Post world war civilization around the world has undergone many changes. With modernization, urbanization and western ideas infiltrating many countries, traditional ways of life and culture have been forced to adapt to this new and fluid society. AIDS has been referred to as the "disease of modernity," and nowhere has its devastating effects been more profound than in Africa, specifically, the sub-Saharan region.
             Before diving into the causes and effects of HIV/AIDS on African society, it is necessary to understand AIDS as a disease; it's origin, transmission, and development.
             Tissue preserved in 1959 from a central African man has recently been identified as the earliest known case. Many speculate that AIDS may have spread from the blood of hunted chimpanzees to their butchers' in the years after WWII.
             Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is transmitted through bodily fluids, including blood, semen, and vaginal secretions. Most commonly, it is transferred through sexual contact, intravenous drug use where needles are shared, and through blood transfusions.
             HIV/AIDS is a viral disease which tends to progress in three distinct stages. Within the first several weeks after infection, acute, flu-like symptoms develop, and many think nothing of it. A long period of ten years, on average follows, during which time no symptoms are present. In the final stage, full-blown AIDS appears, which is characterized by the collapse of the body's immune system from which death ultimately occurs from wasting or overwhelming infection.3
             Why has Africa been especially hard hit in the AIDS pandemic? Africa is an economically depressed region where everyone from government officials to children are forced everyday to survive. Mass migrations of people to urban areas in search of work began following WWII. These people left behind families and adopted new ways of life in the cities. Many fell into the practi...