CBC Archives

AIDS has reached epidemic proportions in nations all over the world. National responses are often based on the level of education, prevalence of poverty, delivery of health care, and quality of information distribution of the region. Students will research how each of these factors impacts the way that different countries deal with AIDS.

Have students work in pairs to research the story of AIDS in the 21st century, sharing their work using presentation software. Their research should be Web-based, beginning with the Internet sources listed at the bottom of the Early Years of the AIDS Crisis topic on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web. Have them search for other sites as well, focusing on the spread of AIDS throughout the world and the efforts, where applicable, to reduce the contagion.

Student presentations might include some or all of the following (also available on the download sheet AIDS, the World, and the Future):

1. A map showing the spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the world today
2. A list of measures taken in North America to support AIDS patients and to develop and distribute drugs to prolong their lives
3. A list of measures taken within Africa, South America, and Asia to support AIDS patients and to develop and distribute drugs to prolong their lives
4. A comparison of the current levels of social acceptance of HIV/AIDS victims in North America to the level of acceptance victims in Third World countries
5. A plan to distribute equitably anti-AIDS drugs to all infected people in the world
6. A description of the life of an AIDS patient in the Third World
7. A description of the life of an AIDS patient in North America
8. A comparison of the lives of the two patients linked to where they live
9. Speculation about how we will address the AIDS crisis in the future

Have students share their presentations and discuss and compare AIDS prevention and treatment around the world. As a class, develop a plan to encourage world governments to provide a wider range of supports to Third World countries to enhance their abilities to treat AIDS patients.