• The Impact on Children
- As parents and family members fall ill, children take on more responsibility to earn an income, produce food, and provide care for family members.
- It is harder for these children to access adequate nutrition, basic health care, housing, and clothing.
- Often both parents are HIV positive in Africa, consequently more children have been orphaned by AIDS in Africa than anywhere else.
- One of the more unfortunate responses to a death in poorer households is removing the children (especially girls) from school, as uniforms and fees become unaffordable. A good basic education ranks among the most effective and cost-effective means of preventing HIV.
• The Impact on Enterprises and Workplaces
- The vast majority of people living with HIV in Africa are between the ages of 15 and 49 - in the prime of their working lives. As a result, labor is dramatically affected, creating a set-back in economic and social progress.
- Company costs for health-care, funeral benefits, and pension fund commitments are likely to rise as the number of people taking early retirement, or dying, increases.
- As the impact of the epidemic on individual households grows severe, market demand for products and services consequently fall. The epidemic hits productivity through increased absenteeism, which can account for as much as 25-54% of company costs according to comparative studies of East African businesses.
- In southern African countries, these AIDS-related effects could cut profits by at least 6-8%. 40% of companies reported a negative effect caused by HIV and AIDS.
- Only 13% of the companies (with fewer than 100 workers) surveyed had a company policy in place to deal with HIV and AIDS.
• The Economic Impact
- HIV and AIDS cause a reduced labor supply through increased mortality and illness. Amongst those who are able to work, productivity is likely to decline as a result of HIV-related illness.
- Government income also declines, as tax revenues fall and governments are pressured to increase their spending to deal with the expanding epidemic.
- AIDS limits the ability of African countries to attract industries that depend on low-cost labor, and because of the level of risk, investments in African businesses are less desirable.
- The impact that AIDS has had on the economies of African countries is difficult to measure but scholars estimate that there is a loss of 1% in sub-Saharan Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP). This may seem small, but it has the potential to grow over time.