The Talmud reports that Rabbi Joshua put this question to Elijah himself. Surely if there is a God, we are the hands of God, changing the bandages one by one. Viewed from any perspective, the situation in Africa, and more specifically sub-Saharan Africa, is terrifying.
Hospitals are nowhere near equipped with medicines, expertise or staff.
Governments plagued with debt crises and political upheaval are straining to develop national strategies without much success, and the burden of caring for the sick and the orphaned is resting on families and communities. The death rate among teachers, skilled workers, doctors and nurses in urban sectors is high, leading to decreases in national productivity. The demands that the crisis imposes on the already woefully inadequate health care systems make it even more difficult to treat those with curable diseases, thereby increasing vulnerability of all segments of the population, infected or not. They have created prevention education programs, support groups for people living with HIV, home-based care operations and networks to support AIDS orphans. They go into schools and teach abstinence and condom use.