Sprague Photo Stock: AIDS Stock Photos

AIDS Stock Photographs

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has become one of the world's most serious health problems. No country has been spared its ravaging effects, but one region has been blighted more than any other. Infection rates in sub-Saharan Africa are phenomenally high, especially in Southern and Eastern Africa, where up to 30% of the population test HIV+. Parts of Asia, especially India, China and Russia are said to be an AIDS time bomb waiting to explode, while rates in Europe and the Americas continue to grow, but at a slower rate.

The use of cheap, generically produced anti-retro viral drugs, often manufactured in Brazil, Thailand and India, have made treatment of the deadly disease much more affordable and available to large segments of the world population. Previously, they were unavailable to the poor due to their high cost. Many people who are human immunodeficiency virus positive (HIV+) are able to live virtually normal lives thanks to the use of these drugs, without which they might be long dead. The AIDS epidemic is eased by teams of health specialists and social workers whose aim is to lower infection rates, as well as treat and counsel those infected.

The photographs collected here result from several trips with an AIDS theme by Sean Sprague, to many regions of the world on behalf of development agencies. Senegal, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia were of particular focus in Africa, while Thailand, Cambodia, India and Philippines represent Asia. Brazil and El Salvador are two countries in the Americas where the theme of AIDS was pursued by Sean's camera.