Reduced Spread Of Hiv / Aids

Since its identification approximately two decades ago, HIV has increasingly spread globally, surpassing expectations (1). The number of people living with HIV worldwide is estimated to be 36 million, with 20 million people having died from the disease, giving a total number of 56 million being infected (1). In 2000 alone, 5.3 million people were infected with HIV and there is potential for further spread. HIV infection rates vary all over the world with the highest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (1). Responding to this epidemic has been a challenge as infection rates have increased worldwide despite tremendous public health efforts by nations (1). The identification of potential interventions to reduce the magnitude of the problem has

In The Invisible Cure, Helen Epstein talks about why HIV/AIDS rate is so high in Africa compared to the rest of the world. Through the book, she gives us an account of the disease and the struggles that many health experts and ordinary Africans went through to understand this disease, and how different African countries approached the same problem differently. Through this paper, I will first address the different ways Uganda and Southern African countries, South Africa and Botswana in particular, dealt with this epidemic, and then explain how we can use what we have learned from these African countries to control outbreaks of communicable disease elsewhere around the world.

Many Americans embraced a new conservatism in social, economic and political life during the 1980s, characterized by the policies of President Ronald Reagan who took office in 1981. Often remembered for its materialism and consumerism, the decade also saw the rise of the “yuppie,” an explosion of blockbuster movies and the emergence of cable networks like MTV, which introduced the music video and launched the careers of many iconic artists, this lead to a rise in drug abuse, crime aggravated by illegal drugs while overcrowding America 's prisons and the pandemic of HIV/AIDS bowled its way into the American mainstream. During this time Reagan would also implement policies to reduce the federal government’s reach into the daily lives and pocketbooks of Americans, including tax cuts intended to spur growth (known as Reaganomics). He also advocated for increases in military spending, reductions in certain social programs and measures to deregulate business. There were several controversial federal policies such as the Affirmative Action Policy some called it "reverse discrimination", sought to inject racial and gender equality into many aspects of American life, especially college enrollment and workplace hiring practices.

Africa has a history of facing many challenges, including starvation, poverty, Ebola and AIDS. AIDS, however, has become Africa’s biggest hurdle. Botswana, located in Southern Africa, has been hit the hardest by the AIDS virus with over 23% of its population contracting AIDS. In order to help fix the AIDS epidemic in Botswana, multiple things need to be reviewed, such as understanding how AIDS spread throughout Botswana, where the region currently stands on the AIDS virus, and the three solutions on how to prevent the rise in the spreading of the virus within the area. According to the website Avert, studies have shown that the most effective ways to help stop the spread of AIDS includes testing centers, intervention centers, and the distribution of more protective measures.

The sixth goal is to combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases, focusing on reversing their spread and providing universal access to treatment. We have seen progress made in most countries towards achieving this goal, with the statistics falling every day, however, we are far from the finish line as a little over 2 million people still contract AIDS/HIV.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS is a pandemic problem affecting global health. At the end of 2015, 36.7 million people were living with HIV/AIDS globally. The rate of incidence is more prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa with almost 1 in every 24 adults living with HIV/AIDS. In the united states, HIV/AIDS is a diversified health problem affecting all sexes, ages and races and involving the transmission of multiple risk behavior. However, with the introduction of various prevention programs and antiretroviral drugs, the incidence of HIV/AIDS has reduced.

Although HIV is no longer the automatic death sentence it was in the 80’s, it remains a thorn even in our modern societies. For instance, HIV treatment is exponentially expensive, and can only be afforded by residents in developed countries. In fact, most third world nations are still in the 80’s as far as HIV treatment technology is concerned. Fatality rates particularly in Africa are astronomical to say the least (Rensburg 267). With prices, for

The aim of the intervention program Sisters Saving Sisters (SSS) is to help prevent and reduce HIV and other STDs rates in young African American and Hispanic women. Sisters Saving Sisters aims to reduce the overall number of sexual partners adolescent women have to decrease their risk of contracting HIV or other STDs. Currently 1 in 4 cases of HIV/AIDS in the United States are in women. ("HIV/AIDS | womenshealth.gov", 2016) HIV disproportionately affects African American and Hispanic women compared to women of other races. ("Women | Gender | HIV By Group | HIV/AIDS | CDC", 2016) In 2013 it was estimated that 61% of women infected with HIV were African American and 17% were Hispanic. ("Women | Gender | HIV By Group | HIV/AIDS | CDC", 2016) HIV also significantly affects youth in the United States and in 2014 ages 13-24 accounted for 22% of new HIV diagnoses. ("HIV Among Youth | Age | HIV By Group | HIV/AIDS | CDC", 2016)

The population of Botswana below the poverty line is 47% (CIA-The World Factbook-Botswana). Botswana 's people have very poor living conditions and many of the people do not have access to safe drinking water. After contracting the HIV virus, one 's immune system is much more susceptible to infectious diseases; these diseases are brought by the unsafe drinking water or the unacceptable living conditions. These more-susceptible people may catch infectious and fatal diseases. The poor people also have reduced access to health services. When Botswana 's HIV infected people are exposed to an unhealthy environment or unsafe water, they are very likely to be infected by diseases that their slowed immune systems cannot fight off. This results in many more deaths of AIDS infected people. Poverty can also cause more HIV transmission. It is common for young girls to have sex with men to get money to pay for schooling or food (AIDS in Africa). This is not right and is putting these young girls at risk of infection; young girls should not need money bad enough to have to get it from a man by having sex with him. Also, with poverty comes a lack of education, education about the horrors of AIDS and how to prevent it. There needs to be a solution for the half of Botswana that lives in poverty and does not receive a proper

In today’s world it seems as if people and society care more about how people dress and how they look ignoring what’s around them. In reality, many countries are facing problems that seem to be out of their reach, and the countries simply cannot control nor fight the problem. One of many large global health issues is HIV/AIDs. Although the virus exists in many places all around the world, it is affecting and impacting poor, undeveloped countries the most, for example Sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is facing this epidemic in which many of its people are suffering from the virus HIV/AIDS. There are many methods in which a person can get infected. HIV/AIDS is also affecting the countries, but most

In September of 2016, Sweden became officially recognized as the first country in the world to achieve the UN’s 90-90-90 goal. This goal means that 90% of people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90% of people will receive antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression. These goals were enacted by the UNAIDS group in 2014 and the 90-90-90 goal has a target year of 2020. UNAIDS is referring to this as “an ambitious treatment target to help end the AIDS epidemic” (90–90–90 - An Ambitious Treatment). It is ambitious, but it is clear that is goal is possible in at least a single country. The fact that Sweden was able to reach the UNAIDS’s goal within 2 years is incredible. While this goal was achievable in Sweden, the possibility that another country can reach it in the exact same way that Sweden was able to is not likely. Sweden has unique characteristics that have allowed it to attain this goal such as small outbreak size, healthcare access and national guidelines (Carter).

When working to improve health care systems and decrease the number of people getting infected with HIV it is important to learn from past experiences and create attainable goals. Recently the UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board met to create a new strategy to combat HIV (UNAIDS). This strategy for 2016-2021 aligns with one of the new Millennium Development Goal created by the United Nations that states it would like to end HIV as a public health threat and epidemic by 2030. UNAIDS set a series of ten targets, which coincides with the United Nations Millennium Development Goal and are listed in Table 3, as part of its strategy to reduce the prevalence of HIV around the world.

Throughout the history of South Africa, problems regarding the overall well-being of the country have arisen. One current issue South Africa is currently facing is HIV/AIDS. The disease has been plaguing South Africa as well as other countries throughout the continent. The initialism HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. This disease attacks and destroys the infection-fighting CD4 cells of the immune system. Loss of these cells makes it difficult for the body to fight infections. Without treatment, HIV can gradually destroy the immune system and advance to AIDS. Human immunodeficiency virus is a multistage disease and AIDS is the most advanced stage. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. According to the World Health Report, South Africa’s health system is ranked 175th in the world, making it one of the lowest in the world. With such a low-quality health system, the disease is easily spreading throughout South Africa quickly. The epidemic has detrimentally affected South Africa’s economy causing low productivity and a reduced labor supply. This, combined with the need for enhanced medical imports and a reduced exportation rate, is causing economic instability for the South African government. With all the negative effects of HIV/AIDS in South Africa, creating a better health system and ensuring healthy citizens must be a priority. In order to achieve healthy and productive citizens, the government must focus on more permanent, cost effective, solution to

In a recent article that was done by (James Thurlow, 2009) shows that South Africa has one of the highest HIV/AIDS rate with KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) being the worst affected area with the results estimate that almost 26.4% of the working class in the area of (KZN) are affected with HIV which is in comparison with the 15.9% in the rest of the country.

“It is now over twenty five years since the HIV and AIDS epidemic emerged in Zambia, and the Government of Zambia declared the epidemic a national emergency” (nac.org.zm, 2016). A number of programs aiming at controlling the epidemic, stopping new infections and improving the quality of those already infected has been put in place and has shown good results. However, HIV remain the major threat to Zambia.