Just how much impact has AIDS had? You can see one impersonal but stunning result by watching this animation that shows country fertility and average lifespan over time.
The huge bubble that falls rapidly is China. No surprise due to the one-child policy. However, let it run to the end (2008) and then hover over the bubbles in the bottom left, which are outliers from the general trend. You’ll find South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho. Now look them up on the map if you don’t already know where Swaziland/Lesotho are.
Now rewind to about 1990 and watch again in slow motion. They all follow the general trend, moving right and down, but starting in the late 1990’s they suddenly continue down while moving dramatically to the left – toward decreasing average lifespan.
While I’m sure there are multiple factors at work, I’m willing to bet my bottom dollar that the primary driver of that shift is AIDS.
AIDS really is a pandemic here. My health insurance company sent me a 60 page booklet on AIDS recently. Companies have free condom dispensers in bathrooms. There are lots of AIDS orphanages and even more orphans. But this animation sort of put it all together for me at a macro level.
