Teen Health: STDs and Pregnancy - Essay Example

? Teen Health: STDs and Pregnancy Teen Health: STDs and Pregnancy Heath care is a universal and essential need for allhuman beings across all ages and countries. Socioeconomic constraint is a major hurdle in universal access to health care for all, fostered by many governments including the federal government. Despite a handful of efforts, by several agents 9% of the American population about received delayed medical care while another 6% did not access medical care at all due to cost in 2009 (Adams, Kirzinger,& Martinez, 2011). Lack of easy access to medical care is a principle factor in harboring health care problems in communities especially those that are socioeconomically vulnerable. While only a tip of the iceberg is reported, a significant disease burden goes unnoticed. This paper seeks to assess, identify and highlight on community specific healthcare problems in one of the communities, in the US. A unique highlight is given to the community of Georgetown, one of the oldest cities in South Carolina and the headquarters of Georgetown County is seated at Winyah Bay situated at the confluence of three beautiful rivers. The community is a business hub as it hosts a sea gateway second business in the State of South Carolina. Georgetown city is moderately populated with a total population of less than ten thousand people with a population a density of 1,276/sq mi according to 2010 census report. The community is predominated by Black or African Americans, forming 56.7% of the population while the second largest race is whites (U.S. Census Bureau). Other races such as American Indian, Alaska Natives, Asians and Native Hawaiian make about 1% of the entire population. Appreciable proportion (over 80%) of the community has received formal education up to high school while less than 21% of people aged 25 years and above have received university higher education. The region has per capita income of less than $20, and about 23.2% of the population is below the poverty line (U.S. Census Bureau). Teenagers (less than 18 years) represent a bigger proportion (about 27.1%) of the total population compared to adults (about 14.7%). Female persons are also the majority representing more than half of the entire population (U.S. Census Bureau). Majority of the youths in Georgetown are unemployed accounting for 13.3% of the population and, therefore, do not have easy access to medical care (U.S. Census Bureau). The high rate of unemployment subject them to risk behaviors such as drug and substance abuse, crime, and risk sexual behavior among others. These behaviors expose the youths to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unintended pregnancies. The community had 22 and 113 reported cases of gonorrhea and Chlamydia, as the common etiologies of STDs in 2010. Nationally, in the same year there were 110million reported cases of cumulative STIs with Human Papilloma Virus as the leading pathogen (Satterwhite, 2013). Although Georgetown is ranked below the top ten in HIV infection rates among South Carolina States there, is still a significant HIV infections rate among the youths in this community. About half of the new reported HIV infections are acquired through homosexual behavior while heterosexuality accounts for 40% of all cases. Majority of these new cases were reported in African American at a rate eight times higher than in whites. This difference could be explained by social economic differences between the two races (South Carolina HIV/AIDS Council, 2009). A teenage pregnancy is rated at 30% among teenagers in this community, with most of them giving birth of their firstborns at an age less than 20 years (South Carolina Campaign: to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 2010). There was a drop in U.S teen pregnancies reported (Ventura, Abma, Mosher, & Henshaw, 2009), which was attributed to by a reduction in sexual activeness among the youths, as well as effective use of birth control measures. In contrast teen pregnancies are an existing threat to teen health in Georgetown the drop in cases reported nationwide. Although according to the windshield survey the healthcare planning and service delivery is good, there still exists healthcare concerns that support the above discussion. It is evident from the survey that the community is served by one central federal hospital for all of their healthcare needs. Despite of the financially friendly services offered by the facility, its existence as the only one raises concerns of privacy. Many teens have a phobia of identity and are likely not to seek medical care where they fear they can be exposed. Therefore, healthcare services at Georgetown may not be youth friendly (Cohen, & Bloom, 2009). Another clue suggesting the existence of a healthcare concern is the healthcare support programmes run by the facility. These clearly indicate efforts towards combating healthcare problem in the community even though the programmes may be generalized. It is quite clear that HIV infections and Teen pregnancy are health challenges facing adolescent and young adults in Georgetown and, therefore, needs a first priority intervention. This challenge is of primary concern because it is rampant among the youths who form a big proportion of the community. Young adults and adolescent is the group faced with many developmental challenges including uncontrolled autonomy, peer influence, and body changes among others. Poverty is also another factor that may contribute to vulnerability of this group exposing them further to the threat. Interventions targeting these two concerns will foster achievement of the healthy people 2020 objectives towards HIV and Family Planning. Specific objectives that focus on HIV include reduction of; new HIV cases, incident cases, rate of HIV transmission and the overall number of AIDS cases in adolescents and adults. (Objectives HIV 1-18). While Measures to curb unintended pregnancies in teens and adolescents (objective FP-8) using family planning methods, is specific for teen pregnancies. There is a continuous trend in the proportion of undiagnosed and unreported cases of STD especially among the youth due to fear of their identity. This means that the actual disease burden in the community could be much higher than is currently reported. There is a gradual decline in teen pregnancy cases partly due to effective intervention measures such as promoted the use of safe sex habits, use of contraceptives and overall behavior change among the youths. However these achievements may not be enjoyed for long if new interventions to curb the silent monster is delayed. In a nutshell teen pregnancy and HIV infections are still a major healthcare challenge among the adolescent in Georgetown community. Young adults and teens are a risk group due to the many challenges they face. These challenges include; behavioral change, developmental changes, poverty, and peer influence that directly or indirectly expose them to risks. A specialized package of healthcare, which is friendly to their behavior, is recommended. .References Adams, P. F., Kirzinger, K.W., & Martinez, E.M., (2011) Summary Health Statistics for the U.S. Population: National Health Interview Survey, 2011. Vital and Health Statistics (10) 255 7-8 Cohen, R.A, & Bloom, B., (2009) Access to and Utilization of Medical Care for Young Adults Aged 20-29 Years: United States, 2008. U.S Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Satterwhite CL, et al. (2013) Sexually transmitted infections among U.S. women and men: Prevalence and incidence estimates, 2008. Sexually Transmitted Diseases 40(3): pp. 187-193. South Carolina Campaign: to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (2010) HIV/STI and Adolescents HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) retrieved from: www.schivaidscouncil.org/ South Carolina HIV/AIDS Council (2009) SOUTH CAROLINA HIV/AIDS STATISTICS Retrieved from: www.schivaidscouncil.org U.S. Census Bureau: Epidemiological Data on Georgetown County: Georgetown City. State and County QuickFacts. Retrieved from: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/45/4528870.html Ventura, S.J., Abma, J.C., Mosher, W.D., & Henshaw, S.K. (2009) Estimated pregnancy rates for the United States, 1990–2005: An update. National vital statistics reports; vol 58 no 4. Read More