HIV/AIDS is one of the deadliest diseases in the world today. HIV is a virus that weakens the immune system, making us prone to many infections. It can be transmitted in various ways; for example, by coming in contact with bodily fluids by unprotected sex, reusing needles when doing drugs or getting tattooed, being born to an HIV infected mother, etc. Millions of people are getting infected by HIV around the world. According to World Health Organization, “[. . .] In 2014, 1.2 [1.0–1.5] million people died from HIV-related causes globally [and] there were approximately 36.9 [34.3–41.4] million people living with HIV at the end of 2014 with 2.0 [1.9–2.2] million people becoming newly infected with HIV in 2014 globally.” These numbers show how …show more content…
This will lead to open discussions within families and societies. Open discussions about HIV/AIDS have been proven to have effect in reducing the number of infections, especially in countries like Rwanda and Uganda. In “AIDS, Inc.,” Helen Epstein says that “[. . .] the only African country that had seen a nationwide decline in HIV prevalence was
Uganda. [. . .] a powerful role was played by the ordinary, but frank, conversations people had
[. . .] about the frightening, calamitous effects of AIDS itself” (158). Direct discussions about HIV/AIDS are very effective in raising the awareness. The awareness campaigns and sex education teachers should encourage people to have those conversations. By getting to know people with the disease, the people will be able to have meaningful conversations that will motivate them to abstain from sex and drugs. Some might argue that by getting to know people, the awareness process would be slow and less effective. I agree that awareness process would be slow. Taking time to get to know the HIV infected people can be time consuming, but I don’t agree with the method being less effective. In fact, it is very effective because it allows people to understand in detail about the consequences of HIV/AIDS. In “AIDS Inc.,” Helen Epstein talks about her visit to
Raffaele, Paul. "Uganda: The Horror." Smithsonian (Vol. 35, No. 11). Feb. 2005: 90-99. SIRS Issues
The spread of aids threatens our population daily. Lives lost to it number over 12 million, including 2 mil...
"Uganda - African Economic Outlook." African Economic Outlook - Measuring the Pulse of Africa. 06 Nov. 2011. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. .
In the US, home HIV-testing kits are available, which hopefully leads to more people knowing their status. If there is access to these self-testing kits in other countries, as well as a higher availability of confidential testing and education materials, more people may be encouraged to get tested.
AIDS- Not a Whisper Anymore 1.2 million people in our country do not know that they are infected by AIDS (Auto-Immune Deficiency Syndrome). Back in the 90’s HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death. AIDS is not/was a topic that was embraced in our daily conversations and was usually dealt in the shadows. People suffering had no one to share their grief/feelings with. This disease spread by and through loved ones, networking through people mainly of the age between 18-25 it spread like wildfire throughout the country.
HIV is one of the global public health issues that have taken millions of lives till date. According to the CDC (2016), HIV has taken about 1.2 million people lives globally. The prevalence of HIV infected people is very high. There were approximately 36.9 million people who were living with HIV, with about 2.0 million people are newly infected with HIV in 2014 globally (CDC, 2016).
Every year, millions of people are infected and die from AIDS. This is because of ignorance, acts of choice, as well as religious beliefs. It is assumed that all people know the causes of AIDS, however, most people don’t know. Some people think that AIDS only afflicts homosexuals and drug abusers. This way of thinking displays that the government is not properly educating people on AIDS and prevention. A person who thinks in this manner feels that if they only have sex with a person that isn’t in an at risk group it is okay to have unprotected sex.
One of the causes of the pathetic death that make people always worry and scared about is HIV/AIDS, which means human immunodeficiency virus infection/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. First of all, people need to know what HIV/AIDS really means. It is not just a normal disease, it is a virus that makes immunodeficiency in humans day by day, which makes people get infections easily, they will become week, lank and scared of water that makes them look dirty and appall. They just keep being like that, without overcoming and eating, until the final stage, they will finally lead to death. They shouldn’t think it in the easy way because it’s not hereditary disease, it infects through the environment. This viru...
A solid case has been made for exhaustive training about HIV and AIDS in the schools (National Commission on AIDS, 1994). Fontanilla (2003) has listed some needs and significance of sex education including the incidence of unwed pregnancy and the continuous increase of sexually transmitted diseases especially AIDS. According to Edlin (1994), Human Immunodeficiency virus or simply HIV is the virus that causes AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. However, a few people deny that AIDS is brought about by HIV. It ought to be plainly comprehended that established researchers is in understanding that HIV causes AIDS (Nevid et al., 2002). AIDS is defined by Ticzon (1994) as a virus that destroys one’s immune system, making a person’s body be defenseless against all infections and some cancers. He also explained that it will take 10 years for a person to develop AIDS from the time he/she was infected with HIV. Fontanilla (2003) has described that a person cannot tell if one has AIDS by just simply looking at his looks rather this has common symptoms such as severe weight loss and fatigue. There is also a huge possibility of certain cancers, specifically Kaposi’s sarcoma. From this information, AIDS is a severe disease that needs to be addressed immediately and be understood by many so that it wouldn’t be
According to WHO in 2007, “more than 95% of HIV cases are in developing countries, with two-thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa. “ In addition, there were 2.1 million deaths related to HIV and 2.5 million...
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...
The AIDS virus is the most common disease, and with no cure, an infected person will die. It is estimated that 90 to 95 percent of AIDS infections occur in developing countries where the world’s worst living conditions exist.
In 1981, a new fatal, infectious disease was diagnosed--AIDS (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome). It began in major cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco. People, mostly homosexual men and intravenous drug users, were dying from very rare lung infections or from a cancer known as Kaposi’s sarcoma. They have not seen people getting these diseases in numerous years. Soon, it also affected hemophiliacs, blood recipients, prostitutes and their customers, and babies born from AIDS-infected women. AIDS was soon recognized as a worldwide health emergency, and as a fatal disease with no known cure, that quickly became an epidemic. When high-profile victims began to contract the virus, such as basketball star Magic Johnson, the feeling spread quickly that anyone, not just particular groups of people, could be at risk. AIDS impairs the human body’s immune system and leaves the victim susceptible to various infections. With new research, scientists think that the disease was first contracted through a certain type of green monkey in Africa, then somehow mutated into a virus that a human could get. AIDS is a complicated illness that may involve several phases. It is caused by a virus that can be passed from person to person. This virus is called HIV, or Human Immuno-deficiency Virus. In order for HIV to become full-blown AIDS, your T-cell count (number of a special type of white-blood cells that fight off diseases) has to drop below 200, or you have to get one of the symptoms of an AIDS-induced infection.
Without proper knowledge and equipment, it is very difficult to prevent the spread of AIDS. Ever since the illness was discovered thirty years ago, it has taken the lives of thirty million people and affected the lives of many, many more. The AIDS pandemic has been and still is most severe in third-world countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It has impacted the economies of entire nations by crippling and killing individuals in the most productive years of their lives (“HIV/AIDS”). AIDS greatly influences the government sector, agricultural sector, private corporations, and individual households.
The emergence of HIV/AIDS is viewed globally as one of the most serious health and developmental challenges our society faces today. Being a lentivirus, HIV slowly replicates over time, attacking and wearing down the human immune system subsequently leading to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) at which point the affected individual is exposed to life threatening illnesses and eventual death. Despite the fact that a few instances of this disease have been accounted for in all parts of the world, a high rate of the aforementioned living with HIV are situated in either low or medium wage procuring nations. The Sub-Saharan region Africa is recognized as the geographic region most afflicted by the pandemic. In previous years, people living with HIV or at risk of getting infected did not have enough access to prevention, care and treatment neither were they properly sensitized about the disease. These days, awareness and accessibility to all the mentioned (preventive methods, care etc.) has risen dramatically due to several global responses to the epidemic. An estimated half of newly infected people are among those under age 25(The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic). It hits hard as it has no visible symptoms and can go a long time without being diagnosed until one is tested or before it is too late to manage.