The Effects of AIDS on the United States - Assignment Example

The Effects of AIDS on the United s HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) which leads to AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is the most infectious disease that has emerged in more than a century. The human and economic impact has been most apparent in its area of origination, Sub-Sahara Africa where an estimated 24 million people are infected. In seven countries of this region, 20 percent of adults are HIV Positive. In the U.S., the disease was ignored when first discovered in the early 1970’s. Even when HIV landed on American shores in 1981, the government did not acknowledge its existence for years. This slow response and general lack of concern by the U.S. is apparent today. Forty thousand new cases are reported every year but just how many people are infected is unknown because the system intended to track cases is flawed and unlikely to be remedied anytime soon. The social impact of HIV has been well documented and widely distributed which has served to educate the public and acted to stem the tide of the epidemic. However, there is a hidden cost that negatively affects business and the economy. This discussion examines the genesis of the virus, why it is difficult to control, the prevalence of infection, its economic impact and how businesses are following the government’s lead by ignoring the growing problem. The HIV virus made an evolutionary jump from chimpanzees to humans at some point before 1970. It is likely that this transfer occurred from using chimps as a meat source in Africa, but the actual source is unknown. What is known is that the virus originated in two types of monkeys which were consumed by the chimpanzees which were probably eaten by humans. A hybrid of the monkey virus (SIV) spread through infected chimpanzees and a mutated form was eventually transmitted to people in the form of HIV-1. Humans carry two types of the disease. HIV-2 is the less aggressive of the two types. According to Paul Sharp of the Institute of Genetics at University in England; “Because of the similarity between chimpanzees and humans, any virus that successfully adapts to spreading among chimps would be a candidate for a further jump to humans, a potential HIV-3” (cited in Lovgren, 2003). At least one percent of the world’s population has contracted HIV and the disease is responsible for taking the lives of nearly three million people in 2005 alone. Because of HIV’s ability to evolve at such a massive pace, it quickly counters selective treatments. The HIV cells that survive the initial drug infusion multiply and their decedents carry the drug resistant strain. This is the reason that patient drug therapy includes what is commonly referred to as a ‘drug cocktail’ (numerous types of HIV drugs used in tandem) which acts to delay the further evolution of the resistant HIV strains. If fewer of the ‘strong’ (resistant) cells survive, the less chance the disease will spread. This is but one of the fundamental evolutionary concepts used by biomedical researchers to fight AIDS. An example of the evolution theory used to explain HIV mutations concerns viral resistance. If a non-resistant and resistant organism is placed in proliferation contest, all conditions being equal and without the assistance of drug therapy, the non-resistant organism will usually win. For example, HIV becomes resistant to a particular ‘cocktail’ of medications ingested by the infected patient. If this patient discontinues the prescription for a period of time, by utilizing the theory of evolution, it can be predicted that the HIV will again evolve reverting back to the non-resistant viral strain. When this same patient then increased their dosage of the original drug cocktail, the strategy has proven to stop the reproduction and greatly reduce the overall level of non-resistant viral cells. “Though this therapy has shown early, promising results, it may not eliminate HIV but it could keep patients’ virus loads low for a long time, slowing progression of the disease” (Zimmer, 2001). Given the virus’ precedent for evolutionary transformation, awareness of the evolutionary aspects of HIV greatly assists scientists in controlling the disease. The prospects of realizing a viable vaccine for HIV has been often announced to be ‘soon in coming’ since the 1980’s but as yet none exists nor does a ‘cure’ seem to be forthcoming in the near future. HIV has not responded by succumbing to the human immune system or to bioengineered drugs which can be directly linked to its ability to rapidly evolve thereby evading natural and man-made antibodies (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 2007). Typically, a person who has recently contracted HIV will not progress to the stage where AIDS is diagnosed for up to ten years. This lengthy dormant period between the initial HIV diagnosis and full-blown AIDS has been a factor in the numerous problems of in the area of diagnosis, treatment and control of the disease (“Progression of HIV Infection”, 2006). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 1981 to 1999, nearly 700,000 new cases of AIDS had been confirmed in the U.S. alone (“Trends”, 1998). This number stands at more than a million today. Currently, the CDC estimates over one million Americans are HIV infected with approximately 40,000 new infections identified every year. “The current trend of about 20,000 deaths each year implies that prevalence is increasing by about 20,000 per year if the incidence is 40,000 per year” (Osmond 2003). However, these numbers are less than reliable. The difficulty in obtaining accurate numbers for AIDS prevalence exists in the deficiencies in the system itself. The United States does not have a single surveillance system established to track the infections, so researchers are forced to rely on the numbers that are available through state surveillance systems. Because not all of these systems track along the same criteria, to the same degree, in the same way and not all states require the same degree of reporting, all estimates must be taken with a degree of error presupposed (Osmond 2003). To illustrate this difficulty, Dennis Osmond (2003) indicated the minimum number of HIV-infected persons living in the United States through December of 2001 was estimated to be around 506,154, a number calculated by adding the total number of persons living with AIDS to the number of persons living with HIV as they were reported to the CDC (Center of Disease Control). However, he added that there are probably another 200,000 or more people who are living with HIV who have not been recorded within this system either because they have been tested at anonymous sites, they live in states that don’t require named reporting or because they have the disease but have not yet been tested. “CDC estimated HIV prevalence in the United States in 2000 between 850,000 - 950,000” (Osmond 2003). The number of HIV infected persons in the U.S. would have been much lower had the government addressed the issue at its onset. The reason it didn’t was, in a word, prejudice. HIV was initially thought to be a ‘gay man’s disease.’ Many, including government officials, considered HIV to be a cure for homosexuality rather than a social disease. In 1985, HIV was contracted predominantly by gay sex and by the sharing of infected hypodermic needles during drug use. However, “in 2004, heterosexual transmission accounted for 35 percent of all newly-diagnosed AIDS cases, up from three percent in 1985” (HIV/AIDS, 2004).  Because of the higher morbidity and mortality rates associated with HIV, no sector of the economy is immune to the impact particularly in terms of reducing the available productive and skilled labour and investment. The combined effect of this is to increase the broader service and production costs to business. “Since the infection rate is highest among people in the prime of their working life – 15 to 49 years – the economic and social impact of the epidemic is disastrous” (Hodges 2004). Although half of the companies interviewed said they regarded HIV to be likely to affect their workplace at some point in the future, Mervyn Davies says “the majority of firms questioned do not think about having an HIV policy until prevalence in a country in which they operate affects more than one in five people” (cited in Bloom et al, 2006). The study further suggests that while many companies anticipate HIV will have some kind of impact on their business in the future, most have not worked to identify how their workplace will be affected nor have those in less concerned countries, such as the United States, worked to establish formal policies within their organizations to address the issue. Davies, writing the preface for a special report on business and HIV (Bloom et al 2006), says “the stark message from the Executive Opinion Survey is that businesses are doing too little, too late in the battle against HIV/AIDS.” The HIV epidemic is a contagious disease that affects more than just the tens of thousands of people infected by it every year in the U.S. It undermines the overall health of multiple societies, negatively affects consumer markets, diminishes the availability of personnel and can sharply reduce business’ ability to be profitable. Because of the unpredictable nature of HIV and the government’s lack of response in combating the disease, it is now negatively impacting the country’s economic progress. Works Cited Bloom, David; Bloom, Lakshmi; Steven, David & Weston, Mark. “Business & HIV/AIDS: A Healthier Partnership?” World Economic Forum: Global Health Initiative. (2006). February 11, 2009 “HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vol. 16. (2004). Hodges, Jane. “In Focus Programme on Social Dialogue, Labor Law and Labor Administration: Guidelines on Addressing HIV/AIDS in the Workplace Through Employment and Labor Law.” International Labor Organization. Geneva: International Labor Office. (January 2004). February 11, 2009 Lovgren, Stefan. “HIV Originated With Monkeys, Not Chimps, Study Finds.” National Geographic News. (June 12, 2003). February 11, 2009 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “Scientists unveil piece of HIV protein that may be key to AIDS vaccine development.” NIH News. (February 14, 2007). February 11, 2009 Osmond, Dennis. “Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in the United States.” HIV InSite Knowledge Base University of California, San Francisco. (March 2003). February 11, 2009 < http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-01-03#S2X> “Progression of HIV Infection.” Annenberg Media. (2006). February 11, 2009 “Trends in the HIV/AIDS Epidemic.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (1998). February 11, 2009 Zimmer, Carl. Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2001. Read More