Socio-Economic Burden of HIV/AIDS in Developing Countries: Education Sector Response
- Author:
Nwaorgu Obioma Chebechi
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
socio-economic;
HIV/AIDS;
developing countries;
education;
burden
- From:Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine
2012;12(Supplement 1):15-15
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
HIV and AIDS is not only a health issues but also a development issue because it affects health, income level, education level as well as the productivity and the development of a nation. The rate at which it is expanding, its cumulative effect will impact, global, regional, national as well as local economy.
The impact of HIV/AIDS on schools and education is particularly severe. HIV/AIDS reduces the supply of education by reducing the number of teachers who are able to carry out their teaching. The epidemic affects the quality of education with the strains it imposes on material and human resources of the education system as a whole and on the health of learners. The education sector nonetheless has credible tools which could be used to turn these impacts into opportunities for changes. The largely uninfected age group (0-14) are found in the sector and this represents a window of hope for prevention of new infections. Schools offer an organized and efficient way to reach large numbers of school-age youth. The education sector provides comparative advantage with an existing framework - the curriculum. It is now unanimously recognized that the education sector has a key role to play in HIV prevention and in mitigation of the impact of AIDS; not only in its capacity to reach large numbers of the most at risk group (the youth) but also in its ability to change the negative attitudes, behaviours and practices that put staff and learners at all tiers of the education sector at risk.
The Dakar framework for Action adopted by the International Education Community during the World Education Forum (Dakar, Senegal) drew attention to the urgent need to combat HIV/AIDS if Education For All (EFA) goals are to the achieved. Such a target is seriously threatened by HIV/AIDS epidemic and its impact on the demand for and supply of education. Millennium Development Goals for Education which seeks to “ensure that by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling”, cannot be achieved without urgent attention to HIV/AIDS. UNGASS targets and the MDG for HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases cannot be achieved without the active contribution of the education sector. Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS prevention education and mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS on schools and education are therefore two priority actions that have implications for the achievement of global targets in education. Although nationwide awareness and mobilization of the populace is improving steadily some problems remain. These include: (1) Slow sectorial interventions; (2) The education sector lacks adequate information, data, impact studies, researchers to enable it intervene effectively.
There is therefore a need to build the capacity of educators and educationists in information and knowledge to handle HIV/AIDS prevention, mitigation, care and support programmes. Other recommendations include: (1) Conducting impact studies and researches; (2) Improving the information data bank on HIV/AIDS in this sector; (3) Prioritization of interventions, mobilization of resources, effective planning and co-ordination of programmes as well as monitoring and evaluation at all stages of implementations.
