HIV in the United States - Research Paper Example

? HIV in the United s HIV in the United s Introduction The disease known as the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS is basically descriptive of a condition in which the human body is left defenceless in the face of opportunistic infections as a result of a virus known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV. The HIV virus can be transmitted from one individual to another by means of sexual intercourse, blood transfusion, the sharing of needles by drug abusers, and even from mother to infant during breastfeeding. Not every individual who tests positive for the HIV virus will develop full blown AIDS. Indeed, a lot of people who have the HIV virus may not exhibit any symptoms of the disease for months or years. However, when they finally develop full blown AIDS as a result of not taking the necessary cocktail of drugs, known as anti-retrovirals, which help in forestalling the development of AIDS, they can quickly become quite ill and die from diseases that would easily have been defeated by a stronger immune system. At present, there is no known cure for AIDS. HIV Statistics in San Francisco, California Since the identification of the AIDS epidemic in 1981, more than 1.7 million Americans have acquired the HIV virus. Of this number, approximately 641,976 have succumbed to the disease (San Francisco AIDS Foundation, 2011). At present, it is estimated that more than 1.1 million people in American live with the HIV virus. Some of these people may not even know that they are infected. According to the San Francisco AIDS foundation, many HIV infected individuals do not know that they have the virus. This is why the virus is transmitted easily in many communities. It has been said that a new person is infected with the AIDS virus every 9 1/2 minutes. According to a study conducted on HIV infection rates in cities across America, California is ranked as the second highest in having the largest number of HIV infected people; only being surpassed by New York (San Francisco AIDS Foundation, 2011). The study established that more than 200,000 Californian citizens have contracted HIV/AIDS since the early 80s; of this number, 90,000 have succumbed to the disease. The study also confirmed that at present, approximately 109,000 Californian citizens are HIV-positive (San Francisco AIDS Foundation, 2011). Of this number, 20,861 live in San Francisco (San Francisco AIDS Foundation, 2011). The majority of the HIV infected individuals, more than 85% are male and 62% are between the ages of 25 and 49 (San Francisco AIDS Foundation, 2011). In San Francisco, the neighbourhoods with the most HIV infected individuals include Mission, Castro, Mission, Tenderloin, and Western Addition. These are areas that are mostly frequented by drug users (San Francisco AIDS Foundation, 2011). Psycho Social challenges that face the afflicted patient population HIV, in itself, is a traumatic pronouncement for any individual. When most infected people are informed of their positive status, many will instantly go into denial and withdraw emotionally from others (The Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, 2006). The denial, if not treated, can result in further isolation and maladjustment in the sufferer. HIV infected people also experience a lot of fear and depression when they first learn of their condition. This is because, to date, there is no known cure for HIV. This means that on hearing the pronouncement that he or she is HIV positive, a person is most likely to imagine that they have some months to live. Even if the individual does not experience the debilitating fear of impending death, he or she has to immediately begin to consider emotional, financial, physical, and social toll that the disease will take on his or her life. All these factors further dampen the mood of an individual who does not need further psychological problems added to an already taxed immune system. AIDS or HIV has the weight of being considered as a terminal disease. Most communities in the world actively shun the thought of death and do not prefer to dwell on subjects concerning terminal illness. The means that the individual who has the AIDS virus has to find a way of coping with the isolation that his illness engenders. While trying to deal with a community that does not want to consider the existence of death as a normal part of human life, he also has to deal with the fear of possible physical disfigurement, the hereafter, and the thoughts about how his family will survive after he is gone. The emotional weight brought by dealing with such issues is increased by the fact that most communities do not view AIDS sufferers as people to be respected or affirmed (The Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, 2006). This is because, even many years after it has been established that there are many people who get the HIV virus by other means than sexual promiscuity, many people still feel that AIDS is a punishment from God for what the society may view as lewd sexual behaviours. This issue forces most people who discover that they have the AIDS virus to remain silent for fear of being ostracised by their communities or losing their dignity. HIV carriers also have to learn to cope with their lives as best as they can. HIV can have a devastating effect on families. If an individual discovers that he is HIV positive while his partner is not, the relationship may be broken by the uninfected partner who does not wish to risk being infected. There are many discordant couples that break under the pressure of the possibility of the uninfected person being infected. Individuals carrying the AIDS virus also have to deal with learning how to conduct their sexual relationships in such a way that they are not re-infected, thus increasing their chances of developing full-blown AIDS. Physical intimacy is often deeply affected by the onset of the HIV virus because the infected partner may experience diminished energy. The HIV+ individual also has to deal with dealing with his or her emotions alone, without telling or confiding in others. Even if there are support groups available for HIV sufferers, the disease still takes a major emotional toll on a person (McKee, Bertrand and Benton-Becker, 2004). Most HIV sufferers do not feel comfortable enough with even their family members and friends to talk openly about the possibility of death, the remarkable feelings of loss, and other emotions that they may be experiencing. The HIV virus also leaves its victims with a pervading sense of helplessness. They do not know when they will develop full blown AIDS and die, or which illnesses will end up destroying their physical bodies; but they know that they are likely to die sooner rather than later. This can result in outbursts of reckless behaviour from HIV sufferers. There have been reported cases of HIV sufferers who became even more promiscuous after discovering their HIV status (McKee, Bertrand and Benton-Becker, (2004). It would seem that these individuals are feeling that they have nothing left but to die; and so are trying to make the most of their remaining days. This, however, is not healthy, and can result in sufferers developing full blown AIDS or infecting unsuspecting sexual partners. HIV positive people ought to be given the chance to speak openly without holding back, on subjects that frighten them the most. This is the only way in which they can regain their emotional lives. Research projects concerning HIV A research was conducted to establish the number of middle aged people living with AIDS in 2012 in San Francisco (O’Keefe, Scheer, Chen, Hughes and Pipkin, 2010). The statistics used were taken from the San Francisco's HIV/AIDS registry. The research established that there would be even more individuals between the ages of 50 and 65 who were living with HIV between 2010 and 2015. The results established that by 2010, there were approximately 9796 people living with HIV in San Francisco. Of these, 52% were above 50 years of age (O’Keefe, Scheer, Chen, Hughes and Pipkin, 2010). Another research project on HIV + people who were drug users was conducted in 2011 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It aimed at finding out if the promotion of condom use among an estimated 13, 000 drug addicts who used needles had any effect in curbing the spread of the HIV virus (San Francisco AIDS Foundation, 2011). The research would establish that from a public health point of view, 81 percent of the drug users still chose to engage in risky sexual behaviour (Rogers, 2003). The results of the research revealed that interventions that are aimed at curbing the virus have to be based on encouraging behavioural changes in order to be successful. Two successful community based programs that help in meeting the needs of the People with HIV San Francisco AIDS Foundation In the 1990s, San Francisco experienced the highest levels of HIV infection. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation is a community based program that was formed in 1982 to try and curb the rapid spread of the HIV virus among homosexual as well as heterosexual partners (Kahn, 2005). The mission of this program remains to see the number of new infections in San Francisco get radically reduced by means of advocacy, education, and holding conventions on prevention and care in areas where communities that are at high risk of contracting the virus reside. The success of this program has resulted in it being duplicated in other states where it is often supported by the state governments. In San Francisco, the 2009-2010 period saw contributions from well wishers, non-profit organisations and government funding reach $ 21,798,765 (O’Keefe, Scheer, Chen, Hughes and Pipkin, 2010). The STOP AIDS Project The STOP AIDS Project's mission is to stop bisexual, gay, and transgender men from contracting the HIV virus through multicultural community-based organising (Cochrane, 2003). This program was started in 1984 by concerned gay as well as heterosexual individuals who were shocked at the way that gay men were dying from the disease. Its success has caused other states and indeed nations, to create similar programs that seek to deal with the issue of HIV in the gay and bisexual community. Today, this community program has even expanded to areas such as British Columbia- where a plan to expand HIV diagnosing, management, and support services to eligible people is to be funded by a $48-million financial sponsorship from the Government of British Columbia (O’Keefe, Scheer, Chen, Hughes and Pipkin, 2010). Two Interventions that can Minimise the Impact of HIV Using the Behavioural Approach Risky behaviours are usually practiced in the context of social groups. Community-based interventions that wish to impact such groups have to make use of behaviour changing mechanisms in order to realise their goals. For instance, where drug users are concerned, there are accepted norms in their communities that permit the sharing of needles. The only way that this destructive behaviour can be changed is by seeking to change the behaviours of drug users through methods that they respect. For instance, using a successful peer of the same age who has no drug problems to speak to them on changing this behaviour is not likely to have as much success as encouraging a drug user who is a respected group leader to change his needle sharing behaviour and then encourage others to do likewise (McKee, Bertrand & Benton-Becker, 2004). Given the ethnic diversity of most groups of drug users, it is unlikely that one single method will cause the whole group to change its behaviour. This means that community based outreach groups have to seek to appeal to each drug user based on his or her personal inclinations. While this may take a lot of time, it is the only way to ensure that HIV is not spread among drug users. For this to succeed, a lot of community operations such as drug abuse treatment, and HIV counselling and testing would have to be coordinated in order to reach drug users with the important message. Giving out Free Needles and Condoms In extreme cases, such as when the drug abusers groups are too ethnically diverse for even a number of leaders to be able to appeal to the entire group, it is more practical to engage in the distribution of uncontaminated needles to addicts (McKee, Bertrand and Benton-Becker, 2004). This has been quite a controversial issue that has been met with derision in mostly conservative societies in developing a well as developed societies. However, the reality is that drug users will take advantage of any needles to shoot drugs into their systems if they wish for a ‘fix’. To be able to reach or appeal to the emotions of drug-using populations during interventions, it is vital to make them understand that they are genuinely cared for. Providing sterile needles and condoms is a way of showing them that the community is sincerely interested in them and wishes them to remain alive. Past researches have established that using sterile needles can result in a reduction in the level of HIV transmission among drug users (Ciccarone, Kanouse, Collins, Miu, Chen, Morton & Stall, 2003). Even in cases where drug users do not wish to change their sharing behaviours but go to community health outreaches to get the syringes, they are immediately exposed to information that will benefit them and help them to learn how to take better care of themselves. References Ciccarone, D., Kanouse, D., Collins, R., Miu, A., Chen, J., Morton, S., & Stall, R. (2003). Sex without disclosure of positive HIV serostatus in a US probability sample of persons receiving medical care for HIV infection. American Journal of Public Health, 93 (6), 949–954 Cochrane, M. (2003). When AIDS began: San Francisco and the making of an epidemic. New York: Routledge. Kahn, A. (2005). AIDS, the winter war: A testing of America. New York: iUniverse. McKee, N., Bertrand, J. T., & Benton-Becker, A. (2004). Strategic communication in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. New Delhi: Sage Publications. O’Keefe, K. J., Sheers, S., Chen, M. J., Hughes, A. J., Pipkin, S. (2010). People fifty years or older now account for the majority of AIDS cases in San Francisco, California. NCBI PubMed. Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. New York: Free Press. San Francisco AIDS Foundation. (2011). Statistics. Retrieved from http://sfaf.org/hivinfo/statistics/ The Henry J. Kaiser Foundation. (2006). The global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Retrieved from http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/3030-07.pdf Read More