Shiselweni Home-Based Care, Department of Science of Religion and Missiology, University of Pretoria, Piet Retief, South Africa.
Balsillie School of International Affairs, Waterloo, Canada.
Afr J AIDS Res. 2021 Jul;20(2):117-124. doi: 10.2989/16085906.2021.1948877.
By the end of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, in February 2021, the numbers of cases and deaths in southern Africa were low in absolute and relative numbers. The BBC ran a story (which was later retracted) headlined "Coronavirus in Africa: Could poverty explain mystery of low death rate?". A heading in the said: "Scientists can't explain puzzling lack of coronavirus outbreaks in Africa". Journalist Karen Attiah concluded: "It's almost as if they are disappointed that Africans aren't dying en masse and countries are not collapsing". We wondered if the knowledge that southern African countries have acquired in their struggle against AIDS has contributed to a more effective approach against COVID-19. The viral origins of the diseases through zoonotic events are similar; neither has a cure, yet. In both diseases, behaviour change is an important prevention tool, and there are specific groups that are more vulnerable to infection. Equally, there are important differences: most people with COVID-19 will recover relatively quickly, while people living with HIV will need lifelong treatment. COVID-19 is extremely infectious, while HIV is less easily transmitted.
到 2021 年 2 月，即 COVID-19 大流行的第一年年底，南部非洲的病例和死亡人数在绝对和相对数量上都较低。英国广播公司（BBC）发布了一则标题为“冠状病毒在非洲：贫困是否可以解释低死亡率之谜？”的报道（后来被撤回）。《柳叶刀》的一篇标题写道：“科学家无法解释非洲冠状病毒为何未爆发的谜团”。记者卡伦·阿蒂亚（Karen Attiah）总结道：“似乎他们对非洲人没有大量死亡以及非洲国家没有崩溃感到失望。”我们想知道，南部非洲国家在与艾滋病作斗争中获得的知识是否有助于他们更有效地应对 COVID-19。通过人畜共患事件引发的疾病的病毒起源相似；两者都没有治愈方法。在这两种疾病中，改变行为都是重要的预防工具，并且有特定的群体更容易受到感染。同样，也存在重要的差异：大多数 COVID-19 患者会相对较快地康复，而艾滋病毒感染者则需要终身治疗。COVID-19 具有极强的传染性，而 HIV 则较不易传播。
