HIV/AIDS Research
Every part of African society from teachers to soldiers is under
attack from Aids with over 30% of the adult population infected in
some countries, the United Nations says in a new report. 80% of the
world's deaths from AIDS occur in Africa, which at current rate is
estimated to be 34 million people to have been infected with HIV in
sub-Saharan Africa, since the start of the pandemic and 11.4 million
are estimated to have died. This epidemic is creating instability in
an already fragile African economy.
The impact of Aids goes right across the board from rural farming
communities to the armed forces and the police. The UN estimates that
economic growth across Africa has been cut by 4% and in the next 20
years the working population could drop by a quarter because of Aids
deaths.
If the consequences of AIDS is not tackled immediately then the
essential services such as health, welfare and justice will be
severely weakened.
According to the UN, Aids is now the number one overall cause of death
in Africa and is in fourth place among all causes of death worldwide.
The Aids epidemic began in Africa, but in many cases governments were
slow to respond. The problem has been exacerbated by poverty,
illiteracy, weak education and public health systems and the low
social status of women.
To tackle the rising epidemic in HIV it is essential that the
government take appropriate steps to improve the situation. This is
why it is crucial that your government takes immediate action to
reduce the epidemic.
At present I believe public health measures are the only way to stop
the spread of HIV. This means that people can be educated about the
spread of infection and encouraged to change their behaviours so as to
protect themselves and others. Educating people to practice safer sex
is probably the only control method currently available to health
authorities, nevertheless, this could be introduced in more detail so
that it can help reduce the number of people becoming infected with
Different people define success in many different ways. What is considered success by one person may be viewed as failure by another person. Randy Shilts, a homosexual newspaper reporter / author, attempts to make fundamental changes in America’s opinion on AIDS. In Randy Shilts’s essay, "Talking AIDS to Death," he speaks of his experiences as an "AIDS celebrity." At the core of Shilts’s essay is the statement, "Never before have I succeeded so well; never before have I failed so miserably"(221). Shilts can see his accomplishments from two points of view- as a success and as a failure. Despite instant fame, Shilts is not satisfied with the effects his writings has on the general public. Shilts’s "success" and reasons for failure can both be considered when one decides whether or not his efforts were performed in vain.
AIDS is slowly becoming the number one killer across the globe. Throughout numerous small countries, AIDS has destroyed lives, taken away mothers, and has left hopeless children as orphans. The problem remains that funding for the diseases’ medical research is limited to none. In the country Brazil, HIV/AIDS has been compared to the bubonic plague, one of the oldest yet, most deadly diseases to spread rapidly across Europe (Fiedler 524). Due to this issue, Brazil’s government has promised that everyone who has been diagnosed with either HIV or AIDS will receive free treatment; however, this treatment does not include help in purchasing HIV medications, that “carry astronomical price tags” (Fiedler 525). Generic drug companies have been able to produce effective HIV medications that are not as costly if compared to the prices given by the huge pharmaceutical companies. In contrast, the U.S. government has now intervened with these generic companies hindering them from making HIV medications, which may not be as efficient if made by the pharmaceutical companies. Not only are these drug companies losing thousands of dollars against generic drug companies, but also tremendous profit that is demanded for marketing these expensive drugs as well. “How many people must die without treatment until the companies are willing to lower their prices, or to surrender their patients so generic makers can enter market? (Fiedler 525).” With this question in mind, what ways can we eliminate the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the world? With research, education, testing, and funding we can prevent the spread of HIV to others and hopefully find a cure.
The country’s first cases of HIV were detected in 1982. About 2.6 million Ugandans were infected while 1.6 million people lost their lives to the HIV/AIDS illness. HIV/AIDS is a massive issue which currently, 7.2 percent of Uganda’s population is living with. 90% of HIV cases are discovered in developing countries and Uganda has the 7th highest number of HIV cases reported all over the world. This amounts to an estimated 1.4 million people, which includes approximately 190,000 children. In 2011 an estimated 62,000 people died from AIDS and 1.1 million children have been orphaned due to the virus. HIV is more common in women at 5.4 percent, compared to 2.4 percent prevalence rate amongst men. Developing countries such as Uganda have less money to support their basic necessities. Majority of these people do not have enough money to purchase health care to help keep them safe from the virus. As well in Uganda there is a lack of education about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted. Children need to be educate...
Heroism can be defined as when one displays could courage. All over the world there are individual heroes. Some of those people start organizations to help people in need. The Magic Johnson Foundation is a heroic organization to help people achieve what they want to achieve while maintaining a good healthy life.
As recently as 1990, there were some regions of the world that had remained relatively unscathed by AIDS. Today, however, there is not a single country around the world which has wholly escaped the AIDS epidemic. As the epidemic has matured, some of the developed nations which were hard hit by the epidemic in the 1980s such as the United States have reported a slowing in the rate of new infections and a stabilization among existing cases with lower mortality rates and an extension of post-diagnosis lifespan. However, despite the changing face of the global AIDS pandemic, one factor remains unchanged: no region of the world bears a higher AIDS-related burden than sub-Saharan Africa. This paper examines the demographic effects of AIDS in Africa, focusing on the hardest-hit countries of sub-Saharan Africa and considers the present and future impact of the AIDS epidemic on major demographic measures such as fertility, mortality, life expectancy, gender, age, and family structure.
Public health involves a number of factors; it is a science that aims to improve and educate the public in many aspects regarding health. A public health issue that can affect anyone anywhere is the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Public Health and HIV is a topic widely researched. Since there is no cure for such a disease, it is important to research and study this virus in hopes of bettering the outcomes for those inflicted with it. Ultimately, HIV can be prevented which is why it is necessary to raise awareness¬ to the public about the disease. After approximately thirty years since the first documentation of AIDS, there are still some misconceptions about HIV such as its potential dangers as well as the unequal
The control and eradication of HIV/AIDS should be of the upmost importance for the whole of the global community. Though many modern countries have effectively treated and controlled the disease in the last few decades in their own societies, it is vital for third-world countries and poorer nations to control the disease in order to advance as a population. Currently, the methods in place to control HIV/AIDS do not work in poor countries due to stigmas attached to the disease and to a general lack in understanding of it. In “The Wisdom of Whores,” Elizabeth Pasini presents a new method of studying the disease from a scientific perspective that is both viable and promising as a solution to AIDS/HIV problem. Her proposal is very strong and well documented. She uses her own experience working in UNAIDS, the CDC, and the WHO to help support her claims from a first hand account and cities a lot of her own, as well as other, scientific research to explain why the focus should be on the tracking patterns and spread of HIV/AIDS, instead of simply on the control of it. Her general argument is very persuasive and provides information from a viewpoint not normally assessed. Proponents of NGOs and religious groups who go in to help prevent the spread of the disease would be the only real dissent against her argument. They would argue against her suggestion that NGOs and religious groups have hurt HIV/AIDS prevention in the past or are currently affecting the control of the disease in a negative way.
Magic Johnson once stated, “You can’t get AIDS from a hug or a handshake or a meal with a friend.” AIDS and HIV is not something you can receive by touching someone’s outer skin. AIDS and HIV can only be transmitted when an infected persons; fluids meets with another person. AIDS and HIV is one of the most deadliest disease in the world that already has killed 1.6 million civilians. People need to understand the facts behind AIDS and HIV so people do not treat others who are infected like they are going to kill them. Everyone has possibility of contracting AIDS and HIV; it can change one’s world in a heart beat.
time as well as forward. They determined that the first cases of AIDS in the
HIV/AIDS is an illness that has been present for over three decades, all regions of the world are affected with this virus, but some regions such as the Sub-Saharan Africa are the worst hit with high incidence and prevalence. HIV is a preventable virus, it is commonly transmitted through unprotected sex, sharing drug injection equipment such as needles with someone that is HIV positive and through other body fluids such as blood, semen, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids and breast milk. South Africa has the largest number of people with HIV majority of these numbers being women. In the study by Rehle et al it is stated that in South Africa (SA) both men and women matured 15-49 years were evaluated to be 2.0 new diseases every year per 100 susceptible
Statistics have been show a frightening increase in AIDS/HIV cases. As of the year 2012, South Africa has had the most cases of HIV/AIDS coming to a total of 6,070,800 ("Country Comparison :: HIV/AIDS”). This is a huge contributing factor to this conspira...
What is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the spread of AIDS throughout the world? AIDS is sometimes considered a “foreigner’s disease,” coming from somewhere else and imported into isolated communities by travelers and refugees in time of war. According to the book, Global Aids Crisis, studies conducted on every continent show that those who travel frequently are at an increased risk for infection with HIV/AIDS. Since the virus has spread it has troubled millions of people around the world. AIDS is an alarming sickness which is caused by an infection called, HIV. When it gets inside your body, it attacks your immune system instantly. AIDS is a very destructive disease and has spread fast throughout the world because of poverty, massive migrations of people, war and other conflicts across the world, we must help to find a cure.
This book covers a wide range of subtopics on the issue of HIV and AIDS prevalence in South Africa. The authors provide information in a neatly organized way that allows readers to easily find the information they are looking for. The book is divided into 7 sections with multiple chapters in each section. The sections are as follows: Birth of a rapidly growing epidemic, The virus, the human host and their interactions, HIV risk factors and prevention strategies, Focal groups for understanding the HIV epidemic, the impact of AIDS, Treating HIV, and What does the future hold? Sections 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7 will provide good background information on my topic for my paper.
When the chapter discusses HIV/AIDS, the locations mentioned are Africa, the Asia-Pacific Region, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Middle East and North Africa. The countries that are still facing major issues with controlling this disease are Africa, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This disease is so severe in Africa that over 14 million children lose both or one of their parents. Although the infection in children have went down significantly, “over 22.5 million people are living in Africa with AIDS/HIV.” Moving into the Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the main issue that is causing HIV to spread is the amount of drug use and injections. This also causes a main concern in prisons because not only is HIV spreading, but multidrug resistant tuberculosis is as well. Finally, there is a major HIV issue in the Caribbean, causing it to have the 2nd highest infection rate in the world. This huge population of people carrying HIV has caused many countries to criminalize sex work and sex between
The emergence of HIV/AIDS is viewed globally as one of the most serious health and developmental challenges our society faces today. Being a lentivirus, HIV slowly replicates over time, attacking and wearing down the human immune system subsequently leading to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) at which point the affected individual is exposed to life threatening illnesses and eventual death. Despite the fact that a few instances of this disease have been accounted for in all parts of the world, a high rate of the aforementioned living with HIV are situated in either low or medium wage procuring nations. The Sub-Saharan region Africa is recognized as the geographic region most afflicted by the pandemic. In previous years, people living with HIV or at risk of getting infected did not have enough access to prevention, care and treatment neither were they properly sensitized about the disease. These days, awareness and accessibility to all the mentioned (preventive methods, care etc.) has risen dramatically due to several global responses to the epidemic. An estimated half of newly infected people are among those under age 25(The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic). It hits hard as it has no visible symptoms and can go a long time without being diagnosed until one is tested or before it is too late to manage.