by W. Diane Van Zwol

Created on: January 18, 2008   Last Updated: December 06, 2008

Global Warning 2008 AD: Potential HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean Countries

In the year 2008, Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean and rightly so. Many people are also becoming more and more aware of the threat of HIV/AIDS, in many other countries of the world, as there is no country which remains exempt from the threat of this devastating disease, which is gradually running rampant throughout the world.

The people who live in Caribbean countries are very vulnerable and wide open to HIV/AIDS infection, for a number of different reasons.

First of all, the Caribbean region is an extremely high risk area for HIV/AIDS, partly because of open tourism. There are virtually thousands of people, who are entering the Caribbean countries from all over the world, every day. This includes people from many other parts of the world, where HIV/AIDS is already documented as being very widespread.

Secondly, the status of health care in these Caribbean countries, depending upon the area, may or may not be on a high enough level, to prevent an influx of the disease, or to provide the necessary treatment necessary to control the spread of HIV/AIDS, if an epidemic were to begin and run rampant.

Thirdly, the poverty level in the Caribbean countries is extremely high, rendering people from this region very likely to have immune deficiencies, severe enough to elevate the spread of the disease.

These three reasons alone would suggest that any global epidemic, not just HIV/AIDS, represents an extremely serious threat, to the people who live in the Caribbean.

Yes, Americans should be concerned, but not just Americans. This concerns everyone.

The question becomes one of whether or not, if, or when, there is an epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, is it actually possible to contain the spread of HIV/AIDS within that area, or to prevent it from spreading from there, to other people outside of that particular region?

One might ask if there is any kind of legislation in effect in the Caribbean, that would allow HIV/AIDS to be contained? Or is there any legislation in North America, Mexico, Central America or South America, that would protect the population in these countries from receiving an influx of highly contagious people, who may already have been infected with HIV/AIDS? If not, why not?

There are some serious concerns here. Many of these are education, health education and HIV/AIDS education related issues.

Education, health education and HIV/AIDS

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