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Facing the global challenge of HIV/AIDS

Teacher's Notes

Case Study Student Activities

Overview

HIV/AIDS is one of the world's most serious health challenges, affecting millions of women, men and children. Meeting this challenge involves understanding how and where people are vulnerable to the infection and responding at community, national and international levels. This case study also looks at a project in Vietnam, which adopted the key strategy of working with highly mobile occupation groups such as truck-drivers and the communities with whom they come in contact. The project is presented in the broader context of the international community's response to HIV/AIDS.

Level

Upper Secondary

Links with Nationally Developed Statements and Profiles

This case study has been written especially to address the VCE Geography course Unit 4 Global Perspectives, in which students are required to investigate a number of global phenomena. It considers the phenomenon of HIV/AIDS and responses to the virus at a variety of scales, in the context of global perspectives.

The case study also links with nationally developed statements and profiles:

Studies of society and environment (Learning area)
Place and space (Concept strand)

Health and physical education (Learning area)
Health of individuals and populations, safety, human development (Concept strands)

Objectives

  • Students will be able to describe the global distribution of known cases of people who are HIV-positive, and the spatial association between HIV/AIDS and other factors such as income and the status of women.
  • Students will identify and classify responses to the phenomenon of HIV/AIDS, at a range of scales.
  • Students will develop criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of responses to HIV/AIDS.
  • Students will examine options for present and future action regarding HIV/AIDS and people whose lives are affected by it.

Preparation

Collect general information about HIV/AIDS, especially the ways it is (and is not) transmitted. Useful references are World Vision's topic sheet HIV/AIDS: the global connection or UNICEF's Facts for life on the web (see resources section).

If desired, obtain the video Africa: AIDS Highway from the ABC (see resources section).

Teachers may wish to locate other materials illustrating responses to HIV/AIDS, from listed resources or by browsing the UNAIDS website, to be used for activities 6 or 9.

Procedure

The outline below is closely linked to the student activities.

Use some key statistics to introduce the idea of HIV/AIDS as a global phenomenon, with a personal angle). Showing a video (such as Africa: AIDS Highway, see resources) could be one way to enable students to appreciate the impact of the disease.

Discuss whether this phenomenon is mainly a result of natural processes or human activities. Review students' knowledge of the ways HIV/AIDS affects individuals and communities. (Activity 1)

Students use maps and data to investigate which groups of people and which areas of the world are affected. (Activities 2 to 4)

Discuss briefly responses to the phenomenon of HIV/AIDS in Australia and to what extent these would or would not be appropriate (or sufficient, or affordable) in other regions.

Students read about a variety of responses to HIV/AIDS, and classify these by scale, by focus, by time-scale, by funding sources. (Activities 5 to 7)

From examples within and beyond the case study, the class develops criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of responses to HIV/AIDS. (Activities 8 to 9)

Complete the unit by students predicting or recommending future directions in the global response to HIV/AIDS.

Resources

Printed resources

The following two resources are available from:

Canberra Mailing
PO Box 650
Fyshwick ACT 2609
Ph: 02 6269 1230
Fax: 02 6269 1229
Email: books@ausaid.gov.au

A guide to HIV/AIDS and development (1998) - This document is a policy guide for HIV/AIDS projects funded through the Australian Government's overseas aid program.

South East Asian sub-region response to HIV/AIDS (1998) - A strategy for HIV/AIDS prevention and care in the Mekong Subregion 1998-2000

The following three resources are available through:

World Vision Education Services. Ph. 03 9287 2306 or 1300 303 287 [local call cost].

World Vision Australia (1999) HIV/AIDS: the global connection - 4 page topic sheet exploring who is affected by HIV/AIDS, its impact on people's lives, differences between HIV/AIDS and other diseases and helpful responses to the epidemic.

L. Kelly and S. Nzenza (1994) Beyond the Fragments: Experience in HIV/AIDS in Africa and Asia, World Vision Australia - 20 page booklet with project case studies T. O'Shaughnessy (1994) Beyond the fragments: HIV/AIDS and poverty, World Vision Australia - 140 page book.

"AIDS: A deathly, deadly silence" pages 30-35 in State of the World's Children 2000, published by Oxford University Press for UNICEF, 2000. (The publication is also available as a PDF file on the web at www.unicef.org/sowc00) - overview of the illness, its effects and responses, including a 3-page case study of programs related to HIV/AIDS in Zambia.

Video resources

Africa: AIDS Highway (30 minutes,1999) - Foreign Correspondent segment provides an excellent overview of the impact of HIV/AIDS along transport routes in sub-Saharan Africa (Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe). Available from ABC TV Program Sales in Sydney, phone: 02 9950 3173 or email: progsales@your.abc.net.au

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