronting for some time now. The Indian and Chinese governments are taking care of the inflationary situations very seriously. In Europe, appeal rates have been maintained at privileged side to keep inflation under control. Fiscal policy measures like reducing government expenditure and increasing rate of taxation can also be used to try out inflation. Attempts are on to bring about regulatory changes to face the challenge of inflation.

3. Inequality

Globalization is considered by many to be the main cause behind the perpetration of an augmented income inequality in wide areas of the globe. But, an augmented trade globalization has only worked towards the eradication of this inequality. The need of the hour is policies, which will make sure that the proceeds from technological innovation and globalization are distributed among the cross section of a people’s population. Developing countries are primarily agriculture based and they can promote agricultural exports for reaping the benefits of trade liberalization.

4. Climate change

Environmentalists all over the world are trying their best to care for the planet from the adverse effects of climate change. The European Union has played a crucial role in these movements. The primary objective of the Convention has been to urge the developed nations to try out the emission of greenhouse gas. The target regarding greenhouse gas emission that has been set in Kyoto Protocol needs to be achieved within the period of 2008-2012.
The European Climate Change Curriculum or ECCP in a further major initiative towards environment protection. But, to control the emission of greenhouse gas it is necessary to make general awareness among the common people. Substantial change in energy system, use of environment-friendly technologies in production, alternative energy efficient fuels, minimum use of fossil fuels and change in the sample of living are the key factors that can bring about positive changes in environment.

5. Rising food prices

The urban poor will be affected the most due to this rising food prices. In most of the sub Saharan people, the common trend is that the farmers leave their land and head to other lines of production in the urban areas.
According to the World Food Curriculum, the countries that are most affected are Eritrea, Gambia, Togo, Cameroon, Niger, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Haiti, Myanmar, Yemen, Cuba etc.

6.Trade”- key to lower food prices

Notch up of economy or trade liberalization can help to lower food prices. Different countries have adopted different measures of trade in peacefulness to deal with the escalating food prices. Saudi Arabia has resorted to import tax cuts on wheat from 25% to zero. Tariff is also decreased for dairy products, vegetable oil and poultry. India slashed its tariffs on maize and edible oils. Export of rice was also stopped leaving out the high value basmati. For the last 2-3years India has to fill the demand supply mismatch in food through imports. There are high exporting countries like Ukraine, which are also imposing export restrictions on its food products.

7. Agflation in the global economy:

Structural changes within an economy are an vital reason behind Agflation. There is a rise in per capita income in the populated countries like India and China. Consumption of food grains as feedstock has also augmented. According to the International Grain Council, the world grain production would reach 1660m tones in 2008, which exceeds the previous year by 90m tones. Even then demand is likely to outdo supply. Inflation in the agricultural sector can be attributed mostly to crops like coffee, corn, wheat, and soybeans, honey, cocoa and meat and poultry products.

8. Trend in demand for and supply of food grains:

It is estimated that the world population will rise by 800 million per decade till 2025. The production of food grains is expected to rise to 2.67 billion by 2025 so as match the demand amount. It is also estimated that there will be a regional mismatch in the demand of food grains across different regions.

9. Role of internaitional organisations:

The objective of international establishment is to study, assemble and propagate information, setting up of laws that are internationally accepted. The international organizations also help in cooperation between different countries by setting up negotiation deals between them. The international Organizations also help in technical help.
The International Organizations play an vital role in collecting statistical information, analyzing the trends in the variables, building a comparative study and disseminate the information to all other countries.
There are some international organizations that perform certain supervisory functions. The function of the international organizations is setting up multilateral or bilateral agreements between countries.
A further function, that has assumed importance in the recent times, is lending out technical cooperation to the member countries. Amongst all the roles and activities of the international organizations, the most vital is negotiating and setting up multilateral agreements. Minimizing the transaction costs can strengthen the cooperation between different countries.

10. Public health care and primary education:

The other challenge is to make public service providers, and the entire state apparatus, much more responsive and blamed to all citizens, especially the poor. Today, basic public services are deteriorating. These include such frontline services as public health care and primary education. And, the poor are the most affected

Response to the Challenges of the 21st Century:

poverty reduction – providing opportunities for a better life for the poor. This challenge is particularly acute in Asia which is home to two-thirds of the world’s poor Ongoing globalization – Globalization opens up opportunities for developing countries, facilitating wider and quicker access to capital, technologies, know-how and markets. On the other hand, globalization also comes with associated risks. Globalization may bring in financial volatility, and even economic and social disruptions. Asian countries should not, but, turn their backs to globalization. Instead, they should try to prepare themselves to ease the integration into the global market. Promotion of regional cooperation – Regional cooperation beyond national boundaries contributes to realizing economies of extent, enhancing complementarity among neighboring countries, and ensuring regional peace and stability.

Conclusion:

India’s GDP growth has soared from 5-6% a few years ago to 9% today. If this growth is sustained, as the 11th Plot hopes to do, average living standards will rise and poverty will be reduced. India will become a middle-income people in three years time instead of six, crossing the Bank’s current threshold of $875 per capita income to do so. Its per capita income will double in the next seven years, instead of ten. In fact, by 2025, India’s average per capita income could well best Thailand’s and reach everywhere Malaysia is today. This will amount to making fifty East Asian “miracles” within two decades. For a young Indian entering the work force today, this will be about the time she takes to reach her peak productive years.

Submitted By,

Ms. G.P.Divya

Ms. S.Padmavathi

Lecturers (M.B.A)

SSM Academy of Textile Management, Erode.

G.P.Divya & S.Padmavathi
Lecturer,
SSM Academy of Textile Management, Erode.

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HIV AWARENESS AND CONDOM-USE IN CALABAR, SOUTH-EASTERN NIGERIA: MEETING KNOWLEDGE WITH RIGHT ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE

INTRODUCTION:

The world, in the past two and half decades, has witnessed a tremendous increase in infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which causes Bought Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). HIV/AIDS has developed into a fantastic global pandemic and a global health priority, whose prioritization has galvanized commitment to addressing other health problems in the developing world.

Studies have shown that overwhelming majority of people with HIV- approximately 95% of the global total- now live in the developing countries (Lucas & Gilles, 2003). Sub-Saharan Africa is the most severely affected with prevalence rates among adults in the peacefulness of 20-30% (WHO, 2006). The situation in developing countries is further worsened by urbanization (with cultural evolution), poverty and illiteracy (Eteike, 2007). Resultantly, the sample of sexual behaviour is undergoing major changes in these developing nations as these rural traditional societies evolve to modern industrialized communities (WHO, 1977).

A SUBSAHARAN BURDEN:

The AIDS epidemic is not leveling off. In 2003, an estimated 4.8 million people became newly infected with HIV – more than in any previous year. About 50% of them were young people 15 to 24 years ancient, with young girls at greater risk of infection than boys (WHO/UNAIDS, 2004).

The threat that HIV/AIDS poses to sub-Saharan Africa is staggering. The region accounts for about 73% of the world’s 40 million HIV cases (UNAIDS, 2002), with 30, 000 of its 28.5 million infected having access to antiretroviraldrugs (Beaudion, 2007).

It is indeed troublesome that despite augmented awareness of HIV/AIDS in the past one and half decades, adequate action is yet to be matched with the augmented knowledge. In Nigeria, much awareness has been made by its agency- National Agency for the Control of AIDS- NACA); Non-Legislative Organizations (NGOs); Convergence-Based Organizations (CBOs); and Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) on the need for adults to adopt the safer sex behaviours as Abstinence (A), Being faithful to an uninfected partner (B) and Condom use (C), hence the slogan- “stop AIDS with ABC. (Revised National Health Policy, 2004)

CONDOM USE VERSUS KNOWLEDGE:

Beside prevention, condoms are an vital and essential part of comprehensive prevention and care programmes, and their promotion must be accelerated (WHO/UNAIDS, 2004).

Condom-use has been identified as one of the means of preventing the transmission of HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).The male latex condom is the release, most efficient, available technology to lower the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (Beaudion, 2007; WHO/UNAIDS, 2004).

Studies have shown that right and consistent condom use remains an vital public health intervention against the spread of HIV and other STIs Irrefutable evidence from extensive research among heterosexual couples in which one partner is infected with HIV shows that right and consistent condom use much reduces the risk of HIV transmission from both men to women, and also from women to men (Holmes et’ al, 2004).

Laboratory studies show that male latex condoms are impermeable to infectious agents contained in genital secretions (WHO/UNAIDS, 2001; Twa-Twa et al, 2008). Despite this knowledge, there is decreased and inconsistent use of condom due to reasons that array from availability, accessibility, behavioural, cultural, to religious inclinations and beliefs. UNFPA estimates that the current supply of condoms in low- and middle-income countries cascade 40% small of the number required-the phenomenon- the condom ‘gap’ (UNAIDS, 2004; UN, 2001).

THE CALABAR EXPERIENCE:

Calabar is the capital of Cross-River State, one of the 36 federating states in Nigeria. It is the tourism destination of the nation and was once the royally capital of Nigeria. It is a very gorgeous, silent and rapidly growing city with unprecedented structural and technological developments in the past 8 years. It clearly fits into a rapidly evolving rural-urban city.

This cross-sectional interactive, focus assemble and personal interview research among sexually active youths in Calabar metropolis between the ages of 12 and 40 years was to set up and prioritize the need for condom-use among them. Koelen & van den Ban (2002) described this stage as the “diagnosis phase”.

Since the people themselves are usually the experts on their own health, this first basic step caught up reaching out to them in a non-threatening, reverent and encouraging way in peacefulness to obtain their trust. Listening, first, to their sexual health concerns and interviewing them enabled the simple identification of their health needs (through the structured discussions, guided interviews, focus groups). This approach caught up the youths from the beginning to the evaluation of outcomes (Raphael 2000:364; 2006) and this embodies the basic belief of health promotion- convergence involvement for empowerment.

The pre-stage of this activity caught up the pre-testing of the structured interview questions and focus assemble topics among the research team, using the participatory approach (Springett, 2008). The objectives and methods were clarified to the focus assemble leaders. External partners (government agencies, international donor agencies and NGOs) will also be furnished with the details of the outcome so as to collaborate with them on how to implement the

STUDY OUTCOME:

Reports from the interactive sessions, in-depth interviews and focus assemble discussions showed that all the respondents acknowledged that HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic and a source of global concern. Most respondents rightly stated its modes of transmission which include unprotected sexual intercourse, transmission through blood and blood products, and mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). There is high knowledge that transmission through unprotected sex is the highest route of HIV transmission and that condom-use is one of the safest and simplest ways of preventing HIV transmission.

But, all the respondents noted that despite the high knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its modes of transmission, there is no concomitant behavioural change vis-à-vis consistent condom use. All admitted having had unprotected sexual intercourse with more than one partner in the past 1 to 2 years.

Behavioural Causes:

It was learned that most of the behavioural dispositions are routed in the culture while others are simply the product of the environment. Most African cultures see women who demand condom-use at sex as being loose and promiscuous. It is a general cultural belief that condoms are artificial and so sex with it is simply unnatural. Also, condoms are believed to decrease sensitivity during sex. Stronger libido in men whose control often seem to overpower their reasoning was also seen as a factor in using condom especially in situations everywhere it is not gamely available.

Some African cultures (e.g., in this area of study) permit indiscriminate sex and often ostracize women who are not so inclined to, as being weak for not exploring their sexual potentials. This release act encourages sex, nay indiscriminate sex, in this area.

Environmental Causes:

They were quick to note that the seeming unavailability and inaccessibility of condoms is a clog in the wheel of its effective usage. Other factors identified include the rapid urbanisation and acculturation in developing nations (especially in the tourist city); and the media revolution which glamorizes sex.

Also identified by a excellent number of the focus assemble participants are the rapid technological advancements in Calabar metropolis which seem to overwhelm the knowledge of the populace of the developing world; and the traditional/cultural norms which installed and promotes male dominance. This permits men to have unlimited access to women and also denies women’s aptly to decisions affecting their sexual health e.g. use of condom, access to contraception, and birth control.

Worthy of note is the rapidly growing nature of the city- a very gorgeous, silent, serene and clean environment- the tourism destination of Nigeria. This has brought alongside a generous influx of people with its attendant features. Tourists seeking to relax find simple recourse to commercial sex workers and other youths.

CONCLUSION:

Promotion:

i. For cultural reorientation with a view to adopting safer sex habits.
Promotion using the media-electronic and photograph media, printed fliers, posters, billboards, rallies, football matches, etc towards the promotion of safer sex practices.

Collaboration:

i.            Active engagement of all stakeholders (Intersectoral collaboration) in learning ways to effectively empower sexually active youths to adopt safer sex habits.
ii.            Partnership with Legislative and Non-Legislative agencies for enabling Laws and legislations that promote women’s aptly and encourage responsible sexual behaviours.
iii.            Liaising with religious leaders, convergence leaders, opinion leaders and youth organisations, NGOs, CBOs and FBOs on the need for attitude-reorientation towards sexual practices.

Evaluation and Implementation:

i.            Decrease in the rate of HIV and STIs transmission using the annual prevalence study of the Federal Government’s agency for AIDS control.
ii.            Strengthening the already established Focus Groups, forming new ones and converting them to Support groups wherein issues of concern are discussed and estimating the proportion of youths used condom during their last sexual intercourse during each support assemble meeting.
iii.            Data collection in hospitals within the locality on the incidence and prevalence rates of HIV and other STIs.
iv.            Unremitting supply of quality condoms and building them accessible always.

REFERENCES:

Beaudoin CE, (2007) HIV prevention in sub-Saharan Africa: a multilevel analysis of message frames and their social determinants. Health Promotion International, 22(3):198-206

Eteike PO (2007) Poverty, Disease and Ignorance: The vicious cycle. (Ed). ABSUMSAJ. 4(1): 5

Ewles M, Simnett A. (1992) A Practical Guide to Health Education. J Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK

Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) Revised National Health Policy. Abuja

Germann, K. & D. Wilson (2004). Governmental capacity for convergence enhancement in regional health authorities: a conceptual model, Health Promotion International. 19(3):289-298

Holmes K, Levine R, Weaver M (2004). Effectiveness of condoms in preventing sexually transmitted infections. Bulletin of the World Health Establishment. Geneva.

Judd, J. et al. (2001). Setting standards in the evaluation of convergence-based health promotion programmes – a unifying approach, Health Promotion International, 16(4): 367-380

Koelen , Van den Ban (2004) Health Education and Health Promotion. University of Wageningen, Netherlands.: 13-17

Lucas AO, Gilles HM (2003) Small Textbook of Public Health Medicine for the Tropics. 4th Edition. Malta. BookPower. 106-113.

Nutbeam, D (1998) Evaluating health promotion – progress, problems and solutions, Health Promotion International, 13(1):27-44

Raphael, D. (2000) The question of evidence in health promotion. Health Promotion International. 15(4):355-367

Raphael, D. (2006) The social determinants of health: what are the three key roles for health promotion? Health Promotion Journal of Australia. 17(3):167-170

Springett, J (2001). Participatory approaches to evaluation in health promotion, in: Evaluation in health promotion, WHO Regional Publications, European Series, No 92: 83-105

Twa-Twa JM, Oketcho S, Siziya S, Muula A (2008) Prevalence and correlates of condom use at last sexual intercourse among in-school adolescents in urban areas of Uganda.
East African Journal of Public Health.5 (1):22-25

UNAIDS (2002) Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic. UNAIDS, Geneva, Switzerland.

UNAIDS. (2004) Report on the global AIDS epidemic. United Nations, Geneva.

United Nations (2001) Declaration of commitment on HIV/AIDS, Special conference on HIV/AIDS. United Nations General Assembly.

World Health Establishment (1984) Health promotion: a discussion document on concept and Principles. WHO regional office for Europe, Copenhagen

World Health Establishment (1986) Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. WHO, Geneva

WHO (1997) Social and Health Aspects of Sexually transmitted Diseases. Public Health Papers No.65. WHO, Geneva.

WHO (2006). World Health Statistics, 2006. WHO, France.

WHO/UNAIDS (2001). Information note on Effectiveness of Condoms in Preventing Sexually Transmitted Infections including HIV. WHO, Geneva.

Uche Anyanwagu is a young medical doctor who desires to build his capacity in Sexual and Reproductive Health so as to be a major stakeholder in offering high quality preventive and promotive services in the developing nations of the world.