Introduction
It is during the ages of 18 and 24 that time of life that many adults are sexually active but not always in monogamous relationships. It is a time of life when one can easily contract either AIDS or another STD due to behavior. Young adults are working during the day and doing their socializing at night, and this socializing almost always includes substances such as alcohol and drugs to help alter their mood, or judgments. Thus causing the person to become easily overcome with doing “what feels right” and not “what is safe or will protect them.”
Behavior is key in controlling AIDS. AIDS is a leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 25 and 44 ("Miss America" PG). More than 340,000 have already died from AIDS and The CDC estimates that between 40,000 and 60,000 Americans are becoming newly infected with HIV each year (PG). Estimates are that one quarter of all new HIV infections in the United States occur in people between the ages of 13 and 20 and many of these young people are gay or black (PG).
Body
Since the 1990s the epidemic is now beginning to favor women (Ross 56). The epidemic is shifting toward women and although women accounted for 28% of HIV cases between 1981 and 1999, they represented about 32% of reported cases that occurred between June 1999 and July 2000 (56). In fact, the spread of AIDS is certainly attributable to behavior as it is suggested that when abstinence is practiced, or programs are launched that preach an absence of sex, AIDS rates droop. But other method of reducing AIDS and HIV results when "safe sex" is practiced.
Colin Powell was criticized for suggesting that using condoms is better than not when engaging in sexual intercourse. The reasons for the criticism include the fact that people perceived the authority figure as endorsing sex, and further and most importantly, giving the false impression that condoms automatically prevent AIDS from spreading. While condoms do help, they do not completely protect people from contracting AIDS. It is still possible to get the disease while practicing "safe sex." While many do believe that condoms are very effective, the truth is that using condoms to prevent HIV "does not...eliminate all risk" ("A response" PG). Although it is the case that condoms are not 100% effective, they are certainly important in preventing AIDS and so one can say that safe sex behavior is important in the prevention of HIV and AIDS.
Spink, Gemma. "AIDS." AVERTing HIV and AIDS. 23 Dec 2009. Web. 11 Jan 2010. .
As of 2015 there are 36.7 million people living with AIDS globally. In the United States alone 1.2 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. Unknowingly, one in eight people are unaware of their infection. Since the epidemic began in the early 1980s 1,216,917 people have been diagnosed with AIDS in the United States. From 2005 to 2014 the rate of infection has dropped by 19%, diagnoses in women declined 40%, and in African American women, diagnoses declined 42%. Amongst all heterosexuals, diagnoses declined 35%, and among people who use intravenous drugs, diagnoses declined 63%
The main reason why this article was written was because there was a lack of attention on risk behaviours regarding women’s HIV prevention in the US. Since women have not been paid attention to, they are more susceptible then men in contracting HIV/AIDS. We need to design a risk reduction program that pays more attention to women.
Since these hormones are peaking during the emerging adulthood phase it causes “ frequent orgasms, powerful sex drive, erotic responses being joyful, fertility being optimal, miscarriages being less common and lastly serious birth complications being unusual” (Berger, 2015, p. 394). With some of the positive that come with this increased level of hormone production there are also some negative consequences that arise. “The bodies of emerging adults still crave sex” (Berger, 2015, p. 394). Due to the impulse for wanting sex comes with an increased rate of sexually transmitted infections during this time period. “Most men and women in the US about 80% of sexually active people are infected with an STD at some point in their lives. Half of the 20 million new STDs each year are among young people between the ages of 15 to 24. Despite many schools focusing on abstinence-based sex education, it's not necessarily sex that's the problem, but rather, unsafe sex” (Papisova, 2015). Again during this time we emerging adults are continuously exploring and learning, so this one of the consequences we do seem to face. We can’t blame emerging adults as being the only reason as to why there is a higher risk of STI’s. There are also other various reasons for the growing number of STI cases some of the primary reasons
With the emergence of HIV over thirty years ago, it has been estimated that more than half a million people have died from AIDS in the United States. As of 2006, approximately 2.2 million people in the United States are HIV positive with roughly 50,000 new infections per year. The most alarming statistic is that 20% of people that are HIV positive are unaware, making them susceptible to passing on the infection unknowingly. Public health programs have been working since the emergence of HIV to educate the populations, trying to give them the knowledge and the tools to protect themselves from infection. As more information has been collected about the transmission of HIV and the relevant social behaviors of susceptible populations leading to transmission, public health programs have been adjusting their messages and methods.
Kirby D. (2007) “Sex and HIV Programs: Their Impact on Sexual Behaviors of Young People Throughout the World.” Journal of Adol
The authors worked for the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies which belongs to AIDS resea...
HIV/STD is a prevalent pandemic that affects thousands of people in Europe, Africa, and United States. More than 15 million sexually transmitted disease occur in the United States (CITE CDC). Doctors and various health professionals have sought after the prevention of HIV/STD, but health professionals have come to a conclusion stating that health promotion is the best way to beat the pandemic with the help of patients. “Rates of curable STDs in the United States, the highest in the developed world, are higher than in some developing countries. “(CDC) “STDs account for 87% of th...
As young children, ages 12 and up to 17, one should be worrying about going to sports tryouts, having bubble guts worrying if they are going to make the cheerleading team or the basketball team. They should be outside in the summer time taking in the beautiful weather with their friends. Many teenagers are starting to build relationships with the opposite sex as early as 12 or 13. With relationships come other new experiences like sexual intercourses. “Fewer than 2% of adolescents have had sex by the time they reach their 12th birthday. But adolescence is a time of rapid change. Only 16% of teens have had sex by age 15, compared with one-third of those aged 16, nearly half (48%) of those aged 17, 61% of 18-year-olds and 71% of 19-year-olds.[1]
Sex is huge, sex is important; everyone cares and has something to say about sex. Sex sells. Sex is an immense part of life for almost everyone in the nation and the world, including youth. Teens hear about sex from their friends, from the shows they watch on television, from the music they listen to, and sometimes, once in a while, they hear about it as discussed by their parents and teachers in an educational context. In a Center For Disease Control (CDC) report from the year 2000, about 65% of 19 year-old teens were currently sexually active, with another 20% unsure if they would chose to be active or not in the near future, and only the remaining 15% choosing to be abstinent from sex at this age. Obviously the majority of teens are engaging in some nature of sexual activity at a relatively early age, and therefore it is important that they learn about the consequences associated with sex and about safe sexual practices, like using protection and being informed about sexual transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy. It was reported by the Alan Guttmacher Institute that approximately 4 in 10 young women in the U.S. become pregnant at least once before turning 20 years old. It was also reported that in the U.S., one in four sexually active teens become infected with an STD every year. With alarming statistics such as these, it is a given that these teens must be well informed before making a decision that could very well alter their lives.
Condom use is higher among young men who worry more frequently about AIDS when the effects of other factors are held constant. Between 1988 and 1991, however, sexually experienced teenagers showed declines in the frequency with which they worried about AIDS, how serious they thought AIDS was, and the likelihood they would get AIDS. These reductions were associated with lower levels of condom use.
A characteristic that adolescent males seem to develop rather quickly as they get older is impulsiveness. Impulsivity can make a person more willing to have sex at an earlier age. Those that develop at an earlier age face many consequences such as unplanned pregnancy and contracting a sexual transmitted disease from lack of knowledge on how to practice safe sex, and increased number of sexual partners. It is estimated that only thirty-five percent of adolescent males use condoms during every sexual encounter. Adolescent males that range from 13 to 19 have one of the fastest increasing rates of HIV, gonorrhea, and chlamydia reported cases. Approximately 1 in 8 males will face an unintended pregnancy. When this happens we end up with a culture that is under educated, reduced opportunities for employment, and an increase for welfare dependency.
In United States, the HIV epidemic reached its peak in the 1980s when the number of infected reached 130,000 people per year. Infected women ...
In the United States, it should be very important to discuss the importance of abstinence among young people of the ages 10 through 25. In industrialized countries, it is very common that teenagers would start indulging in sexual activities at the same age. Studies have proven that adolescences sexual behavior helps to increase self-esteem and identity formation, which helps with the social and romantic interactions in their society. Studies have shown that these behaviors and characteristics are relevant to birth and pregnancy rates, as well as to the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including: human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The centers for Disease Control
In 1981, a new fatal, infectious disease was diagnosed--AIDS (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome). It began in major cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco. People, mostly homosexual men and intravenous drug users, were dying from very rare lung infections or from a cancer known as Kaposi’s sarcoma. They have not seen people getting these diseases in numerous years. Soon, it also affected hemophiliacs, blood recipients, prostitutes and their customers, and babies born from AIDS-infected women. AIDS was soon recognized as a worldwide health emergency, and as a fatal disease with no known cure, that quickly became an epidemic. When high-profile victims began to contract the virus, such as basketball star Magic Johnson, the feeling spread quickly that anyone, not just particular groups of people, could be at risk. AIDS impairs the human body’s immune system and leaves the victim susceptible to various infections. With new research, scientists think that the disease was first contracted through a certain type of green monkey in Africa, then somehow mutated into a virus that a human could get. AIDS is a complicated illness that may involve several phases. It is caused by a virus that can be passed from person to person. This virus is called HIV, or Human Immuno-deficiency Virus. In order for HIV to become full-blown AIDS, your T-cell count (number of a special type of white-blood cells that fight off diseases) has to drop below 200, or you have to get one of the symptoms of an AIDS-induced infection.