So, if the government cannot afford to invest in even the most basic of the country’s needs, the departments that do get funding will be badly underfunded. For example, in LEDCs, the country’s medical facilities are going to be far more underdeveloped in comparison to MEDCs’ facilities. The government will not be able to afford to build many hospitals, so the hospitals that are built will be overcrowded and the medicines there will be expensive. If even the most basic of drugs are so expensive for the poverty-stricken population in LEDCs, the most modern drugs to combat HIV and AIDS will be even more expensive and out of the reach of many millions, so people with HIV/AIDS may not be treated. If no treatment is provided, people may pass on the virus to sexual partners or from mother to child. Another problem is that if they lack basic blood testing facilities, people may not even know that they have contracted the disease and may unwittingly transmit the virus. People with HIV will most likely become ill and when AIDS is contracted as a result of the HIV virus, death is almost inevitable.
As well as financial causes for the spread of HIV/AIDS in LEDCs, the social traditions of the country may also affect the spread of AIDS. In LEDCs it is less likely that the traditional view that ‘men are superior to women’ has been overturned, because the population are struggling to survive as it is, without causing social upset and women may have become comfortable to the role they already occupy. This means that women may not have the power to negotiate safe sex, as men may dominate the decision and may go against the use of condoms, which prevent the spread of the virus. Therefore more people will be having unprotected sex, so the spread of AIDS will be increased.
In LEDCs, the adults bear most of the responsibility for the children, but if they become ill or die from HIV/AIDS the child will become orphans. If the parents have not yet died, but are ill, the family income will drop as they are not able to work, so the family descends deeper into poverty and the children may be kept out of school to help maintain the family income for essential food supplies and therefore may not get an education, and this coupled with the fact that there is a low income means the spread of HIV will increase, because the poor will not be able to afford condoms which stop the spread of HIV and a bad education means they do not know how to protect themselves.
Additionally, the poorer the country, the more like it will be that the women are forced to sell themselves, as prostitutes, to make enough money to survive; this sexual intercourse may be unprotected therefore leading to the spread of HIV. How poor the country is may effect the spread of HIV in another way, if men are forced to work away from their homes they may have unprotected sex with other partners whilst away from their spouse, so may have unprotected sex and spread the virus further.
All of these aspects of poverty and inequality are leading to the spread of HIV and, as a result, AIDS in LEDCs as they have lower funds and have to find ways to make money just so they can ensure their survival, and the lack of government investment in some public sectors means that education rates are poor which also increases the transmission rates of HIV.
