AIDS in Afica
HIV / AIDS in Africa

An Overview of how this Terrible Disease has Rampaged the Population in Africa and what might be done about it in the Future.

The spread of AIDS has reached epidemic proportions on the African Continent. There are many factors that can be attributed to the spread of this phenomenon. Lack of modern health care facilities and trained medical professionals is often cited as a cause as well as a source that hinders modern treatment options for infected Africans. However, this is only one factor among several and other third world nations have avoided the AIDS epidemic. Another factor that is at play is the lack of education about the disease and its method of transmission. This factor especially affects young women who generally know little about family planning or how to practice safe sex. Finally, another major factor that will be discussed is that lack…...

mla

Works Cited

Cohen, B. Preventing and Mitigating AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa: Research and Data Priorities for the Social and Behavioral Sciences. New York: National Academies Press, 1996. Print.

Essex, M., et al. AIDS in Africa. New York: Springer, 2002. Print.

Iwelunmor, J. And A. Collins. "Cultural Implications of Death and Loss from AIDS among Women in South Africa." Death Studies (2012): 134-151. Web.

Johnson, K. "Between Self-Help and Dependence: Donor Funding and the Fight Against HIV / AIDS in South Africa." Africa (2008): 496-519. Web.

A hemophiliac, young Ryan had contracted the disease through the infusion of blood resources that had long served as his life force; and then that life force, infected with HIV, failed him (Levitt & Rosenthal, 1999). As the young boy bravely faced the demons of the ravaging disease, friends, relatives and outpourings of public support and love marked his journey. Surrounded by his family, and new friends like the rock star Elton John, Ryan, like so many others lost his battle to AIDS.
Sociologically devastating, HIV / AIDS has, by its recession from a pandemic affliction in the United States, to a condition that responds to treatment, although treatment does not constitute a cure; has left a new condition in its wake. This new condition is what persists in the present and third phase of the disease; hundreds of thousands afflicted with a disease that because of treatments allows people…...

mla

Works Cited

Alcabes, Philip. "The Ordinariness of AIDS: Can a Disease That Tells Us So Much about Ourselves Ever Be Anything but Extraordinary?." American Scholar Summer 2006: 18+.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=82358271

Bond, George C., John Kreniske, Ida Susser, and Joan Vincent, eds. AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997. Questia. 17 June 2007  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=82358420 .

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5015836871

According to Lisam & Lisam (2009), the need for doctor's advice is also fueled by the constant emergence and experiment of new and different medicines for HIV and AIDS (p. 269).
Problems Associated with Diarrhea Caused by HIV Medications:

For people living with HIV / AIDS, the negative impacts of drugs and food intake and the impact of drugs on metabolism, excretion, and absorption of nutrients may have considerable negative effects on their nutritional status. Most of the existing antiretroviral medications can contribute to fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, gastroesophageal reflux, vomiting, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia. Generally, the disease causes the deterioration of the lining of the gut which in turn affects the ability of the gut to digest and absorb food. This contributes to the inability of the gut to absorb or take up nutrients from the eaten foods i.e. mal-absorption that causes diarrhea through which nutrients and water are lost from…...

mla

References:

Ada, Hendricks, K.M., Dong, K.R. & Gerrior, J.L. (2009). Nutrition management of HIV and AIDS. Chicago, IL: Diana Faulhaber, Publisher.

Lisam, K.S. & Lisam, S. (2009). Nutrition and AIDS. India: Kalpaz Publications.

Pribram, V. (2010). Nutrition and HIV. United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons.

Tiziani, a. (2010). Harvard's nursing guide to drugs (8th ed.). Victoria Avenue, Chatswood:

HIV / AIDS
Autoimmune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) first came to the public's attention in the United States in the early 1980s. In Africa, the cities of wanda, Zaire, Zambia and Uganda were decimated, and cases began cropping up all over the world. In rare blood samples dating back to 1959, antibodies to HIV were detected (Crowley, 1993, p. 46), and yet the virus did not seem to become a problem until twenty years later.

It is not known how the virus carried by chimpanzees and harmless to them, was transmitted to the human population. According to Chang (2011), it is most likely that a hunter in West Africa killed a chimpanzee and was infected by the chimp's blood, probably through an open wound. The virus spread as colonial cities were established, but deaths were attributed to other causes. It is unknown exactly when this scenario occurred, but it is thought to have…...

mla

References

Begley, S., Check, E., Wingert, P., and Conway, F. (2001). Aids at 20. Newsweek 137(24), pp.

34-27. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier Database

Chang, L. (2011). History of HIV / AIDS slideshow: A pictorial timeline of the AIDS pandemic.

WebMD. Retrieved from   etrospectivehttp://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/ss/slideshow-aids-r 

In other words, people become so depressed and fall into such a state of despair upon hearing that they have HIV that their immune system is weakened, which is the real cause of developing AIDS. Null blames doctors for creating a self-fulfilling prophesy in the mindset of people diagnosed with the illness, even in the minds of children. He believes that children who do not understand what causes various types of cancer, for example, have become so media-saturated that they have come to see HIV positive status as a death sentence. But worst and most commonly of all, gay men, already living a self-destructive lifestyle of promiscuity, drugs, and other risky behavior, wear out their immune syndromes even faster after being diagnosed with HIV, once they fear that they are fated to die from the illness at a young age.

Many gay men early in the epidemic had already been damaged,…...

mla

Works Cited

Bremmer, Charles. (11 May 1992). Interview with Peter Duesberg. Retrieved 13 Dec 2006 At  http://www.duesberg.com/about/cbinterview.html 

Thomas Kuhn. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago

Press, 1996

Liversidge, Anthony. (1995). The Cultural Studies Times. Fall 1995. Retrieved 13 Dec 2006 from Virus Myth Homepage.  http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/data/allimits.htm

AIDS in Urban, Black America
THE AIDS EPIDEMIC IN URBAN, BLACK AMERICA

Most people think of the AIDS epidemic as something that happens only in Africa, and they do not realize how many people in this country must struggle with the disease. The problem with AIDS in this country is not confined to one gender, age group, sexual preference, or race, but urban, black communities do have a much larger number of AIDS cases than other populations. The purpose of this paper is to discuss this issue and interlock three specific issues that deal with this epidemic. There are three specific points that are hypothesized in this paper:

The first hypothesis is that this problem affects families, economies, and communities that are largely urban and black, in that the effects of the AIDS virus and deaths from it devastate much of what is needed to keep these areas alive.

The second hypothesis is that…...

mla

Works Cited

Alteneder, R.R., et al. 1992. Using the PRECEDE model to determine junior high school students' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about AIDS. Journal of School Health 62: 464-470.

Center for Disease Control. 1993. HIV / AIDS Surveillance Report: Year-End Edition (February). Atlanta: U.S. Public Health Service.

Chesney, M.A. 1993. Health psychology in the 21st century: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome as a harbinger of things to come. Health Psychology 12: 259-268.

Coyle, S.L., Boruch, R.F., & Turner, C.F., editors. 1991. Evaluating AIDS prevention programs (expanded edition). National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

(High-isk Pregnancy). There is no doubt that AIDS is a world wide problem, which is why it has been referred to as a pandemic. It is estimated that in the time that this disease has been recorded millions of people have died ( HIV / AIDS). There are ongoing efforts to find scientific means of combating this disease. For example in 1983 the first blood test to detect exposure to HIV was developed by Dr. Luc Montagnier and obert Gallo (HIV / AIDS).
At present there is no vaccine for the virus and no known cure. Nevertheless, science has made considerable advances and various combinations of drugs have been developed and used which successfully retards the progress of the disease and improves the life quality of the patients. These include protease inhibitors, which are "…effective in interfering with reproduction of the virus and limiting the "viral load" or quantity of…...

mla

References

Confronting AIDS: Directions for Public Health, Health Care, and Research

(1986) Institute of Medicine (IOM). Retrieved April 2, 2009 from  http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=938&page=R8 

DeNoon D ( 2009) 1 Million U.S. AIDS Cases. Retrieved April 2, 2009 from  http://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/news/20090219/1-million-us-aids-cases 

High-Risk Pregnancy. Retrieved April 2, 2009 from  http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/uvahealth/peds_hrpregnant/aidshiv.cfm

Some people are of the view that, since AIDS-infected countries are financially unstable, they are unable to purchase expensive AIDS drugs which contributes to steady growth of the disease. "More than 40 million people are infected with HIV and more than 3 million have died in 2003, UNAIDS reported last week. WHO estimates more than 5 million HIV patients need anti-retroviral drugs, but fewer than 400,000 currently have access to them." (WHO)

Since only a small percentage of patients have access to high-priced AIDS drugs, it is obvious why the rate of disease expansion hasn't decreased. But there are several political factors affecting the drug prices too. In recent months, both UN AIDS agency and WHO have taken concrete measures to address the issue of high drug prices. Their initiative led to a more effective low-priced AIDS drug that is a combination of three anti-retroviral drugs. These drugs are likely to…...

mla

References

Pedro a. Noguera. The Trouble with Black Boys: The Role and Influence of Environmental and Cultural Factors on the Academic Performance of African-American Males. Harvard University. 2003  http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/er/pntroub1.html 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV / AIDS statistics and information 2008.  http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/ 

A. Clymer. U.S. Revises Sex Information, and a Fight Goes on. New York Times, December, 2002  http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C04E4D9113CF934A15751C1A9649C8B63 

Kaiser Family Foundation. U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Tobias Defends Emphasis on Abstinence for Prevention Programs. http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=23321

In addition, the state sponsors numerous community-based organizations and local county health departments that use evidence-based prevention interventions (AIDS surveillance data, 2012). The Florida State Department of Health reports that, "Evidence-based interventions are grounded in behavior change theory and have been proven scientifically to have significant impact on changing behavior, when implemented correctly. HIV / AIDS prevention agencies are funded through the department's HIV Prevention grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Closing the Gap (CTG) initiative through the Office of Minority Health" (AIDS surveillance data, 2012, para. 13).
In addition, another program that has been used in Florida for several years for senior citizens at risk for AIDS or who are suffering from AIDS is the Senior HIV Intervention Project (SHIP) (Agate, Mullins, Prudent, & Liberti, 2003). According to Agate and his associates, "SHIP encourages doctors to obtain a full sexual risk assessment from…...

mla

References

AIDS surveillance data. (2012). Florida State Department of Health. Retrieved from http://www.

doh.state.fl.us/disease_ctrl/aids/index.html.

Agate, L.L., Mullins, J.M., Prudent, E.S., & Liberti, T.M. (2003). Strategies for reaching retirement communities and aging social networks: HIV / AIDS prevention activities

among seniors in South Florida. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 33,

AIDS in America
AIDS is a devastating disease that has ravaged our world over the past twenty years. The issue of AIDS in America is one of much debate that continues to challenge the medical community. The purpose of this discussion is to examine the epidemic of AIDS in America. Our research will provide an in depth analysis of the most infected portion of our society and the tactics that are being implemented to stop the disease from spreading. Let's begin our discussion by defining the disease known as AIDS.

Definition of AIDS

According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine,

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is an infectious disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It was first recognized in the United States in 1981. AIDS is the advanced form of infection with the HIV virus, which may not cause disease for a long period after the initial exposure (latency). Infection with…...

mla

References

Rowland B. (1996) AIDS. Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine. Retrieved October 31, 2003 from;  http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/g2603/0000/2603000005/p3/article.jhtml?term=AIDS 

Whitaker Charles. (2001) THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT THE AIDS EPIDEMIC IN BLACK AMERICA. Ebony. Volume: 56. Issue: 8.

HIV / AIDS Surveilance Report. (2002) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 31, 2003 from;  http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/ stats/hasr1402/2002SurveillanceReport.pdf

Prevention Interventions with Persons Living with HIV. (2003). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 31, 2003 from;

But the challenges facing the current South African health minister are not simply political: "hereas HIV subtype B, the dominant subtype in western Europe and the U.S.A., continued to spread among men who have sex with men, HIV subtype C, the dominant subtype in Africa and Asia, started spreading in the general population in South Africa in about 1988. Between 1990 and 1994, there was an exponential increase in the prevalence of HIV infection" and Subtype C is now the dominant type of AIDS in the region (Karim 2009). According to the international AIDS charity AVERT: "Subtype C is predominant in Southern and East Africa, India and Nepal. It has caused the world's worst HIV epidemics and is responsible for around half of all infections" (AVERT, 2009)

Recent studies have indicated that HIV type C is more easily transmitted through heterosexual contact and "subtype C is more transmissible" overall than either…...

mla

Works Cited

"Introduction to HIV types, subtypes, and groups." AVERT: AVERTING HIV & AIDS.

Official website. 2009. November 2009.  http://www.avert.org/hiv-types.htm 

Karim, S., Churchyard, G., Karim, Q., & Lawn, S. "Health in South Africa 3: HIV infection and tuberculosis in South Africa: an urgent need to escalate the public health response.

The Lancet, 374.9693 (2009), 921-33. Retrieved November 19, 2009, from ProQuest

5% in 2008" (Smith, 2009). And yet, millions of children ("The lost generation") have been left orphaned by AIDS (AIDS eekly).
Speaking of South Africa, the AIDS eekly story (reporting on the Jim Lehrer NewsHour story written by Ray Suarez) points out that former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki, along with his health minister, spent years spreading "misinformation about the HIV virus), which clearly was part of the problem in South Africa. A situation in which people cannot trust their elected leaders to give them the truth about a terrible disease like HIV / AIDS is unconscionable and unacceptable. But now the new South African Minister of Health, Barbara Hogan, is "trying to contain a disease which has infected one of every 6 people in the country" (Suarez, 2009).

In the David Smith article (www.guardian.co.uk) the fact that 5.2 million South Africans were living with HIV in 2008 is "widely regarded as…...

mla

Works Cited

AIDS Weekly. (2009). The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer Reports From South Africa on Renewed Efforts to Combat HIV / AIDS and Tuberculosis.

Gale Document #A196682782.

AVERT. (2009). HIV and AIDS in Africa. Retrieved June 21, 2009, from  http://www.avert.org/aafrica.htm .

Ng, Eileen. (2009). South Africa sees hope on AIDS. The America's Intelligence Wire.

In addition, Halperin (1999) found that IDS prevention education aimed at heterosexuals continued to address vaginal-penile intercourse when heterosexual anal intercourse is responsible for more cases of heterosexual IDS outbreaks. Thus, the fact that IDS is a condition of the homosexual or heterosexual participating in vaginal-penile intercourse is a misconception that perpetuates stereotypes. Furthermore, Chin (2007) found that a person's number of sexual partners is not enough to create "epidemic sexual HIV transmission" (p. 163). In addition, Chin (2007) argues that many organizations believe a prevention program is necessary, or HIV will quickly spread into general populations where its numbers are "currently low" (p. 163). Chin's (2007) argument, however, is that this is a misconception, and there is no reason to believe that IDS will break into non-affected populations. Thus, many statements that perpetuate stereotypes about HIV are actually misconceptions, proved incorrect by the scientific literature.
great number of…...

mla

A great number of people have formed these misconceptions because they are the ones most perpetuated by those who fear AIDS and its implications. Like the audience of the Oprah show, many people have developed the misconception that AIDS can be spread in ways other than the sharing of blood and sexual fluids because of the few cases where the conditions have been right to allow an easier transmission (Schoub 1999, p. 92). Schoub (1999) writes that these incidents receive "inordinate publicity because of the abject fear of AIDS" (p. 92). This media coverage, paired with individuals' fear of the disease, has caused the misconception.

The situation in which large percentages of the public have come to accept stereotypical misconceptions about the AIDS virus is remarkably similar to the case in which large sections of the public formed misconceptions about its transmission. In both cases, these misconceptions were based on fact blown out of proportion. For instance, homosexuals have actually dominated the AIDS epidemic (Schoub 1999, p.96). Schoub (1999), however, writes that this is because AIDS is most closely linked with anal intercourse (p. 96). Many people bought into this stereotype because the amount of anal sex occurring in heterosexual couples was underestimated as the practice of anal sex among heterosexuals is taboo (Halperin 1999, p. 717). Furthermore, Chin (2007) argues that the misconceptions regarding transmission to unaffected populations and the perpetuation of prevention techniques that do not work could be believed by a large population because this is the belief needed to fuel the efforts of non-profit and government organizations tasked with the prevention and eradication of AIDS.

Thus, not only are a number of commonly believed tenants about AIDS misconceptions, but also those misconceptions were able to be easily believed by large segments of the public both because they were based in truth and because institutions allowed for easy belief. The misconception regarding the transmission of AIDS was allowed to spread based on the sociological concept of the fear of AIDS; AIDS-related stereotypes are perpetuated by what is socially considered taboo sex practices; misconceptions regarding prevention and proliferation are perpetuated by institutions relying on this data for effectiveness. Thus, the perpetuation of misconceptions regarding AIDS still occurs quite widely in the United States. Though proven incorrect by the scientific evidence, these misconceptions can be widely observed in public knowledge. Many are able to believe and perpetuate these misconceptions because of interpersonal dynamics. They recognize a misconception as an expansion of the truth. In addition, the social concepts such as the fear of AIDS and taboo nature of certain sexual practices contribute to their misconceived beliefs. Thus, to dispel the misconceptions regarding AIDS, one must address socialized beliefs with the scientific fact.

There are various blood tests used to detect HIV, of which the most frequently used is enzyme immunoassay, and if the presence of antibodies is detected, the blood is further tested with the estern blot method (AIDS). A test that measure the viral genes in the blood is has proven helpful in assessing treatment efficacy (AIDS). Although there is no cure for AIDS, there are a number of drugs available, such as AZT, ddl, and 3TC which are reverse transcriptase inhibitors, and have shown to be effective in delaying the onset of symptoms in certain subsets of infected individuals (AIDS). Moreover, adding a protease inhibitor, such as saquinovir, amprenavir, or atazanavir to AZT and 3TC has proven effective, however this combination does not eliminate the virus (AIDS). Another type of reverse transcriptase inhibitor, efavirenz must be taken with protease inhibitors or older forms of AIDS medicines (AIDS). Subsequent infections may…...

mla

Works Cited

AIDS." The Columbia Encyclopedia. 2006. Retrieved December 08, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.

Bauer, Henry H.:The mystery of HIV / AIDS. Quadrant. July 01, 2006. Retrieved December 08, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.

Berger, Timothy. "A dramatic change in HIV treatment. Journal of Drugs in Dermatology. July 01, 2004. Retrieved December 08, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.

Montagne, Renee; Inskeep, Steve. "AIDS Treatment Remains a Delicate Balance."

Specifically, the author mentions childhood diseases, maternal health, and the three diseases HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as the major areas of focus for health care funding in developing countries. Because of the major impact of these conditions, the author notes that the best approach is to target these directly, even if it does impact upon more general primary care structures. The very "fabric of society" is being affected by such conditions, and especially by the HIV / AIDS pandemic; hence the importance of controlling these first.
Proponents of general primary care programs note that the problem with an exclusive focus on major issues like HIV / AIDS is the fact that they often take account only of global infection and mortality figures, as mentioned above, without regard to the specific health concerns as presented on a local scale (Harzhem et al. 2006). While it is helpful and desirable…...

mla

References

An Roinn Slainte Agus Leanai (ARSAL) 2010, Primary Care. Dept of Health and Children. Viewed 25 May 2010 http://www.dohc.ie/publications/fulltext/primary_care_new_direction/part_one.html

Avert 2010, Universal access to ADS treatment: targets and challenges. Viewed 25 May 2010  http://www.avert.org/universal-access.htm 

Beasly, JW, Starfield, B, Van Weel, C, Rosser, WW and Haq, CL 2007, Global Health and Primary Care Research. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, Vol. 20, No. 6. Viewed 25 May 2010  http://www.jabfm.org/cgi/content/full/20/6/518 

Doherty, J and Govender, R 2004, the Cost-Effectiveness of Primary Care Services in Developing Countries: A Review of the International Literature. Disease Control Priorities Project, Working Paper No. 37. Viewed 25 May 2010  http://www.dcp2.org/file/49/wp37.pdf

....

Before you can tackle any type of analysis through a specific lens, it is important to make sure that you thoroughly understand that lens.  Marxism-Feminism attempts to tackle some of the underlying weaknesses in both Marxist theory and feminist theory, because Marxism fails to address some of the gender issues that impact class and feminist theory fails to address some of the class issues that impact gender.  Because of how class and gender intersect in The Handmaid’s Tale, it is a perfect piece for analysis through this particular lens,

The sexism in The....

Much has been made of the possible relationship between obesity and gut bacteria. Rather than the simplistic view of obesity that once posited that obesity was always simply a matter of consuming too many calories or being too sedentary, modern research has revealed that a number of factors contribute to obesity. This has helped lead to epidemic levels of obesity, which has a domino effect on other health issues.  Determining which factors help influence obesity is one of the keys to fighting this epidemic. Gut bacteria is one of these factors. 

The human....

Counseling people who have AIDS or are at high risk for acquiring HIV can present several ethical issues for healthcare providers.  While client care must remain the priority in any counseling relationship, it is important to acknowledge that a client who has AIDS, is HIV+, or is at high risk of acquiring HIV may present a health risk to their current or future sexual partners.  In addition, other high-risk behaviors, such as needle-sharing, present a community risk. 

The first step in writing an essay on this topic is recognizing the various ethical issues....