The AIDS crisis in Africa can not be solved with education alone.  Although learning how to use condoms is vital in AIDS prevention, this knowledge is useless if people can not afford to buy
condoms.  The African economy has been devistated by everything from crop faliure to corrupt rulers.  Almost every country in Africa puts most of its income toward paying back debts, and healthcare suffers greatly on account of this.  Unable to pay a sufficient amount of employees, many hospitals and clinics rely at least partially on volunteer work.  Yet there are only so many volunteer hours a person can give.  Medicince and supplies are also very costly.  Because most people do not recieve proper medical attention, STDs are much more prevalant.  Left untreated, these STDs leave people more succeptable to AIDS.
        Women are in an especially high risk group because of their subordinate position to men.  Often times, women will be left with no other choice but to support themselves and their children through prostitution.  This forces them to have sex with multiple partners, many of whom refuse to wear condoms.  The development of the female condom theoretically puts the power of practicing safe sex in the hands of the woman, yet unfortunately it costs 20 times more than the male condom.  Most women simply can not afford this, so tests are being done in South Africa to see if the female condom can effectively be washed and reused.
        In order to effectively tackle the AIDS epidemic in Africa, there needs to be the initial work of educating the people, and the follow through with giving people the money or resources they need to prevent and treat AIDS.  To read more about the connection between poverty and AIDS, visit Jubilee 2000.  This page talks about the connections between debt and AIDS.
 
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