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HIV is an epidemic that still currently has no cure, however knowledge of the disease is much more extensive than what was known thirty years ago. Today there is much more knowledge with regard to prevention, diagnosis, and medical management. Nearly 50000 cases are newly diagnose every year, and this number has been stable for the past decade. In 1986 a study was conducted on 375 gay men in San Francisco by Dr. Sol Silverman and the clinical findings were recorded. Due to the wealth of knowledge about the disease that was not known back then there are a number of difference in the epidemiology of the disease. The proportion of gay men and women represent a far smaller number than they did when the study was initially conducted. However, the disease still disproportionately attacks nonwhites and Hispanics, who represent 62% of men and 82% of women. A key reason for the high transmission of HIV is due to the fact that most people do not know they are carrying the disease. In fact, nearly half of HIV transmission are due to these people (Abel et al, 2013).
Furthermore, HIV research has led to the acquisition of a wealth of knowledge in regards to treatment of the disease. In the mid-1980s, there was no known treatment whereas today there are over 30 agents. The most effective of them is combination therapy, which is far superior to individual therapy in “achieving complete suppression of HIV replication, durability of treatment response, prevention of development of HIV drug resistance, and reduced HIV and non-HIV-associated morbidity and mortality” (Abel et al, 2013). The therapy has had such positive results that recent data has shown that people with an HIV infection who have an undetectable viral load on therapy and achieve and...
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...DS, which accounted for one third of all blanket policies to refuse treatment. Furthermore, 90% of dentists who had discriminatory responses graduated before 1988. There were only two dentists who graduated later this date who said they would refuse treatment to HIV patients.
Dentists have a legal and moral obligation to accept HIV/AIDS patients into their practice. Not only can dentists help to first identify signs of HIV infection because more signs of the disease appear as oral lesions, but it is unlawful to refuse treatment to these patients. Only if treating the patient provides a direct threat to the provider or other patients can treatment be refused. Such is not the case for HIV/AIDS patients. The ADA has regulations in place to protect such patient in the Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional conduct, and dentists need to adhere to these standards.
...In conclusion, since the first documented case of HIV and AIDS in the 1980s, it has affected health care in several ways. Donor centers have changed their screening of donors and testing ways of the blood collected. It has increased the awareness needed for taking universal precautions when dealing in any patient care. Medical equipment modified to protect health care providers from accidentally being stuck with infected needles. Health programs designed to educate patients and raise awareness of the disease among the at-risk population. HIV and AIDS have had an impact on patient care but in a positive way also.
At one point the CDC told the gay community that through research they found that AIDS was being transferred through sexual intercourse. This was a little hard for them to accept, but not nearly as hard as when the CDC suggest that they close down all of their bath houses. In the gay communities eyes having bath houses was the first battle won in a war for them to be seen has normal people. So they practiced their right to patient autonomy and chose to keep the bath houses open, even though they were informed that it was a contributing factor in the spread of AIDS.
HIV has many psychological aspects which can impact on the way a patient behaves. Stigma and non-adherence are just two aspects associated with the disease. Many individuals have negative attitudes towards people with HIV and this can result in HIV patients suffering from discrimination. Bad quality healthcare and patients being fearful of seeking treatment are just two of the outcomes of stigma (Mandal, 2013). It has been known for healthcare professionals to withhold treatment, breach confidentiality and isolate HIV patients when not necessary (Engenderhealth, 2004a). Homosexual men have always been at the forefront of HIV stigma and in 1985 Dougal et al conducted a study about homophobia on 128 nurses and physicians. The results showed that ten per cent felt that homosexual men were responsibl...
Since the development of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in the 1990s, HIV/AIDs has evolved from a death sentence into a treatable disease. It has presented a unique global health problem because while the treatments were very effective, they were extremely expensive, required advanced laboratory monitoring, were prescribed indefinitely, and required excellent patient compliance. In many of the developing countries devastated by AIDs/HIV, the health and societal infrastructures often had difficult supporting an effective treatment program. For that reason, it is estimated that 71% of HIV/AID cases are in sub-Saharan Africa and only 39% of of them are on ART (AVERT, 2015). Southern Africa is often considered the “epicenter” of the
AIDS discrimination is a bit more complex than that against patients with other diseases. Although years of education has decreased the discrimination in the clinical care setting toward patients with AIDS, prejudice stills occurs. Twenty-six percent of patients with AI...
...ment for the sick. This received criticism but was nevertheless renewed and became a helpful resource for the sick. Even through all of the new programs that worked to stop the spread of AIDS and inform community and the sick, AIDS hit its 100,000 person dead in 1991. AIDS still surged up to the #1 leading death cause of men ages 25-44 in 1992 and then the #1 death cause of every all Americans ages 25-44 in 1995. The AIDS response also had conservative backlash because of the fact that sex and sexuality were more talked about, especially from Senator Jesse Helms (mostly blocking funding and stopping high school education), but criticism did not slow its efforts. The real AIDS solution was the discovery of new drugs in 1996. While the cost of these drugs was very expensive and out of reach for some, it led to the decline in AIDS death by 40% in 1997 compared to 1996.
In the year 1981, the condition known as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), had a considerable impact on the health of many Americans. It was until the actual discovery of the syndrome in the early 80s that doctors suddenly gained noticed of a new form of cancer, the likes of which they’ve never encountered before, and since the syndrome’s first public outing in the United States on the summer of 1981, the number of reported cases and human casualties greatly increased due to doctors’ and health officials’ inability to understand what was actually killing them. The rise of this illness became prevalent in the 1980s because even when though it was originally thought that the disease only affected homosexual men who encountered in anal
Zukoski, A. P., & Thorburn, S. (2009, November 4). Experience of Stigma and Discrimination among Adults Living with HIV in a Low HIV-Prevalence Context: A Qualitative Analysis. AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 23(), 267-275.
The family of a deceased victim, Miss Kimberly Bergalis, pushed for laws mandating that healthcare workers be tested for AIDS and required to tell patients of positive results (Altman, 1993). I believe this to be an unfounded and unethical request. I personally believe that healthcare workers should be entitled to the same confidentiality rights as other patients. Requiring health care workers to report HIV status to patients, would effectively end their career and livelihood. Imagine if a healthcare provider contracted HIV while treating an infected patient. The time, money, and hard work put into obtaining that career would be all for nothing. If the workers had to tell patients that they had HIV, they would have to tell the employer, and would never get hired. Would it be fair for providers to have the option to refuse treating patients based on HIV status, to protect healthcare workers? It would be considered unethical, and the proposed sanction call for this question. If a healthcare provider practices proper infection control and abides by the principle of nonmaleficence, then no issues should arise. This is an idealist viewpoint. However, it is supported by journalistic investigations of Lawrence Altman of the New York Times. ...
...easures. In 1990 HIV-infected people were included in the Americans with Disabilities Act, making discrimination against people with AIDS for jobs, housing, and other social benefits illegal. Additionally, the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act established a community-funding program designed to assist in the daily lives of people living with AIDS. This congressional act was named in memory of a young man who contracted HIV through blood products and became a public figure for his courage in fighting the disease and community prejudice. The act is still in place, although continued funding for such social programs is threatened by opposition in the U.S. Congress.
This means that the health care system needs to step into the community and educate Hispanics/Latinos about the importance of HIV related disease.
When HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) was first discovered as a disease in 1980, the affected individuals were stigmatized to the extreme. HIV/AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) was first reported with homosexuals and IV drug users, which led the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to label the disease as Gay-related Immune Deficiency, as “gay” individuals were synonymous “drug users” due to their similar activities in the 1980’s (Stine 22). However, it soon became clear that female population were just as susceptible to contracting HIV as males.
Yes, now, since 1998, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Bragdon v. Abbott, the disease of HIV/AIDS does indeed qualify as a disability. However, this is legislation to late for Paul Cr...
This paper discusses various arguments by the proponents and opponents of mandatory HIV testing in two scenarios.
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.