HIV is a serious issue that is commonly pushed off and considered an irrelevant topic. In “AIDS, Inc.” by Helen Epstein, the topics of lifestyle brands and government funded organizations were discussed, and provided readers with an understanding of the depths of the disease. The excerpt discusses programs (i.e. loveLife) that had the potential and opportunity to save and inform many lives, but failed to do so, which continues to be a problem today. Our government is capable of helping and educating those who are infected, and anyone who could become infected. Instead of acting like having the disease is something to be ashamed of, governments should fund clinics that provide free HIV testing and free protection to all genders, create a structured …show more content…
In retrospect, there should be a widely accepted nationwide business geared toward HIV/AIDS. To begin with, one of the biggest issues with prior attempts of HIV/AIDS programs is that once a person was told that they had been infected, they were rejected treatment, as stated in Epstein’s piece. Luckily today, it is common for schools to have free HIV testing. This, however, does not solve the issue. Instead of having free HIV testing more commonly available in schools rather than at-your-fingertips, governments should fund worldwide clinics that provide free HIV testing and protection available to all genders. Said clinics could then pair with multiple insurance companies to make treatment as affordable as possible, because if one tests positively, they most likely cannot afford the medication. Treatment can cost from anywhere between $500-$2,700 for one prescription, which can reach …show more content…
That is not the case at all, and it is a major misconception. This misinformation could easily be cleared if the government installed a nationwide volunteer program in the US, which could eventually grow and help surrounding countries all over the world. For example, a company could recruit volunteers, specifically survivors of HIV/AIDS, or those who can speak from personal experience of knowing someone who had or has HIV/AIDS. These volunteers could then go out to schools and give insight on what the disease is, discuss the many methods in which it can be contracted, the many myths and misconceptions of the disease, and prevention tips. The fact that some diseases, HIV included, can be contracted by bodily fluids is barely touched on, which is problematic because many believe that it is strictly transmitted through sex. Unfortunately, it is known that people with the disease have been shamed for it, and Volunteers from a helpful, government-funded program could eventually educate people of all ages on the presented issues, and help reduce the stigma on the disease in places such as South Africa. Sure, businesses like the Y-Center have existed before, but failed to touch on what was flourishing in the South African community. “… sex was openly discussed at the Y-Center, [but] the experience of AIDS was not,” (115).
It is crucial to understand that, unlike most transmissible diseases, AIDS/HIV is not transmitted through sneezing, coughing, eating or drinking from common utensils, or even being around an infected person. Casual contact with AIDS/HIV infected persons does not place others at risk. HIV/AIDS can be passed through unprotected sex with an infected person, sharing contaminated needles, from infected mother to baby during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding, and through direct exposure to infected blood or blood
“The Terrifying Normalcy of AIDS” is an essay written by Stephen Jay Gould, in which he talks about a dangerous disease that is spreading and becoming an issue to mankind, and that it is more of a mechanism than an irregular occurrence which I agree with. Stephen Jay Gould also shares his thoughts on our capabilities with the utilization of technology are boundless; especially when it comes to these types of ailments that threaten our kind, which is something I do not side with. Also, Stephen Jay Gould goes on to say that most people are misinformed about the disease and do not fully understand it.
The spread of aids threatens our population daily. Lives lost to it number over 12 million, including 2 mil...
AIDS is slowly becoming the number one killer across the globe. Throughout numerous small countries, AIDS has destroyed lives, taken away mothers, and has left hopeless children as orphans. The problem remains that funding for the diseases’ medical research is limited to none. In the country Brazil, HIV/AIDS has been compared to the bubonic plague, one of the oldest yet, most deadly diseases to spread rapidly across Europe (Fiedler 524). Due to this issue, Brazil’s government has promised that everyone who has been diagnosed with either HIV or AIDS will receive free treatment; however, this treatment does not include help in purchasing HIV medications, that “carry astronomical price tags” (Fiedler 525). Generic drug companies have been able to produce effective HIV medications that are not as costly if compared to the prices given by the huge pharmaceutical companies. In contrast, the U.S. government has now intervened with these generic companies hindering them from making HIV medications, which may not be as efficient if made by the pharmaceutical companies. Not only are these drug companies losing thousands of dollars against generic drug companies, but also tremendous profit that is demanded for marketing these expensive drugs as well. “How many people must die without treatment until the companies are willing to lower their prices, or to surrender their patients so generic makers can enter market? (Fiedler 525).” With this question in mind, what ways can we eliminate the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the world? With research, education, testing, and funding we can prevent the spread of HIV to others and hopefully find a cure.
One of the cons is that for some people it’s impossible to access that treatment in the first place. According to the CDC the estimated lifetime cost of treating HIV is $ 500, 000 and nearly 30% of those living with this disease are uninsured (healthline.com). If you think about it, as of right now about 1 million people live with HIV here in the United States. This makes about 300,000 people living with HIV and not being able to have access to treatment here in the United States. Without the proper treatment, their HIV infection will lead into AIDS, which can lead to death if they are not taking medication for it. Most physicians will combine multiple drugs into one tablet. The prices for these medications can vary from $ 2,000 to $ 5, 000 depending on what brand name you and your doctor chooses. An example would be, if a HIV infected person had to take 4 pills daily, his or her estimated monthly cost would be around $3,000, which would add up to be around $36,000 a year (healthline.com. Shouldn’t everybody that is affected by this virus have the right to access the medications?
"Demanding that life near AIDS is an inextricably other reality denies our ability to recreate a sustaining culture and social structures, even as we are daily required to devote such time to the details of the AIDS crisis." -Cindy Patton
Half of the world’s cases are found in what is referred to as the AIDS belt, a chain of countries in eastern and southern Africa that is home to two percent of the global population. The main vehicle for spreading HIV throughout Africa is heterosexual intercourse. In contrast, this is the opposite compared to the U.S. where the virus is usually transmitted through homosexual intercourse or contaminated syringes shared by drug users. Besides heterosexual intercourse, HIV transmission through transfusion and contaminated medical equipment is common in sub-Saharan Africa. Africans infected with HIV die much sooner after diagnosis than HIV-infected people in other parts of the world.
HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus; this virus can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. According to Avert, 2.6 million people became infected with HIV in 2009, there are now an estimated 33.3 million people around the world who are living with HIV. HIV is transmitted by the exchange of bodily fluids via sharing contaminated syringes, from the infected mother to the child, and sexual contact. Contact with blood, semen, vaginal secretions, breast milk, or saliva that is contaminated with HIV, puts an individual at higher risk for contracting HIV. However, HIV cannot be transmitted by touch, coughing, or by bits from insect vectors.
HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a progressive disease that attacks and weakens the immune system causing the HIV-positive person to become more susceptible to any ailments and infections. Human Immunodeficiency Virus is caused by the transfer of bodily functions including blood, breast milk, semen, and vaginal secretions. Sex, including oral, vaginal, and anal, is the most common way of obtaining HIV. It can also be acquired by injecting a needle into your body that was used by someone who has HIV. The virus cannot be spread through the air or though food and water. You also cannot contract the virus from shaking a HIV-posit...
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, commonly known as HIV/AIDS is a disease, with which the human immune system, unlike in other disease, cannot cope. AIDS, which is caused by the HIV virus, causes severe disorder of the immune system and slowly progresses through stages which disable the body’s capability to protect and instead makes it vulnerable for other infections. The first blood sample to contain HIV was drawn in 1959 in Zaire, Africa while molecular genetics have suggested that the epidemic first began in the 1930s (Smallman & Brown, 2011). Currently, according to the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS, 35.3 million people worldwide are living with HIV. In 2012, an estimated 2.3 million people became newly infected with the virus and 1.6 million people lost their lives to AIDS (Fact Sheet, UNAIDS). It is due to the globalized international society that a disease which existed in one part of the world has managed to infect so many around the world. Globalization is narrowly defined by Joseph Stiglitz as "the removal of barriers to free trade and the closer integration of national economies" (Stiglitz, 2003). Globalization has its effects in different aspects such as economy, politics, culture, across different parts of the world. Like other aspects, globalization affects the health sector as well. In a society, one finds different things that connect us globally. As Barnett and Whiteside point out (2000), “health and wellbeing are international concerns and global goods, and inherent in the epidemic are lessons to be learned regarding collective responsibility for universal human health” (Barnett & Whiteside, 2000). Therefore, through all these global connections in the international society, t...
There are many inequities in this global world; should there be such gross inequities in the health of people around the world? We hear words like health gap, health care inequality and sustainability. What can be done to eliminate the health gap, health care inequities and maintain sustainability? The World Health Organization (WHO) and other organizations, private and public are working towards eliminating these disparities. Healthy People 2020 are one such goal that has achieved considerable progress in attaining sustainability in the pursuit of global health goals (Gostin et al., 2013). The health gap can be minimized through health strategies. Among them are essentials for all in this global world; clean air, water, healthy food and adequate housing with hygienic living conditions. Primary, secondary, tertiary prevention and care services should be available to all who seek health care services.
This paper discusses various arguments by the proponents and opponents of mandatory HIV testing in two scenarios.
Most people recently infected by the AIDS virus look and feel healthy. They may not show symptoms for several years, but the condition is eventually fatal. Even though one might not know that they have this deathly disease, and remain apparently healthy, they can still pass it along to others, and they then pass it on to others, etc, until an abundant amount of people are infected. Symptoms may include fever, fatigue, weight loss, skin rashes, a fungal infection of the mouth known as thrush, lack of resistance to infection, and swollen lymph nodes. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is transmitted through blood, semen, and vaginal fluid. The virus is usually transferred through sexual intercourse, the transfusion of virus-contaminated blood, or the sharing of HIV-contaminated intravenous needles. HIV cannot penetrate intact bodily surfaces, such as skin, and quickly perishes outside the human body. Consequently, AIDS is not spread by casual physical contact.
There is more than enough data that shows the extent to which AIDS cripples millions of individuals and households around the globe. Also, there are verified methods we can take to address this pandemic. We, as citizens of the world, need to recognize the severity of this problem and take action. Those in power must better distribute resources so that more is spent on saving the families and lives of AIDS stricken patients.
HIV does not only affect the well-being of individuals, it has large impacts on households, communities and even nations as a whole. Peer discussions and personal research has also made me realize that some of the countries suffering from this HIV epidemic also rather unfortunately suffer from other infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, relative poverty and economic stagnation. Despite these setbacks, new inte...