Why Should We Get Tested For Hiv?

HIV has affected people all across the world. HIV comes with physical and mental symptoms. The body symptoms include skin flaking off, being dry, skin peeling off (Saliba 23) , fingernails falling off (32), and weight loss (14). Mentally it is hard to sleep, people become weak, and are tired all the time (23). People all across the world are infected with this disease, and the problem with this is the fact that most do not even know they have it. The most people who are infected each year are African Americans, gays, or bisexuals. 10,315 African Americans were infected in 2015. The U.S.A. has estimated about 1.1 million are infected with the disease. Equally to about 12,333 deaths happened in 2014 from AIDS related diseases, and 6,721 deaths from AIDS directly. Although there are a large amount of people getting infected, on the other hand eighteen percent of the population with HIV is declining since 2008-2014 (“U.S. Statistics”). In the world about 33.2 million people worldwide have HIV, with 22.5 million people in sub Saharan Africa are living with this condition, one out of nine people who live in South America have HIV or AIDS (Saliba 8).

Many people are unaware of their health status further increasing transmission of disease in young adult African American(AA) women age 18-24. Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV) infects and also destroy blood cells (i.e. lymphocytes) that the body need to fight off infection (Mays 2011). African American women HIV positive, age 18-24 the magnitude of issue of the health disparity in this particular population will be addressed along with the many factors of social and health determinants. The health concern is towards the increase of transmission among young AA mothers and their children who are the health outcomes in many ways than one. The many social and health determinants that affect the women today are on going cycles that have yet to be broken. African American women make 64% of new infection cases for HIV. African american obtain a vulnerability unlike other minorities. The health population’s culture and stigma has played an important role in the community. The concern for AA women is the increase of new cases and most importantly the spread of the disease to these women’s children. The mortality rate of AA women with HIV is 47.1% as of 2012. (Siddiqi 2015)

HIV and AIDS information is very sensitive because of the potential stigmas that are attached to having one of these conditions. One stigma would be how the person contracted the disease because some people would make the assumption that they contracted it through sexual intercourse or by sharing needles, when in reality they could have contracted the condition from their mother during childbirth. Another stigma would be that only drug users or gay men contract the condition even though this a myth, it is still a stigma. For many people who have HIV or AIDS worry constantly about people knowing and fear of being discriminated because they have this condition. It is not like people want to walk around wearing a label saying,” Hey, look at me, I have HIV”. Anyone is at risk of contracting HIV or AIDS, especially if they have a high-risk behavior. Thankfully the confidentiality of HIV and AIDS

There are many health problems that we face globally and each of them are important for us to be aware of and to take precautions and measures to prevent and treat such diseases that affect our global population. HIV/AIDS is a disease that is spread through direct contact with body fluids from a person who is infected with the virus, these fluids include blood, semen, rectal fluid, vaginal fluids and breast milk. There are an approximate 35 million people living with the disease globally as of 2015 and about 1 million of those people are children under the age of 15 (Aids.gov, 2016). There are approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. living with the disease and of those individuals many became infected with HIV by needle or syringe sharing,

According to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 1.2 million individuals in the United States have HIV (about 14 percent of which are unaware of their infection and another 1.1 million have progressed to AIDS. Over the past decade, the number of HIV cases in the US has increased, however, the annual number of cases remains stable at about 50, 000 new cases per year. Within these estimates, certain groups tend to carry the burden of these disease, particularly the gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men (MSM) and among race/ethnic groups, Blacks/African American males remain disproportionately affected. (CDC)

According to the CDC, about 18 % of those infected with HIV in the United States are unaware of their infection. An estimate of 1,000 young people ages 13 to 24 are newly infected with HIV each month. HIV is transmitted through bodily fluids such as semen, blood, breast milk, and vaginal fluids. These fluids can come in contact between people in a variety of ways, including having unprotected sex (oral, vaginal, or anal); HIV can also be passed from mother to child during childbirth. Mother to child transmission is now rare in the US and other developed countries because pregnant women who are HIV-positive are normally given medications to prevent the fetus from getting infected. However, it is possible for an HIV-infected mother to

HIV infections in African American Males have been a national growing problem since the early 1990’s. According to CDC, in the United States, there are more than 1 million people living with HIV. 48 percent are afro American males between the ages 13-44(CDC, 2007). It is estimated that around 1 million people in the United States will be diagnose with HIV in the up coming year with the lifetime risk of becoming infected is 1 in 16 for black males (CDC,2007).

HIV is highly prevalent among the United States population, primarily affecting African Americans of all economic levels and age groups. HIV is transmissible through sexual contact and damages the immune system as it interferes with the individual’s capability to fight off any infections or illnesses. Health inequalities that greatly affect the high rates of HIV include but are not limited to: higher rates of poverty, lack of awareness, intercourse within the same sex, having anxiety towards getting tested for STD’s or HIV, as well as being fearful of “coming out”. Local, state, and nationwide organizations are designed to inform and provide assistance to those who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. S.A.A.F. (Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation)

HIV is a virus that causes AIDS. These viruses enter the healthy body and destroy T-cell, while they reproduce themselves. In the meantime, the immune system gets attack and began to breakdown. The immune system help defend the body from flu, cold, virus, germs, infection and bacteria. Because the cell cannot keep fighting the infection, immune system weakens. This is the stage where AIDS is diagnose and taken over when the illness become too severe. HIV is passed only through direct contact with another person's body fluids, such as blood, sexual contact, sharing needles or syringes, birth or breast milk. You don’t get AIDS from tears, saliva or touch, however you can’t tell who has AIDS or HIV that’s why we need to be careful and get tested. To make sure we are not positive but if positive we can start treatment right away. There is no cure for HIV or AIDS, but new medicines can help people live long. New cocktail also know as drugs make it possible for people who are HIV positive to live for years without getting AIDS. There are support group and foundation to help. We should get tested for AIDS at least once in our life or every time there is a new partner. We can’t tell who have AIDS and study show 1 out of 8 is living with HIV and not know it. Getting tested is fast and easy through blood or saliva and takes about 20 min for result. They are so many reason why everyone should get tested it also to help protect yourself and your love one from getting this virus. Catching this virus early can help able to rebuild your immunity, with medicine for example ARV. Having this virus is not the end of the world. As long as this virus is under control it can lead to a happy and longer

In the United States, HIV (infection) has changed remarkably over the past 30 years. According to CDC.gov “At the end of 2013, 498,400 African Americans were living with HIV (40% of everyone living with HIV in the US), and 1 in 8 did not know they were infected.” More than 44,000 people were diagnosed with HIV in 2014. HIV is currently a disease of greater demographic diversity, affecting all ages, sexes, race and involves various transmission risk behaviors. At least 50,000 new HIV infections will continue to be added each year, however, one-fifth of persons with new infections may not know they are infected, and a substantial proportion of those who know they are infected are not engaged in HIV care. It is tragic that there are a huge number

HIV testing is the first critical step to ending the HIV epidemic in the United States, and CDC recommends that all Americans aged 13-64 get tested at least once for HIV as a routine part of medical care, and that gay and bisexual men and others at high risk get tested at least once a year. Almost all studies found recommended HIV testing and counseling (HTC) as the first step in linkage to HIV care as this is the only way to identify undiagnosed clients that may be unknowingly transmitting the virus to others.

According to the CDC (2015), more than one million people are living with HIV in the United States, and more than 50,000 become newly infected each year. Unfortunately, one in five Americans living with HIV are unaware of their infection. I believe using the strategy which stresses the use of the 10 essential services of public health will help reduce the incidence of HIV in our

One of the biggest reasons why people do not get tested for HIV is because they are scared. They are scared about HIV, taking a test, what it means to be positive, and what other people will think, all these are justifiable. I believe it is always a good idea to get tested, it is normal to worry but testing for HIV will be the only to know if you have HIV. Another reason why I believe people do not get tested is because there are a lot of myths and misconceptions around HIV and how it is transmitted. HIV is not only transmitted by having sex, it can also be transmitted through broken skin, wounds, and blood-contaminated body fluids. As I said before, it’s always a good idea to get tested, even if it’s just to stop you from worrying.

HIV antibody tests were first issued by the World Health Organization in 1992 (WHO, 1997), since then with frequent update of recommendations, HIV testing and counselling continue to be the gateway to HIV prevention, essential treatments and cares (Fonner et al., 2012, WHO, 2012b). However, globally not more than half (49%-58%) of people living with HIV knew their serostatus (WHO, 2015b). To address this gap, a new global 90-90-90 target calls to reach at least 90% of people living with the virus to know their HIV status by the year 2020 (UNAIDS, 2014).

The world is changing. This definitely indicates that men have made progress in all dimensions of life. People are more knowledgeable, fast, task oriented and problem-solving. But even after the progress of science and technology man is living with the fear of unknown. Every answer we find leads us to several other questions; the more we learn the less we know. Science has achieved milestones yet, there are many phenomena to be understood and their management is yet to be discovered. Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a deadly infectious disease caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that enfeebles the immune system increasing the risk of infections. Human Immunodeficiency virus is transmitted primarily by blood transfusions, contaminated needles, unprotected sex and exchange of body fluid such as saliva, tears, and breastfeeding. AIDS was first reported by Center For Disease Control (CDC) in gay men in 1981. According to CDC, more than 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV infection over the last decade; out of which 12.8 % are unaware of their status (HIV/AIDS Statistics Center). Statistical analysis shows that the number of male diagnosed with AIDS was 29,418 that comprises 67% of the total patients diagnosed with AIDS in 2014 (HIV/AIDS Statistics Center). The outburst AIDS epidemic has caused gay community in the United States of America to create several support service organizations, This has resulted in the formation of Gay Men 's