An analysis of the main reasons for the continued spread of HIV

We have been aware of HIV and AIDS since the 1970s (Miller, 2012), and though there have been treatments and reduction in the number of people infected, the disease remains. The disease results in death usually following opportunistic infections as a result of AIDS destruction of the immune system, but thanks to modern medicine “many people

HIV and AIDS have affected millions of people throughout the world. Since 1981, there have been 25 million deaths due to AIDS involving men, women, and children. Presently there are 40 million people living with HIV and AIDS around the world and two million die each year from AIDS related illnesses. The Center for Disease Control estimates that one-third of the one million Americans living with HIV are not aware that they have it. The earliest known case of HIV was in 1959. It was discovered in a blood sample from a man in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Looking further into the genetics of this blood sample researchers suggested that it had originated from a virus going back to the late 1940’s or early 1950’s. In 1999,

Even though there is a rapid advancement in medical inventions, still the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the most challenging virus that will drag the human lives to the deadly disease acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It spreads its wings all over. HIV cannot be cured, but it can be prevented. It has become the greatest life threatening disease and affects unbelievably high percent of human beings. Nowadays, besides other deadly diseases, HIV/AIDS becomes more complex and crucial health issue that challenges several medical inventions. Several contributors cause this deadly virus and disease such as promiscuity, homosexuality, female circumcision, sugar daddies, sexual crime, rape, prostitution, cultural

19:1 in the United States and Europe; emphasis has been placed on sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (Hrdy,1987). Factors thought to influence this sexual transmission include promiscuity, and sexual practices that have been associated with increased risk of transmission of AIDS virus from male to female and from mother to babies (Hrdy,1987). In Africa, promiscuity seems to be the most important cultural factor contributing to the transmission of HIV. For example, Olivia had been sexually abused and has contracted AIDS earlier in her life. Whereas social and cultural factors are the direct cause for the transmission of HIV from pregnant women to babies in India because women would rather have babies with HIV than to be homeless, beaten or abandon if they don’t conceive children (Bilheimer,

Over time, cancers or infections take over the body’s immune system and signals that the person has AIDS, the last stage of the infection. A close examination of the HIV epidemic has come to show that there are underlying causes of this disease and has proven that

Drug abuse is too much consumption of drugs which results in problematic consequences as a result of the excessive consumption. The issue of drug abuse has presented major controversies as to whether or not is detrimental to health and should not be used or whether people have the absolute right to do whatever they may please with their lives so long as nobody else is being affected. The abuse of drugs has not only disastrous consequences for a drug user but his or her entire family as well. In the present times, the abuse of drugs is at its peak. Particularly in the third world countries and the developing countries, individuals and specifically youth has been involved in such nefarious activities which are only ruining their lives. At the name of freedom and liberty, many countries are disseminating such a mentality that every adult is free to his or her own life styles (Regier et al., 1990).

The prospects for effective management of individuals with HIV are early dictation of the disease and identification and implementation of an evidence-based intervention that will slow the advancement of HIV to deleterious outcomes (Vervloet, Linn, Van Weert, de Bakker, Bouvy, & Dijik, 2012). HIV is a pandemic and pervasive disease that is associated with extensive mortality and morbidity. In the 1980s, HIV has claimed the lives of 33 million individuals’ and 35 million individuals are presently living with the disease nationwide. HIV attacks humans’ protective systems, and then replicates itself. As a result of this replication, the body cells thereby overwhelm the T-cells or the CD4

The first determinant of health related to African American female population in the 19132 zip code pertains to policies. Polices for this population include providing access to health care, HIV testing and syringe services programs. The Office of HIV Planning in Philadelphia focuses on the needs of the population, conducts community outreaches and educational sessions. As previously stated, 32 state Medicaid programs reimburse for routine HIV screening of adults aged 15-65 years, regardless of risk. This policy allows for individuals to more likely participate in this screening process. HIV testing can be done through health care professionals offices or clinics. Other programs such as AIDS Fund and AVERTing HIV and AIDS provide information on locations on where testing can be done. AVERTing HIV and AIDS also provides information on Needle and Syringe Programs that are available in the community.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that cause initial HIV infection and, as the virus proliferates in the body, AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). HIV affects the immune system by exploiting, and, eventually, destroying a specific kind of immune cells. That allows for the gradual deterioration of a person’s immune system, which ultimately causes death from minor opportunistic infections, which are normally perfectly curable and generally do not cause major consequences for health. HIV has a limited range of transmission ways. It is only transmitted through the direct contact of body fluids, which include blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk [1]. This means that most of the modes of transmission include activities that are moralized by society, such as intravenous drug use and sexual contact [1]. However, it can also be transmitted through “innocent pathways”, such as during breastfeeding (mother to child) and blood transfusion. HIV is a very young, still poorly understood virus. It was first clinically observed in the summer of 1981 in San Francisco, where it was spotted as a type of sarcoma, mostly spotted in the gay population. In the beginning of the global epidemic, there was a huge misunderstanding of the disease [2]. Back then, a general sentiment about HIV was that of a “rather devastating outbreak” [2] , associated with homosexuality and drug use (to the point

It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.

The first cases of AIDS that were reported in the United States began in the early 1980s. Today, more than 1.1 million people are living with HIV. In response to this HIV epidemic, at least 35 states have implemented HIV-specific criminal laws that penalize HIV-positive people for exposing others to the virus. These laws impose criminal penalties to HIV positive people that knowingly and potentially expose others to the virus. The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, also known as the CARE Act, provides states with funds for AIDS treatment and care. In 1990, the CARE Act required every state to certify that its “criminal laws were adequate to prosecute any HIV-infected individual who knowingly exposed another person to HIV.” Criminal laws regarding potential HIV exposure vary largely from state to state. Some federal legislation addresses the criminal penalties for intentional exposure such as through blood donation. CDC and Department of Justice researches found that, “ by 2011, a total of 67 laws explicitly focused on persons living with HIV had been enacted in 33 states… In 24 states, laws require persons who are aware that they have HIV disclose their status to sexual partners and 14 states require disclosure to needle-sharing partners.” The criminal laws vary as to what behaviors are criminalized or result in additional penalties. The criminal statutes regarding intentional exposure to AIDS for Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama ,Georgia, and

In the 1980s, a mysterious disease began to take the lives of Americans. With the cause unknown, a fear grew among Americans. An unusually high rate of people was becoming sick with strange and rare diseases. When experimental treatments failed to work, people died. This mysterious disease is what we now know as HIV–Human Immunodeficiency Virus. In the past thirty-five years, the HIV has taken many turns in history. Although we do not hear about HIV and AIDS now, it is still a prevalent issue in the United States and in the world.

HIV has been a pandemic that has affected the world relentlessly for many years in a never-ending circle. HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is the virus that is spread through certain bodily fluids and can lead to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). HIV attacks the immune system by destroying CD4+ T cells, which leaves the person infected with HIV vulnerable to other infections, diseases, and other complications.1 Once this virus is acquired, the human can never fully rid itself of this pathogen. If left untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4+ cells in the body whom sole duty is to protect the body from infections. 2 Many scientists have postulated on where the virus was first introduced. It has been assumed that the virus was first encountered humans whom were hunting and eating chimpanzees in Central Africa and the virus has spread like wildfire since then. Data over the years have shown that the virus has existed within the United States since at least the mid to late 1970s. 3 No effective cure for HIV currently exist although many vaccine studies are underway around the world, but with the proper treatment and medical care provided by the medical team, HIV can be controlled and have low transmission rates. The medicine we use to treat HIV is referred to as antiretroviral therapy or ART. When a person infected HIV adheres to the medication correctly, it will allow for them to live longer and have healthier lives. 2

Although the first wave of HIV infections occurred in 1988 amongst injecting drug users, it was during 1989 – 1990 that prompted the “awakening of HIV/AIDS.” The National Advisory Committee on AIDS developed a surveillance of sentinel groups, which included sex workers, male patients with sexually transmitted infections, and blood donors. This surveillance revealed the HIV virus being transmitted rapidly through sex. From 1989-1990, the prevalence of direct sex workers infected with the virus tripled from 3.5% to 9.3%. One year later, this prevalence increased to 21.6%. During the same period, the proportion of male conscripts, aged 21, infected with HIV during testing for entry to the army rose six fold from 0.5% in 1989 to 3% in 1991. This increase was associated with the growing popularity of visiting sex establishments among young men.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that cause initial HIV infection and, as the virus proliferates in the body, AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). HIV affects the immune system by exploiting, and, eventually, destroying a specific kind of immune cells. That allows for the gradual deterioration of a person’s immune system, which ultimately causes death from minor opportunistic infections, which are normally perfectly curable and generally do not cause major consequences for health. HIV has a limited range of transmission ways. It is only transmitted through the direct contact of body fluids, which include blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk [1]. This means that most of the modes of transmission include activities that are moralized by the society, such as intravenous drug use and sexual contacts [1]. However, it can also be transmitted through “innocent pathways”, such as during breastfeeding (mother to child) and blood transfusion. HIV is a very young, still poorly understood virus. It was first clinically observed in the summer of 1981 in San Francisco, where it was spotted as a type of sarcoma, mostly spotted in the gay population. Huge misunderstanding of the disease in the beginning of the global epidemic was prevalent [2]. Back then, a general sentiment about HIV was that of a “rather devastating outbreak” [2] and of association of this disease with homosexuality and drug use (to the point of declaring the disease not