Kaleng, WongJessica PowersEngl 100Research PaperThe interplay of economics, politics and culture in the prevalence AIDS and overall dire health conditions in AfricaSince the inception in the 1980s of the endemic spread of the notorious disease we call HIV-Aids we have been alarmed and have endlessly devised various ways to prevent, if not seek treatment from this disease. All throughout the history of this threatening disease, the principal region where it caused the heftiest damage is in Africa. Africa is associated with dire living conditions. With particular images of pitiful hygiene and household conditions surfacing in mind and the projection of information about reeling economies and politics, Africa suffered most in the challenges presented by a grave illness. Thus the economic, political and cultural conditions of Africa provide the very impetus for the rise of the AIDS virus in the region.AIDS is being contracted about 7,000 times a day and the infamous spread of the disease since its discovery continues to be unabated. In the data of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), almost 30 million have died from this disease and other related causes while short of 34 million people currently have the fatal virus (Ahmed p. 16) In the African region, roughly 23 million are afflicted with the disease. This is the most in any part of the world an actually comprises almost 66% of the global total (Ahmed p. 22). It is no doubt that the African continent deserves the greatest amount of attention if the disease shall be halted from further causing damage in the area. Worse, the existing poverty in the region has also paved the way for the spread and aggravation of several other diseases. Hence, Africa is battling not just with the threat of HIV-AIDS but the general detriment caused by improper health conditions and practices.In this argumentative paper, I will look deeper at these conditions in Africa, particularly the alarming rate of prevalence of AIDS in the region. I will try to make a case on arguments that could help in pointing out the principal causes of this condition and its furtherance. For this paper, I will dwell on two aspects which I think largely impact the existing health conditions in Africa – the cultural/traditional and the economic/political. In proceeding, I will look at the prevalence of diseases in Africa in two broad lenses. I will attempt to establish the connection of these conditions to the existing cultural patterns and traditional values in the region. Also, I will look for connections of the existing political policies in the region and place them within the context of the world`s larger socio-economic and political set-up in order to prove my thesis. of Before beginning on my presentation of the two sides, I will first lay down my framework in doing this paper.The Africa we know: stigmatized and colored:For the framework of this argumentative paper, I deemed it appropriate to consider not just...