Though the Ethiopian people experienced a lot of conflicts and famine, another problem is apparent as they also die of AIDS (Coppola, 2011). The number of women who are infected with HIV/AIDS is high even for those who are in marriage relations (Assefa, Taye, & Yamāh̲barāwi ṭenāt madrak (Ethiopia), 2008, p. 107). The risk is high to get infected for people of different social groups, in different areas, for different genders and age groups. This means that the risk of becoming infected is high and every person should know about the risk and ways the disease is transmitted to prevent it.
As claimed by Massow (2001), the number of officially reported cases of HIV and AIDS in Ethiopia does not really coincide with the actual situation because there are much more people with this diagnosis who do not even know about their problem, symptoms, the ways of transmission.
This disease can be really harmful in terms of people’s health and the economic factors related to it because if people are infected, they may die and the workforce becomes unavailable for this country while people from other countries would not like to work their due to the high mortality rate.
“AIDS-affected households will experience a loss o labour and skills, a reduction in their asset base and changes in household priorities to meet short-term food needs rather than engage in potentially risky medium-term investments” (International Livestock Research Institute, 2008, p. 3).
Besides, the patients in hospitals may come from different areas. As some patients come from far away, from other settlements, and have to wait for hours for the examination rooms to open and the laboratory staff and volunteers as well as health care workers to start examining patients, the examination rooms start their work earlier (Ethiopian Medical Association, 1978, p. 52).
So, it is necessary to inform people about the disease and ways it is transmitted to prevent it and help those who are already infected to live with this disease and not infect their family members. However, there are different risks occurring for the volunteers and people who would like to help. As such, it is necessary to divide the risks and outline the way they should be dealt with.
One of the risks to be dealt with is the workload the health care workers already have outside the project which means that they may be unwilling to take part in the project. The second risk is the cultural and social factors because it is considered inappropriate to tell teenagers about such things as HIV whereas they are at risk as well.
The third risk includes challenging, disrupting relations between men and women. The fourth risk includes religious barriers that can be regarded as cultural though the power of religion if often underestimated, especially for rural areas. Companies participating in the project may refuse to provide condoms at a discount, if any; this means that some charity funds should be considered as a backup plan in case some problems with provision of condoms.
Another risk concerns the people in charge of distributing condoms making a personal profit from them. Besides, health care workers/core group/sex workers may stop their HIV prevention work when not being monitored. In addition, falsification of records by HCW/Core group is also possible.
Dealin with the risks
Monitoring and control are essential for the project and for effective results. So, these are important ways to deal with the risks identified.
Reference List
Assefa, Taye, & Yamāh̲barāwi ṭenāt madrak (Ethiopia), 2008. Digest of Ethiopia’s national policies, strategies and programs. Addis Ababa: African Books Collective.
Coppola, Damon P., 2011. Introduction to international disaster management. 2nd ed. Burlington: Elsevier.
Ethiopian Medical Association, 1978. Ethiopian Medical Journal, 16-17. Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Medical Association.
International Livestock Research Institute, 2008. Dynamics of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in value chain development in rural Ethiopia and responses through market-led agricultural initiatives. Addis Ababa: ILRI (aka ILCA and ILRAD).
Massow, Fra Von, 2001. Access to health and education services in Ethiopia: supply, demand, and government policy. Oxford: Oxfam.
The illness came into the limelight in the early 1980’s; since then it has caused havoc and stress while scientists have been struggling to find out where it came from. There are several theories that have been advanced to try explaining the origin of the vice with no certainty still realized.
Several arguments have been provided since the 80’s. Despite the facts surrounding the origin of the vice, a wide variety of stakeholders have been blamed for the start and fierce spread. The question, which still remains unanswered, is where the origin lies (Review of Hiv and Aids-Related Initiatives and Activities in Lesotho 44).
First case to be recorded of AIDs presumptions were in the United States in the early 1980’s. It was detected among a number of gay men who began developing common ailments at the time with common symptoms. The ailments recorded seemed stubborn and highly resistant to the treatments administered and this aroused suspicion among the scientists.
The problem came when the ailments could be registered in a common form among the men though, at the time, the name AIDS had not been devised for the scourge (National Aids Strategic Plan 2002/2003-2004/2005: A Three-Year Rolling Plan for the National Response to the Hiv/Aids Epidemic in Lesotho 68).
Human Immune Deficiency Syndrome was later on discovered though a number still could not comprehend and understand the link that could exist between AIDS and HIV just as majority have still refused to realize the real nature and impact of AIDs even after research has proved so.
The origin of HIV has as well been explained using several developed theories. The earliest known form of the virus was detected from a blood sample of a man in the Democratic republic of Congo, but the means with which this man got the virus is mystery up-to-date.
The virus in the sample was identified as HIV-1 and it’s recorded to have branched from a sole virus in early 1950’s. The advanced by scientists for the virus before being renamed as HIV was HTLV-III and this was done by a bench of international scientists (A Travel Survival Kit 30).
Facts about HIV/AIDs
HIV is a lethal virus which if left untreated, damages the cells of the body hence weakening the immunity of the body. Once the immunity of the body is weak, it becomes highly susceptible to a variety of opportunistic diseases. HIV has never been a cause of the deaths realized from AIDS since its role is only to provide an avenue through which other diseases can enter the body and cause disease.
AIDs is said to have infected an individual when more of the infectious diseases are diagnosed in the body of an individual. Though the scourge is a killer disease, it is in record that people have lived longer productive lives even after acquiring the virus and this is attributed to the fact that one has to admit infection if diagnosed and immediately embark on medication.
Ways through which the Virus is transmitted
There have been several rumors on the ways through which the virus is spread but the sure ways that have been on record entail the following. The body fluids such as semen, vaginal fluids, semen and blood widely spread the virus and this takes place in the most likely event that two people of which one is infected engage in sexual intercourse (Behaviour Change Communication in Lesotho: National Behavior Change Communication Strategy, 2008-2013 106).
The infection can also be transmitted if piercing instruments are shared and among the people sharing them, one or more are infected. To small extent careless blood transfusions have been made through which the virus is spread but this way has been minimized due to the advent of proper blood screening methods and safe transmission methods.
AIDS in Lesotho, Africa
Africa as a continent, is composed majorly of developing and less developed countries. These countries faced several challenges since they are agriculturally based and agricultural products do not fetch higher prices in the world market. As a result of these economic downturns, such economies suffer even social evils like crimes and diseases.
Political leadership in these countries is still composed of highly greedy individuals hence corruption deprives the society of the few resources that they could use in solving their social woes. Lesotho being one of these countries, faces similar challenges, which is propagated by the fact that equipment both in form of facilities and infrastructure that are essential components of an economy, are still lacking in such economies.
The HIV AIDs situation in Lesotho therefore takes the form described below. Lesotho is one of the countries in the sub Saharan Africa with the highest prevalence rate of HIV infections in the world. In fact, the prevalence is higher at a percentage of 28.9% compared to that of the whole of the sub Saharan region combined which is a mere 7.5%.
People who are recorded to be living with the virus as per 2008, was about 720,000, a ratio being about 3 people out of every 10 adults. The vice is widely established in the country and has resulted into highly damaging effect to the lower level income economy hence exposing the country to further retarded development achievements. The government though not so successful, is trying up and down through formation of agencies and develops programs that facilitate the fighting of the vice.
They have since intervened by forming a strategic plan which started operations in the year 2005; again, they have the Lesotho Aids program coordinating Authority (LAPCA) to handle programs that are geared towards suppressing the demise. The formation of the National Aids Commission (NAC) was geared to link ways through which the government comes in responses to discourage the vice (Anderson 203).
The first casualties of the virus in Lesotho were detected in the year 1986 after which several were followed. In 2003 Lesotho had a record number of 320000 of people living with the virus, the number has grown tremendously and in 2008 it hit the highest record of 720,000 infected people with the deadly virus.
The HIV/AIDs prevalence in Lesotho has a record of holding the third position in the world at 26.9% and over three times the prevalence in the sub Saharan region combined. Globally the prevalence rate stands at 2%. Due to HIV/AIDs high death rates have been recorded with 29,000 deaths recorded in 2003 alone and a progressive increase recorded. The period which an individual expects to live in Lesotho is approximately 40 years.
In Lesotho, HIV/AIDs spread is mainly through heterosexual sexual intercourse, the population also engage into early sexual activities which is propagated by the fact that the society supports early marriages. Other factors include high mobility of the demography hence the spread is at its highest (Maw 12).
Among the highly infected people among the population are the women whose rate stands at 57% of the adult population in Lesotho who are living with the virus.
The women are highly vulnerable due to several reasons that are as follows, the women lack economic power and hence depend on their male counterparts to satisfy their economic needs. This turns the women into a crop of beggars which exposes them to a risk since they are at the mercies of the same males. The anatomy of the women and corrosions cause easier acquisition of the virus as compared to men.
The other group that is highly infected with the virus in Lesotho is the youth aged between 20-29. In this category these are still women that are hard hit, it is recorded that among the young population alone the number of female youth that is infected, is twice that of male youth.
The other factors that fuel this are early marriages and culture which forces women to be submissive to their men in everything. Other culture makes the men dominate the scene i.e. the culture of polygamy or the one which makes the man the head of the family and hence the man is the one who makes the major decisions in the family affairs (Ntsekhe 77).
Children in Lesotho are not left out, they are either affected or infected. This is because if they escape being born with the virus due to technological advent, they cannot escape being orphans after their parents are long dead with the scourge. The statistics of orphans in Lesotho in 2003 was recorded to be 100000 children with 22000 children infected with the virus.
The prevalence is equally spread in the whole of the country almost in equal measure but highest in urban areas where the intensity of antisocial activities is at the helm. The spread is even higher in workers who keep moving from place to place as compared to those who are stagnant at a point.
These enormous figures are as a result that in Lesotho due to the low levels of development and low education as well as awareness standards, misconceptions are widespread while at the same time people still don’t want to come to the reality that the virus is real and that it kills.
The infected also do not receive the right treatment from the society making them die early due to stigmatization hence high prevalence. Ignorance and lack of exposure is a great contributor to this since people do not understand that one can be infected yet look so healthy at the early stages.
Effects of the demise
The devil has widespread effects and it major affects the economy and the education sectors. The economy is affected both in terms of the resources that are diverted to help solve the problem; the disease deprives the economy of valuable resources which could have been directed in other productive sectors of the economy. The demise also steals expertise which would otherwise contribute to the economic development through innovative ideas and influx of human capital into the economy for industrial growth.
Education sector is the one which has received a major blow; the resources injected in schools are no longer enough due to the ever increasing number of orphans that the available resources can no longer support. Therefore, poor quality performance of the teacher is realized lowering the general education standards of the country.
Interventions
The government has devised several ways to help control the spread and the impact of the killer disease. Among the major ways are looking for donor funding to supplement the meager government resources and stage a fight of the disease. The government has initiated educative programs through the government channels of the radio and televisions.
The citizens are also enlightened and educated through the staged advocacy. The international community has also welcomed themselves in the fight through donations and grants. The United Nations has developed several interventionist measures to help in supporting activities that mitigate the spread of HIV/AIDS thereby controlling the prevalence of the pandemic disease.
The UN has put a spirited fight to combat the deadly disease. Several programs have been institutionalized to help create awareness about danger of HIV/AIDS including promotion of the voluntary counseling and testing. The knowledge of the condition is perceived to be helpful in helping the people to manage there condition and lead a positive life.
The organization is also making several efforts to enable people to fully understand the mode of spread of the HIV/AIDS such that they can make more informed choices to avoid the spread of the disease. HIV has been found to have much more prevalence and incidence in the developing countries than the developed-poverty; it is known to be the accelerating factor (Ntsekhe 89).
Works Cited
A Travel Survival Kit. Pennsylvania: Lonely Planet Publications, 2008. Print.
Anderson, Cooper Dispatches from the Edge: Memoir of War, Disasters, & Survival. :. Hanoi: Publisher Harper Paperbacks, 2008. Print.
Behaviour Change Communication in Lesotho: National Behavior Change Communication Strategy, 2008-2013. Maseru: Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, 2008. Print.
National Aids Strategic Plan 2002/2003-2004/2005: A Three-Year Rolling Plan for the National Response to the Hiv/Aids Epidemic in Lesotho. Maseru: Government of Lesotho, 2005. Print.
Ntsekhe, Potlako. Aids Epidemiology in Lesotho. Maseru: Mosby Elsevier, 2000. Print.
Maw, Moe Aung. Aids Epidemiology in Lesotho. Maseru: STD/HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Programme, Disease Control and Environmental Health Division, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, 2000. Print.
Review of Hiv and Aids-Related Initiatives and Activities in Lesotho. Harare: Southern Africa HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination Service, 2003. Print.
More African women are suffering from the HIV epidemic today than men. According to the UNAIDS (n.d), the activists and international agencies’ research continue to show astonishing figures concerning the subject of HIV/AIDS infections in Africa with relation to the gender parity. It also placed forward the importance of campaign to help the women in the effort to counter the disease.
Social Cultural Issues of HIV/AIDS on African Women
The African woman encounters many challenges in her daily life. Even at the time of illness, she has to find the strength to get out of bed and cater for the children’s needs.
Every morning calls for the process to search for food, fetch water and maybe firewood. Most people in these developing countries live a day at a time, without any extra or future plans (Fuler, 2008). In most instances, the dependence fall on the well-wishers or the non-governmental charitable organization and this probably befalls occasionally.
Considering majority of the women who mainly hail from the poverty infested areas, if the child is not infected, the probability of that child suffering from malnutrition is very high. Most husbands do not have stable work to support the families and these forces the men to live the family to search for the same and such actions are mostly never counterproductive.
Most of the infected women also face discrimination from the family members especially the in-laws who point accusing fingers at them. They are treated as outcasts as a way of expelling the condition from the community.
The only available resources remain dedicated for the drugs of which the “Mother Nature” consciousness causes her to serve the infected children first or probably because her hope for life is long gone. The women’s only concern therefore remains to be that of the children.
The HIV AIDS epidemic has entered another calamitous decade in Africa especially for the woman. The common scenarios in the East and Southern Africa according to the recent concerns by the government, and other joint non-governmental organization programs, have become conscious of the plight the African woman has to face (DeCapua, 2010).
Today the global predicament against AIDS does not only focus on the African face in general. “Scientist and researchers are scrambling to find the causes, fashions or new policies regarding AIDS in Africa” (UNAIDS n.d).
Biological Issues of HIV/AIDS on African Women
The need for agencies to educate women has become a critical issue. If people do not take the educational initiative to fight the epidemic, women may become an endangered species in Africa. The women ought to be educated regarding their biological nature. Female reproductive body structures cause high susceptibility to the HIV/AIDS infections than their male counterparts.
The infection rate has risen among the young women and this is attributable to their sexual active nature. Their bodies are still in the developmental stage and probably the reason behind the sexual activeness. Biologically, the infection of HIV the virus causing AIDS on women translates to infection of at least one of the children especially due to the illiteracy rates (Fuller, 2008).
There is probably ignorance, lack of enough resources or illiteracy that makes majority of the African women suffer from such conditions at the alarming rate.
As part of the procedures in finding out why the epidemic is a serious factor that need urgent consideration, there is need to educate women on the biological nature of their bodies and ways of avoiding infections especially the mother-child transmission. Arguably, the virus first spread at an alarming rate in Africa compared to other continents leaving very many people devastated, dreadful and venerable to many other deadly opportunistic infections for a long period.
According to (UNAIDS, n.d.) the probable reason behind this phenomenon is lack of proper and enough attention by the government and its people over the difficulty its populace faces especially the illiteracy levels in women. The responsibility is not women’s, but it is a social and economical for everyone connected to the infected.
Psychological Issues of HIV/AIDS on African Women
The level of illiteracy in most African countries is very high especially among women and the girl child. The probable explanation behind this is the cultural practices. Today, there have been remarkable efforts especially by the non-governmental organizations concerning the empowerment of the girl-child.
The cultural believes creates a psychological perception that the girl child ought to be the home person to cater for the husband and children thus education is not a requirement or a consideration. Most communities or ethnicities married off their teenage girls in exchange for the hefty dowry remunerations thus denying the girl child her right to education.
These are the most probable psychological perspectives that cause the current illiteracy levels among the African women today. This is arguably the biggest challenge today’s education system in Africa has to face and deal with. The liberation of the girl child does not come easily. Sexual education is almost a taboo in most African cultural settings, and it only finds a better elaboration during the rights of passage.
Conclusion
The administration of sexual education occurs in most parts of the continent today without necessarily having to be concern over the education setting. With the help of well-wishers such as donors, there is a fight with the quest to liberate the girl child.
Current Illiteracy rates means the type of education on provision is evidently not in line with issues concerning prevalence but a guidance to the way of life as per traditions. One of the biggest challenges the sexual education system has to face concerns the practice of the cultural customs for passage from one social group to another, which are still in practice in most communities today.
The connection between the cultural rituals and believes have a close connection, for instance, the girl child circumcision and early marriages. Most people are still not ready to leave out those cultural believes that kill.
References
DeCapua, J. (2010). New HIV/AIDS Research Agenda to Better Respond to Women and Children. Voice of America News (VOA). Web.
Fuller, L.K. (2008). African women’s unique vulnerabilities to HIV/AIDS: communication perspectives and promises Palgrave Macmillan Publishers.
UNAIDS. (n.d.) Global health: U.S. Agency for International Development fights AIDS in Africa, but better data needed to measure impact: report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on African Affairs, Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate. New York, NY. DIANE Publishers.
Based on a study by Whiteside (2008), the acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) came into the public limelight on the 5th of June 1981 in a report by Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, USA. AIDS is apparently caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that crossed from primates into human beings. The use of the acronym AIDS was agreed on in July 1982 and later CDC gave a working definition for the disease based on clinical signs (Whiteside, 2008).
Drawing from a study by AVERT (2016), AIDS outbreak was a result of an event that took place in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1920 causing HIV to cross from chimpanzees to human beings. However, it was not possible to determine the number of cases between 1920 and 1981 when AIDS was brought into the glare of the public (AVERT, 2016).
Currently, AIDS is regarded as the world’s biggest public health challenge (WHO, 2016). Although it has had a devastating impact on people in every part of the world, it is more prevalent in developing nations.
Facts about AIDS
Facts about AIDS
The World Health Organization outlines a number of facts about AIDS (WHO, 2016). One of the facts about AIDS is that it occurs as a result of the weakening of the body’s immune system by the HIV virus. AIDS thus refers to an advanced stage of HIV infection. Another fact is concerns transmission. According to WHO, HIV can be transmitted in various ways including unprotected sex, blood transfusion, sharing contaminated clinical items, and mother to child transmission at some stages of pregnancy. Based on findings by the World Health Organization, there are approximately 36.7 million people suffering from AIDS globally (WHO, 2016). Apparently, this number includes about 1.8 million children.
Signs and Symptoms
According to USDHHS (2015), affected individuals may experience flu related illnesses within 2 – 4 weeks after being infected with HIV in the early stages. However, others may still appear healthy during this period. These symptoms include but are not limited to fever, night sweats, muscle aches, fatigue, and a sore throat. In the absence of an effective intervention strategy, a victim’s condition worsens and proceeds to AIDS (USDHHS, 2015). At this stage, an individual will show symptoms such as rapid weight loss, sweating profusely at night, extreme tiredness, pneumonia, and sores in the mouth or genitals.
What AIDS does to your Body
As explained earlier, AIDS generally weakens a victim’s immune system and disrupts their normal functioning. Eventually, a fertile ground is created for opportunist diseases to thrive. These are diseases that take advantage of the fact that the body’s immune system is no longer strong.
Prevention of AIDS
Precautionary Measures for Protection
To be safe from HIV and AIDS, it is imperative for an individual to go for early testing (WHO, 2016). This helps to ensure that treatment is administered timely. Another strategy for dealing with AIDS involves the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART). The use of ART stops HIV from multiplying and enables patients to live longer (Holmberg, 2008). AIDS can also be prevented by practicing safe sex, using disposable needles when injecting drugs, and making sure that blood is tested for HIV before transfusion.
Tests and Treatments
As mentioned earlier, it is important to have patients tested early so that the treatment can commence on time. Treatment is mainly conducted through the use of antiretroviral therapy.
Conclusion
AIDS is certainly a menace to the society that requires a joint intervention strategy. However, with an effective strategy, it is possible to lessen its impact on the society. The use of ART, for example, ensures that the affected individuals live longer.
Holmberg, S. (2008). Scientific errors and controversies in the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic: How they slowed advances and were resolved. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (USDHHS). (2015). Symptoms of HIV. Web.
Whiteside, A. (2008). HIV/AIDS: A very short introduction. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This disease remains one of the leading causes of death in every country. HIV/AIDS compels governments to offer adequate support to their citizens in an attempt to meet their health needs. Consequently, nations have to grapple with various developmental, social, and economic growth challenges associated with this disease. This paper gives a detailed analysis of HIV/AIDS in India and the major strategies implemented to deal with it.
Overview of HIV/AIDS
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are over 36 million individuals affected by HIV/AIDS across the globe (Goswami et al., 2014). In terms of incidence, around 1.8 million new HIV infections are recorded annually. The condition also affects over 2.1 million children globally (Lepine et al., 2016). Additionally, millions of citizens in every corner of the world died due to this disease. According to the chapter HIV/AIDS and Antiretroviral Therapy, these staggering statistics show that HIV/AIDS is a major challenge that should be addressed by societies using evidence-based approaches (as cited in Oliver, 2004). Different countries such as India have managed to implement powerful initiatives to tackle the challenges associated with this epidemic.
Case Study: India
India’s National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) has been on the frontline to execute appropriate measures to deal with HIV infection. The prevalence rate of the condition stood at 0.27 in 2014 (Lepine et al., 2016). The rate had dropped from 0.41 within the past decade. Currently, the number of patients suffering from HIV/AIDS in the country is around 2.5 million (Lepine et al., 2016). Operating within the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, NACO collects timely data using powerful surveillance systems. The agency publishes annual reports on the disease. Some of the evidence-based strategies implemented to deal with HIV/AIDS include continuous monitoring, empowerment of at-risk populations and groups, and promotion of powerful interventions.
In 2010, the Indian government identified AIDS as a development health concern that required combined strategies. Consequently, NACO implemented a powerful initiative aimed at reducing the number of new infections. Presently, the agency collaborates with different departments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to implement powerful programs for preventing the condition. Such partnerships have resulted in inappropriate models for supporting and treating HIV/AIDS patients.
In 2009, the government came up with a new policy known as National HIV and AIDS Policy and the World of Work (NHAPWK) to deal with any form of discrimination against HIV patients in the workplace. Different enterprises in the informal and formal sectors have been guided to implement powerful policies that can support the needs of patients with HIV/AIDS. NACO has gone further to support powerful initiatives to reduce the level of HIV transmission through sexual intercourse. This decision has been informed by the fact that over 80 percent of all new infections are as a result of sexual intercourse in India (Lepine et al., 2016). The first initiative has been to encourage people to embrace the use of condoms. Behavioral interventions are also used to discourage people from engaging in commercial sex. Indians are also empowered to have only one sexual partner.
The use of antiretroviral therapy has led to positive gains in the fight against the condition (Tanwar, Bewari, Rao, & Seguy, 2016). This effective method continued to support the needs of more HIV/AIDS patients. The strategy has empowered different patients to deal with various opportunistic diseases (“Financing issues,” 2005). Consequently, the life expectancy of HIV/AIDS patients in the country has increased significantly. However, there is a need to implement powerful models to meet the needs of persons in resource-poor populations or settings.
Anthropologists and HIV Stigma
HIV/AIDS face stigma in their respective societies, neighborhoods, and workplaces. Any form of stigma makes it impossible for affected individuals to share their pain, seek adequate medical support, and empower one another. Stigmatized persons also find it hard to achieve their potential in life (Manian, 2018). Fortunately, anthropologists have been keen to present evidence-based concepts that can guide societies to resolve the predicament of HIV stigma in India (as cited in Oliver, 2004). To begin with, many people used to believe that individuals infected with HIV were promiscuous. However, anthropologists have managed to offer meaningful insights that encourage members of the public to acknowledge that moral persons can be affected by the disease. This effort explains why many patients are no longer blamed for the rate at which the epidemic continues to affect humankind (Panovska-Griffiths et al., 2014). This achievement has resulted in a situation whereby more people are aware of the implications of stigmatization.
For many years, some groups were discriminated against for their connection with the disease. Modern anthropologists have demystified the situation by explaining how specific groups or ethnicities are usually at risk of HIV due to the nature of their cultural behaviors or practices (Horton & Das, 2010). Issues to do with risky behaviors have also been linked to the spread of the condition by anthropologists. This achievement has empowered more people to appreciate the issues surrounding the condition, thereby reducing the level of stigmatization.
Anthropologists have also presented meaningful ideas to ensure that appropriate behavioral changes are embraced by local cultures (Cohen, 2004b). The idea has empowered more people to embrace the use of condoms. Some people belong to cultures that promote specific behaviors that predispose them to HIV (Bertozzi, Padian, & Martz, 2010). Using such insights, anthropologists have made it possible for more people to protect themselves from the virus.
Additionally, anthropologists have explained how (and why) both women and men are at risk of the condition. Different methods of infection have also been explained by these scholars (Vassall et al., 2014). Consequently, they encourage people to engage in the best practices, support those who are affected by HIV, and implement powerful initiatives to protect others from the disease (“Financing issues,” 2005). The role of anthologists has been expanded to cover how different persons can be infected by the virus. This knowledge has encouraged more people to support infected persons, interact with them, and promote the power of diversity. These achievements have, therefore, contributed a lot to the fight against HIV/AIDS in India.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Approach
The above discussion reveals that the problem of HIV/AIDS is being addressed using diverse strategies in India. On top of that, the role of anthropologists, NGOs, and the government has resulted in powerful models that support the health needs of many patients (Goswami et al., 2014). The current approach has supported the expectations of many citizens and reduced the number of new infections recorded every year. Additionally, anthropologists have conducted numerous researches and presented powerful insights that encourage different people to support HIV patients.
This approach has several strengths that explain why it continues to deliver meaningful results. To begin with, the approach is supported by different stakeholders and actors, thereby making it sustainable. This movie explains why the country has been on the right track in the fight against AIDS. The second strength is that the model is implemented in every region across the country. Individuals in rural and urban regions have benefited significantly from the strategy. This is the reason why the number of new infections has been reducing significantly in the country.
The approach has also resulted in reduced stigma. Infected persons are supported and empowered by their relatives, friends, and colleagues. Persons with the condition receive adequate support, drugs, ideas, and education to protect themselves from a wide range of opportunistic conditions such as tuberculosis (Moyer, 2015). On the other hand, the approach has several weaknesses that should be addressed in the future. For instance, anthropologists have not been sharing their findings with different beneficiaries and stakeholders. This gap explains why the problem of stigma still exists in the country (Celentano & Beyrer, 2008). Some anthropologists have also been observed to treat their professional fields differently. This gap explains why more people have not been informed about the achievements of these researchers. The level of anthropological advocacy is also quite low. These gaps explain why the problem of stigma is yet to be addressed fully in India.
New Researches to Deal with the Above Problem
Anthropologists conduct numerous studies to understand human behaviors, cultural attributes, practices, and suggest better strategies to deal with the problems affecting them. The predicament of HIV/AIDS poses numerous challenges that continue to affect the welfare of more HIV patients and at-risk populations. Some of these problems include a lack of welfare support and stigmatization (Cohen, 2004a). Although past efforts and initiatives have empowered many Indians to understand and resolve HIV stigma, new efforts are needed to come up with better efforts to achieve sustainable results.
An anthropologist can design a new study to come up with an evidence-based approach to this problem. This research should focus on a powerful strategy through which members of the public can be guided to appreciate the importance of social change. The proposed change should, therefore, be based on anthropological concepts. This means that the study will be aimed at identifying new social practices, interactions, and support systems that can empower different individuals in every society to collaborate and deal with this epidemic (Moyer & Hardon, 2014). The study should also be expanded to tackle obstacles such as violence and racial or economic discrimination. The proposed anthropological study can also present meaningful insights to encourage more people to embrace better behaviors and norms that can minimize the rate of new HIV infections (Kumar, Suar, & Singh, 2017). The findings from the research can also be shared with health professionals to minimize every challenge associated with HIV. Consequently, the country will record positive gains and reduce the impacts of this disease.
Conclusion
India’s efforts and campaigns to deal with HIV/AIDS have been successful. NACO has been partnering with different stakeholders to support HIV patients, reduce infections, and implement powerful preventative measures. Anthropologists should use their competencies to develop powerful models that can encourage people to appreciate the facts of HIV and tackle the problem of stigmatization. Collaborative efforts between anthropologists and medical professionals can deliver meaningful concepts to deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
References
Bertozzi, S. M., Padian, N., & Martz, T. E. (2010). Evaluation of HIV prevention programmes: The case of Avahan. Sexually Transmitted Infections, 86(1), i4–i5.
Celentano, D., & Beyrer, C. (2008). Public health aspects of HIV/AIDS in low and middle income countries: Epidemiology, prevention and care. New York, NY: Springer.
Cohen, J. (2004a). HIV/AIDS in India: HIV/AIDS: India’s many epidemics. Science, 304(5670), 504-509.
Cohen, J. (2004b). The needle and the damage done. Science, 304(5670), 509-512.
Financing issues in providing anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS treatment in India. (2005). Economic and Political Weekly, 40(16), 1640-1646.
Goswami, P., Medhi, G. K., Armstrongc, G., Setia, M. S., Mathewa, S., Thongambaa, G., … Mahanta, J. (2014). An assessment of an HIV prevention intervention among people who inject drugs in the states of Manipur and Nagaland, India. International Journal of Drug Policy, 25, 853-864. Web.
HIV/AIDS and antiretroviral therapy. (2004). In M. Oliver (Ed.), HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention in India modeling the costs and consequences (pp. 33-52). Washington, DC: World Bank.
Horton, R., & Das, P. (2010). Rescuing people with HIV who use drugs. Lancet, 376(9737), 207-208.
Kumar, R., Suar, D., & Singh, S. (2017). Regional differences, socio-demographics, and hidden population of HIV/AIDS in India. AIDS Care, 29(2), 204-208.
Lepine, A., Chandrashekar, S., Shetty, G., Vickerman, P., Bradley, J., Alary, M., … Vassall, A. (2016). What determines HIV prevention costs at scale? Evidence from the Avahan programme in India. Health Economics, 25(1), 67-82. Web.
Manian, S. (2018). HIV/AIDS in India: Voices from the margins. New York, NY: Routledge.
Moyer, E. (2015). The anthropology of life after AIDS: Epistemological continuities in the age of antiretroviral treatment. Annual Review of Anthropology, 44, 259-275. Web.
Moyer, E., & Hardon, A. (2014). A disease unlike any other? Why HIV remains exceptional in the age of treatment. Medical Anthropology, 33(4), 263-269. Web.
Panovska-Griffiths, J., Vassall, A., Prudden, H., Lepine, A., Boily, M., Chandrashekar, S., … Vickerman, P. (2014). Optimal allocation of resources in female sex worker targeted HIV prevention interventions: Model insights from Avahan in South India. PLOS One, 9(1), 1-9.
Tanwar, S., Bewari, B. B., Rao, C. V., & Seguy, N. (2016). India’s HIV programme: Successes and challenges. Journal of Viral Eradication, 2(4), 15-19.
Vassall, A., Pickles, M., Chandrashekar, S., Boily, M., Shetty, G., Guinness, L., … Vickerman, P. (2014). Cost-effectiveness of HIV prevention for high-risk groups at scale: An economic evaluation of the Avahan programme in South India. Lancet, 2(9), e531-e540. Web.
Of all the afflictions that have scourged mankind in the 21st Century, HIV/AIDS is arguably the most terrible. This is because it results in the premature death of the infected and has no known cure to date. While all races are equally predisposed to being infected by the HIV virus, it has been noted that the African American community has an especially high number of new infections.
HIV/AIDS has become one of the leading causes of mortality among African American males and the death rate from AIDS is disproportionately higher for this population than for white Americans (Gordon 162). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention asserts that “by race/ethnicity, African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV in the United States”. This begs the question why this ethnic group demonstrates a disproportionate prevalence for the killer disease.
This paper argues that certain lifestyle choices as well as economic realities are responsible for the disproportionate overrepresentation of African Americans in HIV/AIDS infections. The paper shall utilize authoritative sources and statistics to explain why HIV/Aids crises are high in the African-American community.
The African American Community and HIV/AIDS
According to the 2000 U.S. census, African Americans make up about 13% of the entire US population (US Census Bureau). This number consists of both the native born African Americans as well as the ones who have migrated from Africa, the Caribbean islands and other locations. As of the end of 2007, statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that African Americans accounted for 46% of people living with HIV/AIDS in the US (CDC).
This minority group also accounted for almost 50% of the new HIV infections. While Laurencin, Christensen and Taylor suggest that the rising number of blacks living with HIV/AIDS may not be an indication of higher infection rates but rather the increase in longevity of infected individuals due to advances in treatments, African American infection rates still fail to show significant drop that other ethnic groups demonstrate (36).
Within the black community, men are particularly prone to HIV/AIDS with statistics indicating that in 2006, African American Males made up 65% of the new infections among the black community.
Causes of High HIV/AIDS Prevalence in African Americans
One of the activities which have been blamed for a rise of HIV infection and transmission among the black community in America is substance abuse and especially Intravenous drug use (IDU).
Research has demonstrated that drug use is responsible for HIV prevalence with new data suggesting that intravenous drug use accounts for approximately 25% of the new HIV infections among African Americans (Lowinson and Ruiz 1097). This is mostly as a result of the disproportionate overrepresentation of African Americans among intravenous drug users.
An explanation for this overrepresentation by African Americans in drug use is provided by Lowinson and Ruiz who note that “many ethnic minorities view drug abuse as an adaptive response to oppressive societal conditions” (1097). Substance abuse results in an increase in risk behavior such as unprotected sexual encounters as well as needle sharing.
Ward reports that the greatest impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic has being among men who have sex with men (MSM) (430). Research conducted by the CDC on the prevalence of HIV among MSM revealed that not only were HIV incidents among young black MSM higher but that new infections were also high.
Stigma and homophobia in the African American community have been blamed for the rise in HIV/AIDS infection rates amongst this group. Stigma has resulted in the black MSM population being highly secretive, a phenomena termed as “down low” by the media.
This leads to a situation whereby those who engage in male to male sexual contact do it in secret while maintaining a heterosexual face to the society. Wright suggests that this attitude has led to a scenario whereby black men lead homosexual lives but are unwilling to be labeled as “gay” and therefore do not take in prevention messages addressed to the gay community since they do not regard themselves as part of it.
Another factor that has resulted in the resulted in the heightening of the HIV crises in African Americans is that this group continues to have a markedly higher rate of other STDs.
Laurencin, Christensen and Taylor document that the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and syphilis are found among the black population (37). HIV/AIDS has been known to have some relationship with other sexually transmitted diseases. A person who is suffering from certain STDs has a greater likelihood of being infected by the HIV/AIDS virus as compared to a person who has no STDs.
In addition to this, the CDC reveals that a person who has other STDs in addition to HIV infection poses a greater risk to others since the chances for infecting them with HIV is multiplied. The reason for this is that some STDs such as gonorrhea result in inflammation which increased one’s susceptibility and infectiousness.
Lack of awareness of one’s HIV status has been blamed for the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in much of sub-Saharan Africa. This scenario has been the same amongst African Americans where unawareness levels remain high. Laurencin, Christensen and Taylor declare that the high level of unawareness of one’s HIV status among African Americans is a public health concern (40).
A survey in 2004 found out that a third of African Americans had never been tested for HIV/AIDS. In addition to this, black MSM exhibited an even higher unawareness level with up to two thirds of them never having been tested for HIV infection (Laurencin, Christensen and Taylor 40).
There has been a notable relationship between incarceration and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infections. A report by the CDC reveals that the infection rage is 5 times as high for prison inmates than for the rest of the population.
All this is under the backdrop of an increase in the number of inmates as well as a disproportionate representation of the African American community in our prison system. According to McTighe and Jervis, black men are imprisoned at almost six times the rate of white men and constitute approximately 35% of the total prison population (1).
One of the reasons for the high number of incarcerated African Americans is the national drug policy. Mauer and King document that the “war on drugs” which was officially started in the 1980s resulted in an unprecedented growth of the prison population in the United States with drug arrests more than tripling within the last three decades (2).
HIV transmission has been linked to the socio-economic status of people. This is because a person’s socio-economic status influences their lifestyle as well as their ability to protect their health. Ward notes that poverty and unemployment afflict the African American population higher than the white population.
In addition to this, there is a lack of access to the much needed health care (433). This is a fact that is corroborated by Laurencin, Christensen and Taylor who note that as of 1999, one in four African Americans were living in poverty. Some of the consequences of poverty have been homelessness, increased drug use, incarceration and risky sexual behavior. All these are responsible for an increase in the transmission of HIV/AIDS.
Solutions
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has been at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS in the black community. CDC has established HIV prevention and interventions programs which have been specifically structured to meet the needs of the African Americans.
In addition to this, intense research on how to reduce HIV risk in African Americans has been undertaken with the aim of coming up with customized biomedical interventions for this minority group. The CDC has also liaised with local African American leaders in its “Act Against AIDS” campaigns which are aimed at increasing the awareness of HIV among the members of the community.
The latest initiative by the CDC has been the expanded HIV testing program which is expected to run until 2012. This program is aimed at encouraging testing among African Americans since knowledge of one’s HIV status has been known to result in either behavioral change or seeking of treatment at an early stage in case one is already positive.
As has been demonstrated through this paper, prison plays a huge role in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among African Americans. Part of the reason for this is the lack of HIV education and testing among the inmates.
As such, an emphasis on the importance of testing and education on HIV/AIDS can be great tools in the fight against the spread of the disease in the prison population. Taussig et al. suggests more inmate-led HIV prevention programs which will not only gain more cooperation from the inmates but also engender the much needed inmate trust for such programs to be effective.
Another proposed solution to the high risk of transmission among male inmates in penitentiaries has been the introduction of separate housing facilities for HIV-infected inmates. Taussig suggested that housing HIV infected inmates separately could have the double advantage of enabling the provision of focused medical care to the group as well as mitigating the spread of the virus to the general prison population.
Conclusion
African Americans are disproportionately overrepresented in HIV/AIDS cases and despite race and ethnicity not in themselves being risk factors for HIV/AIDS. This paper has argued that certain lifestyle choices as well as economic realities are the reasons for this phenomenon.
There is recognition in government policy that a problem exists regarding HIV/AIDS infection in the African American Community. As such, greater attention has been paid to this minority group so as to effectively deal with the HIV epidemic. This paper has highlighted that there has been some well formulated prevention efforts targeting African Americans in particular. The CDC has been the major contributor in these efforts with some positive results.
By implementing the various solutions suggested in this paper together with the extended prevention programs offered by the CDC, it can be hoped that the HIV/AIDS crises that currently faces the African American community will be mitigated therefore leading to a healthier and more prosperous United States.
Works Cited
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HIV Among African Americans. 2010. Web.
Gordon, Jacob. The Black Male in White America. Nova Publishers, 2004. Print.
Laurencin, Cato Christensen, Donna and Taylor, Erica. “HIV/AIDS and the African-American Community: A State of Emergency.” Journal of the National Medical Association. Vol. 100, No. 1, January 2008.
Lowinson, Joyce and Ruiz, Pedro. Substance Abuse: a Comprehensive Textbook. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005.
Mauer, Marc and King, Ryan. A 25-Year Quagmire: The War on Drugs and its Impact on American Society. Washington, D.C: The Sentencing Project, 2007.
McTighe, Laura and Jervis, Coco. Confronting HIV and mass Imprisonment: Two Intersecting Epidemics. 2008. Web.
Taussig, J et al. “HIV Transmission Among Male Inmates in a State Prison System -Georgia, 1992–2005.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Vol. 55, 2006.
US Census Bureau. Population Estimates: Entire Data Set. 2000. Web.
Breakthrough of the Year: HIV Treatment as Prevention
Until 2011, the prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission using anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) was considered to be a myth. Government and health organizations, including the WHO, stresses that the use of barrier contraception methods, such as condoms, was the essential component in preventing HIV transmission. The main reason for such misconception was that there were no conclusive and reliable studies showing the effectiveness of ARVs in preventing HIV transmission. However, in 2011, researchers presented results of a clinical trial that confirmed the 96% reduction in transmission following the use of ART. Thus, the research became the breakthrough of the year as it shifted the previous misconceptions about HIV/AIDS prevention by proving the effectiveness of ARVs in reducing transmission.
Consequently, the breakthrough also affected the global fight against AIDS in at least two aspects. First of all, it offered sound evidence for the use of ARVs in HIV/AIDS prevention. Reducing the rates of HIV transmission on a global level, in turn, could lead to the reduction of HIV/AIDS prevalence, thus helping to eliminate AIDS. Secondly, the discovery helped to reduce the stigmatization of HIV and AIDS in society by showing that transmission can be controlled with adequate treatment. The reduced stigma associated with HIV and AIDS can help to improve testing rates among the general population, thus contributing to the effect of prevention and treatment efforts.
The WHO guidelines on the use of ARVs have changed since the breakthrough in response to the evidence in favor of the earlier initiation of ART. Until 2011, the guidelines stipulated that the start of therapy should be based on CD4 cell count and the clinical stage; today, however, the WHO recommends ART for all HIV-positive adults, regardless of their clinical stage and CD4 cell count. The change in recommendations was largely due to the proven effectiveness of ART in reducing transmission rates among homosexual and heterosexual couples.
One of the worthwhile endeavors that we as human beings can engage in is activities which are aimed at making a positive change to the society. This can be done through the advocacy of a certain worthwhile cause. A particularly worthwhile cause is that of ensuring the health of fellow man is preserved or his pain and misery alleviated. To take up this noble cause for humanity’s sake, many individual activists and organizations have engaged themselves in various activities aimed at alleviating misery or ensuring good health.
The United States in particular boasts of a significant number of organizations which advocate for various interests ranging from diabetes, cancer to HIV/AIDS. This paper will review one organization which has been vocal and instrumental in calls for the prevention of HIV/AIDS in America. The paper shall review some of the projects that this group has engaged in as well as significant impacts that the organization has had in America.
Name of the Organization
The name of the organization is Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP). It is a United States based non-profit, non-governmental Organization working to “bridge HIV/AIDS, human rights and struggles for social, racial and economic justice” (champnetwork).
The organization is prominent in championing HIV/AIDS awareness and bringing together people affected by the epidemic. The organization relies on the donations of well wishers as well as corporate sponsorship. It does not involve the federal government in its funding and as such maintains an independence from government interference in its activities.
At the heart of the efforts of CHAMP are the campaigns to highlight the problem of HIV in the society and sway the government into playing a more active role in HIV/AIDS prevention. This is a worthwhile endeavor for of all the afflictions that have scourged mankind in the 21st Century, HIV/AIDS arguably passes as the most terrible. This is partly because it results in the premature death of the infected and also because there is no known cure to this ailment to date.
As such, prevention remains the primary weapon in the fight against this epidemic and nations have invested substantial effort in prevention programs. CHAMP, through its official website, claims that it has made a “significant impact on the framing of HIV prevention in the US” (champnetwork). This is a worthwhile endeavor considering the fact that prevention is the only means by which the spread of HIV/AIDS can be mitigated.
CHAMP’s Activities
CHAMP is engaged in projects that are aimed at addressing some of the issues that result in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS for example imprisonment. A particularly significant project is the “Project Unshackle” which was began in 2008. This project incorporated former prisoners, people living with HIV/AIDs, local leaders, researchers and other key personnel who sought to address the issue of new HIV infections that were related to imprisonment (champnetwork).
There has been a notable relationship between incarceration and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infections. A report by the CDC reveals that the infection rage is 5 times as high for prison inmates than for the rest of the population.
CHAMP though its “Project Unshackle” proposes to offer support as well as empower ex-convicts once they are out of the prisons. This is because the relationship between HIV and imprisonment is not restricted to activities which happen to people behind bars (McTighe and Jervis 3). This is due to the fact that prisoners do not exist in isolation and when they complete serving their terms, they invariably return to the broader community.
This being the case, when prisoners become HIV positive during their sentence, they end up passing the virus to the various sexual partners or with the people they share injecting equipment on the outside. CHAMP therefore advocates for the provision of free condoms in prisons as well as HIV/AIDS seminars where the prisoners can be educated on the epidemic and how to protect themselves from it.
CHAMP also questions the wisdom behind the stringent “war on drugs” which has lead to high imprisonment rates. This is because the war on drug has dictated that drug offenders be dealt with severely so as to deter would be future offenders. This has resulted in the imposition of minimum mandatory sentences which must be passed by the judge in drug related cases.
The American prison system has therefore been overloaded by inmates whose offense did not necessitate imprisonment. CHAMP proposes that other forms of punishments be issued out since prison plays a significant role in the spread of HIV/AIDS and burdens the tax payer (McTighe and Jervis 1).
Another significant network that has been started by CHAMP is the HIV Prevention Justice Alliance (PJA). This Alliance was started in collaboration with the “AIDS Foundation of Chicago and SisterLove” (champnetwork). The network’s principle is based on the fact that various people have differing levels of risk for HIV.
As such, some communities are disproportionally afflicted by the HIV/AIDS despite race and ethnicity not in themselves being risk factors for HIV/AIDS. This is a claim that is corroborated by the CDC which notes that “by race/ethnicity, African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV in the United States”.
CHAMP has been very instrumental in the fight against homophobia which has been directly linked to increased cases of HIV/AIDS. Considering the fact that the greatest impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic has being among men who have sex with men, this advocacy by CHAMP is of great significance. Stigma and homophobia is especially high among the African American communities.
Research conducted by the CDC on the prevalence of HIV among MSM revealed that not only were HIV incidents among young black MSM higher but that new infections were also high. Stigma and homophobia in the African American community have been blamed for the rise in HIV/AIDS infection rates amongst this group.
The organization recognizes that socio-economic factors play a role in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. HIV transmission has been linked to the socio-economic status of people since a person’s socio-economic status influences their lifestyle as well as their ability to protect their health.
As such, the economically disadvantaged are more prone to HIV/AIDS than better off members of the society since some of the consequences of poverty are homelessness, increased drug use, incarceration and risky sexual behavior. All these are responsible for an increase in the transmission of HIV/AIDS
CHAMP declares that the HIV/AIDS scourge will only be defeated though scientific research and effective HIV prevention strategies. However, there has been a gap between the researchers and the communities affected by HIV/AIDS.
CHAMP through its various affiliates bridges this gap by building the capacity of the people in the affected capacity so as to influence and improve research efforts. By doing this, the organization has made it possible for the researchers to obtain much needed data to enable policy makers to come up with better focused preventive strategies for the affected communities.
One of the activities which have been blamed for a rise of HIV infection and transmission in America is substance abuse and especially Intravenous drug use (IDU). Research has demonstrated that drug use is responsible for HIV prevalence with new data suggesting that intravenous drug use accounts for approximately 25% of the new HIV infections among African Americans (Lowinson and Ruiz 1097).
CHAMP has taken up measures to educate the community on these dangers through its training programs. The organization has paid close attention to peer education and this has proved to be an effective platform to address the youth who account for a high percentage of intravenous drug users.
The organization has been involved in awareness programs and has supported the Campaign to End AIDS. This campaign was necessitated by the lack of vociferous activists in the fight against AIDS (Ryan 6). This campaign emphasizes on the importance of getting tested and knowing one’s HIV status.
Lack of awareness of one’s HIV status has been blamed for the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in much of sub-Saharan Africa. This scenario has been the same in America and especially amongst the minority groups where unawareness levels remain high. Laurencin, Christensen and Taylor declare that the high level of unawareness of one’s HIV status among African Americans is a public health concern (40). A survey in 2004 found out that a third of African Americans had never been tested for the disease.
Notable Achievements
One of the most significant achievements of CHAMP has been its push for progressive HIV/AIDS policies that pay special attention to communities that are most affected by poverty, homophobia and other risk factors that fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS. Szekeres and Coates praise the CHAMP Academy which is a program that offers training and technical assistance so as to strengthen a HIV/AIDS movement that is rooted in the organizations philosophy of justice.
Through this academy, the organization has empowered the local community; a step which is deemed to be critical in addressing the unique realities of each community in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The training has also meant that research efforts are better directed and that there is a liaison between the researchers and the affected community hence resulting in more relevant data being collected.
CHAMP has been at the forefront in demanding for HIV/AIDS data from government agencies. CHAMP through its executive director, Julie Davids has been at the forefront in demanding for more commitment by the federal government to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The New York Times documents that the group protested to demand for the release of HIV/AIDS infection rate figures by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Gardiner). The group declared that without such figures, it would be impossible to know if the prevention efforts that were currently been employed were working.
Dissolution of CHAMP
The Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project made an announcement that it was ending its operations on the 27th of October this year. The organization did not give any solid reasons as to the decision but suggested that it would continue its work through some of its networks most notably of which were the HIV Prevention Justice Alliance and Project Unshackle.
However, the organization did suggest that the closure had to do with challenges that it failed as a non profit making NGO. Up to its closure, CHAMP was held in high esteem by its members, the society and the media. This high regard could be credited on the organizations valor and passion on the issue of HIV/AIDS in society as well as the personality of its founder and chairman, Julie Davids. As of its closing, CHAMP claimed to have achieved its core objective of bridging HIV prevention and other social injustices.
Failures
CHAMP has directed most of its criticism against the CDC which it has blamed for failing to come up with programs that address the needs of the people. This is despite the CDC being at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS. CDC has also established HIV prevention and interventions programs which have been specifically structured to meet the needs of the various unique communities.
In addition to this, intense research on how to reduce HIV risk in Americans has been undertaken with the aim of coming up with customized biomedical interventions for high risk groups. The CDC has also liaised with local leaders in its “Act Against AIDS” campaigns which are aimed at increasing the awareness of HIV among the members of the community. As such, it is grossly unfair for CHAMP to direct all its criticism at this government agency which has and is playing a very significant role in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Personal reflection
In my opinion, the significance of this organization is huge and its activities are essential especially in the present time where HIV/AIDS continues to have an adverse effect on both the affected individual and the community around him. The organization’s involvement of ordinary people in its efforts to bring about awareness as well as pressure the government is key since it results in people realizing the adverse effects of HIV/AIDS.
As such, the organization presents a platform on which the war against HIV/AIDS can be effectively waged with optimum results. The profound understanding by the organization that the different realities of the various communities result in different risk levels of HIV/AIDS infection is especially sound and if followed, it will lead to a reduction of new infection.
The fact that the organization works hand in hand with other organizations demonstrates that CHAMP recognizes the importance of joint efforts in addressing an issue as big and important as HIV/AIDS.
Conclusion
This paper set out to conduct a concise yet informative review of an organization that champions a particular cause in society. This paper has reviewed CHAMP, an organization that is involved in advocacy for HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention works. From the discussions presented in this paper, it is clear that CHAMP has played a significant role in empowering the society at grassroots levels as well as ensuring that the government pays more attention to HIV/AIDS.
The organization has also engaged in a number of projects all aimed at mitigating the spread of HIV/AIDS and empowering the affected. The organization has also endorsed prevention strategies which if followed may lessen the HIV/AIDS crises that currently faces the community therefore leading to a healthier and more prosperous United States.
Gardiner, Harris. Figures on HIV Rate Expected to Rise. The New York Times. 2007. Web.
Laurencin, Cato Christensen, Donna and Taylor, Erica. “HIV/AIDS and the African-American Community: A State of Emergency.” Journal of the National Medical Association. Vol. 100, No. 1, 2008.
Lowinson, Joyce and Ruiz, Pedro. Substance Abuse: a Comprehensive Textbook. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005.
McTighe, Laura and Jervis, Coco. Confronting HIV and mass Imprisonment: Two Intersecting Epidemics. 2008. Web.
Ryan, Benjamin. “New Group Searches for Activist Voices.” HIV Plus, Vol. 8, No. 6. 2005.
Szekeres, Greg and Coates, Thomas. “Leadership development and HIV/AIDS.” Pub Med Central, 2010.
The cases of HIV/AIDS were first reported in all regions within Tanzania by the year 1986. The number of people infected has increased over the years to over one million with so many unreported cases. It is estimated that only two out of ten cases are reported, the reports estimate that it takes an individual over five years to reveal the AIDS related diseases before facing death. Statistics from the ministry of health shows that by 2004 the rate of women infection is at 7.7% while that of men stands at 6.3% (WHO, 2005).
The increase in number of AIDS patient in Tanzania has led to over-crowding within hospitals. So much medical services is required to cater for the increasing population of those infected, this has led to increased public spending on treatment. The education sector is also affected due to the rise in the number of orphans who at times are forced to drop out of school owing to lack of parental care.
The rural communities are currently experiencing the effect of the disease. This is because the disease has deprived the community of the most productive age group, that’s between age 15 and 45. The force of skilled labour within the communities and industries is undergoing great threat since majority of the people die from AIDS (Kates and Wilson, 2005, pp 1-2).
The life expectancy in Tanzania has been lowered to below fifty years due to AIDS infection. The mean age of the working population has been predicted to decline tremendously by the year 2015. The education standards are expected to decline since so much money will be diverted to cater for issues dealing with AIDS epidemic.
Lots of resources will be required from the government and affected communities to cater for the needs and wants of the orphaned population. Commitment towards leading preventive initiatives is required from all government sectors and civil society (United Nations Systems in Tanzania, 2007).
Basic numbers of people infected with HIV AIDS
According to statistics released in 2005, United Republic of Tanzania had approximately 1.6 million people living with HIV/AIDS. However, the prevalence rate of is lower in Tanzania compared to other countries in the sub-Saharan Africa (UNAIDS, 2008). The country is considered a low income country hence the infiltration by the disease is considered to lower the level of productivity.
The statistics reveal that women are the majority infected, their number accounting for more than half of the adults diagnosed with HIV/AIDS infection. The number of young women infected is also more than half of all the young men living with HIV/AIDS. The prevalence of the disease is so high within the urban centres as compared to rural areas (Mhalu, Bredberg-Raden and Mbena, 1987).
The number of children orphaned with HIV/AIDS increased to over 600,000 by the year 2000. According to Word bank reports the mean working age will also decline to below 30 years of age.
Stigma associated with HIV/AIDS has led to a number of individuals losing their jobs, however the government of Tanzania issued some blue cards to PLWHA that enables them to obtain ARV drugs free of charge from the government. However many still shy away from being tested due to the strong stigmatization attached to HIV patients (UNICEF, 2006).
Action programs
The effects of HIV/AIDS calls for series of actions that includes; preventive measures, caring for the sick, looking after the orphaned families, implementation of programs and policies that caters for socio-economic development within the affected areas. This saw the involvement of community based organizations and various government branches. These groups are used to increase the support to affected families and spearhead awareness and preventive campaigns.
The support accorded to the affected communities and families can be realised through financial decentralization. This increases the chances of people’s participation in bringing accepted solutions. It makes it easier also to offer support to small different organizations at different administrative levels.
For example llala municipality has been structured to support small committees to act as sources of rapid responses to HIV and AIDS infections; the municipality has been divided into different wards, sub-wards and nine villages including thirty seven hamlets (United Nations Systems in Tanzania, 2007).
Annual workshops have been organized to increase the level of participation of all individuals. All the NGOs involved in tackling HIV/AIDS receive financial support from the government. They help in establishment of home based care to individuals infected with the disease.
There are also programs that are focused towards training nurses on appropriate treatment and management of HIV/AIDS, and also educating the people on consequent results of some practices that increase chances of HIV infection within communities (World Bank, 2005).
The UN report agreed that there is need for communication strategies to be changed in order to address specific target groups. All the messages concerning HIV/AIDS should focus on how to affect people’s behaviour from different perspectives. The contribution of culture towards increase or decrease of HIV infection should be critically addressed. The change in attitude and increase in knowledge concerning HIV/AIDS helps individuals to decide wisely concerning some crooked behaviours that might increase their risks of contracting HIV.
References
Kates, J. & Wilson A., 2005. HIV/AIDS policy fact sheet.
Mhalu, F., Bredberg-Raden, U. & Mbena, E., 1987. Prevalence of HIV Infection in Healthy Subjects and Groups of Patients in Tanzania. AIDS, 4(1), pp. 217-221.
UNAIDS. 2008. Report on the global AIDS epidemic. Geneva: UN AIDS.
UNICEF. 2006. Africa’s Orphaned and Vulnerable Generations: Children Affected by AIDS. Geneva.
United Nations Systems in Tanzania. 2007. Annual joint UN work plan on HIV and AIDS for Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar Islands. UN, Geneva.
WHO. 2005. Tanzania: Summary Country Profile for HIV/AIDS Treatment Scale-Up.
World Bank. 2005. Country Classification: Country Groups. Web.
People with HIV in the U.S. have limited access to private healthcare insurance or are subject to extreme abuses in their monthly payments. This is due to their association as being “high risk” clients due to the various health complications that arise as a result of HIV.
In fact, studies such as those in the article “HIV in the USA: pushing past the plateau” (2013) reveal that on average only one in five people in the U.S. with HIV have private health insurance with nearly 30% of those with the disease having no coverage whatsoever (i.e. no Medicare or Medicaid). Despite this data, there are actually numerous initiatives to help people with the disease.
Medicaid, Medicare, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program as well as other federal programs offer substantial assistance in helping people with HIV. The main problem is the fact that those with the disease are often stigmatized which makes them more hesitant to apply for federally funded programs for help (HIV in the USA–pushing past the plateau, 2013).
In a review of this ethical issue, I plan to use the deontological perspective which will focus on the right of HIV sufferers to equal healthcare as well as their right to refuse it.
Case Study
In examining the current methods of medical assistance available to individuals with HIV, it was shown that the U.S. government has the following federally funded programs:
AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP)
ADAP Plus (Primary Care)
HIV Home Care Program
ADAP Plus Insurance Continuation Program (APIC)
From this, it can be seen that, on a legislative level, people who have HIV are treated the same as any other individual that has a long term degenerative condition (Moyer, 2013). There are well-funded programs that they can avail of which enables HIV sufferers to live a relatively normal life without succumbing to the complications associated with HIV due to a lack of medical care.
However, the problem is that despite the sheer amount of federally funded programs available as well as other options through Medicare, Medicaid, and private foundations, nearly 30% do not have any form of public medical coverage and only one in five has private medical insurance.
The Moyer (2013) study which examined the prevalence of HIV in the U.S. and the processes utilized to combat it revealed that while the provision of care was equal to all patients (HIV or not), the social stigma associated with contracting HIV makes people more reluctant to reveal that they have it. Moyer (2013) explains that the issue is related to the fact that people with HIV are often connoted as engaging in activities that are “shameful” and thus resulted in them contracting HIV in the first place.
Such activities are often depicted as drug use, engaging the services of a prostitute or other such activities. This negative social connotation regarding the activities of people with HIV creates issues related to people being reluctant to get tested, to get help or even register for insurance due to the fear that it would be found out that they have HIV.
Problem
The current issue surrounding HIV/AIDs treatment in the U.S. is not that the government is providing insufficient services to help people with HIV. Instead, the problem is one of the social stigmatization associated with having HIV and how this prevents people from seeking help in the first place.
Hodder et al. (2013) further explains that unlike cases of obesity where the issue is more of a psychological rather a physical one (i.e. foregoing a proper and healthy diet and instead eating a calorie-rich unhealthy diet), people who contract HIV often do so unknowingly and not as a result of any action or behavior on their part (Hodder et al, 2013).
For example, Hodder et al. (2013) state that the HIV in the U.S. is often passed unknowingly from mother to offspring as a direct result of infection from the father who in turn received it from his parents.
Other cases of contracting HIV often come as a result of normal sexual conduct between two willing partners in a long term committed relationship with one of the partners contracting HIV through a previous partner who was also unaware that they had HIV (Adekeye et al., 2012). In cases such as these, consequentialism as an ethical framework to judge the treatment method cannot be implemented since in most cases those who contract HIV do so doing perfectly normal actions and contract it unknowingly.
Analyzing the Context
When examining the issue, it becomes immediately obvious that the problem is more of a lack of social understanding than it is of a lack of sufficient treatment methods. Adekeye et al. (2012) explain that the U.S. government fully understands that those who contract HIV often do so without prior consent and, as a result, provides the necessary medical care since it would be the most ethical practice to do. Under deontological ethics, the morality of an action is judged based on its adherence to a certain set of rules.
In the case of HIV sufferers, they did not contract HIV out of their own accord and, as such, do have a right to access the same level of medical care as any other patient (Pellowski et al., 2013). The issue though is that even if they have the right to healthcare, the reluctance to access it impedes the government’s capacity to help monitor and control it. Thus, in order to solve the problem which is more of a social acceptance issue, a sociological solution must be devised.
Explore options
Taking the deontological position on ethics into consideration, the fact that people who have HIV are reluctant to deal with their problem through federally funded programs and thus increase the likelihood of spreading the disease is still ethical since it is within a citizen’s right to refuse medical care.
As such, in order to resolve such an issue, it would be necessary to implement some form of “normalcy” to convince people to apply for such programs. One method would be to create an online community, similar to Facebook, which is exclusive to people with HIV. Through such a community, people suffering from HIV will be able to get the acceptance they desire resulting in a greater likelihood of going for government services to help them deal with their problem.
Apply the relevant ethical decision process
Under consequentialism, it is stated that the consequences of one’s conduct are the basis behind the basis of the rightness or wrongness of the conduct itself. Taking this into consideration, the fact that people with HIV are reluctant to seek assistance and treatment which in turn helps to spread the disease is unethical due to the thousands that could die from getting infected.
However, when taking the deontological position on ethics into consideration, people with HIV still have the right to refuse care since it is within their right to accept or refuse medical care when given the choice. As such, it would be wrong to force any form of required registry or medical care on someone with HIV and instead it would be more appropriate to implement some means of social acceptance over their current medical condition so that they will not be as reluctant to hide it.
Implementing the Plan
The proposed online social network that focuses specifically on people with HIV in the U.S. would be completely free. It helps people with the disease to contact one another, develop support groups, create awareness regarding possible medical assistance they can get and also enables the government to track cases of HIV in the U.S. Promotion of the site can be conducted through sponsored advertisements on the internet as well as on local television stations.
By creating substantial local awareness of the site, this increases the likelihood that people would actually use it and seek the help of other people with the same condition. The site itself would also contain multiple links and information tidbits that would help people to know more about the various types of care and assistance that are available to people with their condition.
Conclusion
Overall, through the proposed method that was discussed in this paper, this can help to increase the likelihood of people with HIV availing of the government’s numerous services to help them deal with the disease.
Reference List
Adekeye, O. A., Heiman, H. J., Onyeabor, O. S., Hyacinth, H. I., & Kissinger, P. (2012).
The New Invincibles: HIV Screening among Older Adults in the U.S. Plos ONE, 7(8), 1-9.
HIV in the USA–pushing past the plateau. (2013). Lancet, 382(9889), 285.
Hodder, S. L., Justman, J., Hughes, J. P., Jing, W., Haley, D. F., Adimora, A. A., &… El- Sadr, W. M. (2013). HIV Acquisition Among Women From Selected Areas of the United States. Annals Of Internal Medicine, 158(1), 10-18.
Moyer, V. A. (2013). Screening for HIV: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. Annals Of Internal Medicine, 159(1), 51-60.
Pellowski, J. A., Kalichman, S. C., & Adler, N. (2013). A Pandemic of the Poor: Social Disadvantage and the U.S. HIV Epidemic. American Psychologist, 68(4), 197-209.