HIV/AIDS among the Gay Men in Australia - Essay Example

Running Head: HIV/AIDS AMONG GAY MEN IN AUSTRALIA HIV/AIDS among the Gay Men in Australia Name Institution Date HIV/AIDS among the gay Men in Australia Introduction There has been an international concern especially in the North America and Australia due to the younger gay men who have been noted to be on an increased risk of HIV infection. It has however been argued that the young gay men are on increased risk due to high sexual vulnerability, limited experience of the impact of HIV in their lives or due to the fact that they are sexually active. The young gay men have also been found to be on increased risk due to their engagement in the unprotected anal sexual intercourse but this was found to be after negotiated sex where their partners are HIV infected and will therefore have to opt for the unprotected anal intercourse. The average age of the new infections among the gay men in Australia was recently found to have risen from 34 years to 37 years. This indicated that the risk of infection is continuing to increase with the age of the gay men. This article is a critique of various aspects of the HIV among the gay men (Prestage, 2009). HIV/AIDS among the gay Men in Australia Currently, the state in Australia is that HIV/AIDS infection rates in Australia are as a result of sexual intercourse between men to men. The largest percentage of the newly infected cases has been found to be among the homosexuals. However, all this should be investigated on the form of gay education in Australia and policy responses that are occasioned by the evolving gay community and their efforts to adopt some risk reduction strategies that will apply in some circumstances. A study done in Australia to analyse the sexual behaviour of some members of the gay community revealed that there is a profound and sustained pattern change in the sexual practise of the gay men . The process of adopting a sexually active lifestyle among the gay men is not as much stigmatizing as it was in the past. However, homosexuality is not much encouraged among the younger people (Prestage, 2009). The values and the norms of the members of the gay community are not similar to those of the other part of the society. The habit is usually learnt by the gay men after they have portrayed themselves as gays and begins to interact with the other members of the gay community. However, most gay men are not very active sexually due to a dilemma on the sexual habit to adopt to reduce the risks associated with it. They therefore need to discuss the aspects of homosexuality and clearly understand the meaning of the lifestyle. This should be more focused on the obscure or more risky sexual behaviours such as sex among a group and the anal sex. However, this could be blamed on the reformation of state laws in Australia that led to the legalization of homosexuality in 1970. Before this time, the anti gay laws had been reformed in some states of Australia but when the disease was declared a pandemic, the laws were adopted in all the states leading to complete legalization of homosexuality. Laws that were against discrimination of the homosexuals were also enacted at the same time. This according to me was responsible for the rising of the gay practise and consequently the rate of HIV infection among the gay men. The community educators advocated for methods of reducing risks that included decline in the practise of unprotected anal intercourse and also use of condoms. This led to a significant decline in the cases of HIV diagnosis. In the year 1996, a turning point on the rate of infection was marked. This followed the introduction of the anti retroviral therapy which indicated better treatment for the various people who were living with HIV and Aids (Gold, & Ridge, 2001). When most of the HIV infected continued to take the anti retroviral therapy in Sydney, a culture of “post AIDS” was created where the social and sexual relations of the gays were reassessed after a period of sustained safe sex practices. On the contrary, with the increased use of the anti retroviral therapy, the cases of unprotected anal sex started rising again. The cases of infections roes again since this practises was between the HIV infected men and the HIV negative ones (Ven, 2004). On this issue, it is opposed that the education that the gays required was more than on the use of the unprotected anal sex and safe sex practises. More was required which included the dangers of homosexuality and other means that could help them move to heterosexual behaviour. HIV prevention campaign in Australia In 1987, a HIV prevention campaign, known as “The Grim Reaper” was started in Australia that marked all the television stations in Australia. This did not however have long felt impacts and the rate of infection continued. Health care providers, bureaucrats, political advisors and media commentors have been on a heated debate of whether to use a fear based appeal in the education against HIV/AIDS. According to the discussions held by these health players, it has been revealed that the gay men have become contented with the dangers of HIV and instilling fear in them about the continuous dangers of HIV and the side effects of anti retroviral is an effective means of helping reduce the practice of unsafe sex. However, according to me, achieving the reduction through fear is rather difficult due to the enlightenment that is among the members of the community. Some of the members of the gay communities are informed and cannot be made to believe so easily, or take with much seriousness something that they read in the books and other articles and understand well. Fear can only be used in cases of people who cannot read for themselves or do research on the stated factors. Another research done to reveal the cases of HIV infected person who engage in the unprotected anal intercourse with the non infected persons revealed that most of the unprotected anal sex is between the two infected men. This accounted for the decrease in the newly affected cases. This was attributed to by the principle of seroconcordancy where there is increased rat of sex between two HIV infected males than in between a HIV infected male and a non infected one. However, the issue of seroconcordancy is also not a solution to the spread of the disease because research has shown that the HIV infected people also need to keep away from active sexual life since this is a burden to their body resources. When an infected person is leading a sexually active lifestyle, he cannot live on the antiretroviral therapy for a long time as this active lifestyle exhausts his body resources. The health and HIV educators should also consider this during their education. Secondly, HIV appear sin different strains in each individual’s body. So, when one continues to have unprotected anal sexual intercourse with those infected, he could end up contracting a strain different from the one he is already carrying. These gay men should therefore try to avoid the habit once they have already contracted the HIV (National Centre in HIV Social Research, 2007). Care giving for HIV infected gay men One of the major worries among the members of the gay community was on the impacts o f the disease on the social and health status of those who got infected. The disease is devastating and leads to an early death. The gathering of support from all corners of the gay and lesbian community to give help to their fellow members who are infected has been a joint effort. Due to the body wasting that follows the infection of HIV/AIDS, the humiliation goes higher especially among the gay men who place high value on the image of their bodies (Dowsett, 2003). The fear and the low self esteem that follows the infection of an individual with this disease is due to the fact that the treatment for HIV is also viewed through homophobic eyes and this contributes to the humiliation that is brought by the disease. People view HIV as being obviously fatal and are a source of discouragement to the patients. HIV infection among the gay men has also been associated with cases of suicide and the suicidal thoughts. Some researchers reported that the suicidal thoughts are however high among the newly affected cases than among the older ones. This according to me is as a result of the stigma that is faced by an individual after the infection. The act of homosexuality is viewed as social evil in some societies regardless of its legalization. When this vice is now coupled with HIV, the infected person is out casted form the family and some even form the society and this feeling of rejection brings in the suicidal thoughts (Munro, & Edward, 2008). The members of the gay community are therefore much unified in care giving for their other fellows due to the discrimination that they sometimes face in the community that they live in. The members of the gay community however need to be educated on the care giving practices that will help in reducing the impacts of the disease to the status of the individual. Proper care practices involves giving good food, that is well balanced to the patients and also offering them a conducive environments free from any stress and disturbance that will keep their minds relaxed. This will also help them to avoid the suicidal thoughts. Growing older with HIV Older people who are living with HIV are very different from the young ones. Their difference is attributed to various factors where the older people are not as physically well as the young ones, they are less positive about themselves and have a wide range of medical conditions on top of the HIV infection. The older people therefore get more worn out and sick immediately after the infection also due to their highly compromised health status. Older people are sometimes in compromised economic status and cannot afford the good food and the quality care that is required for a HIV infected person. Most of them suffer a lot since their bodies were originally physically weak even before they got infected with the HIV. Caring for the HIV infected person is an expensive requirement and requires that the person will be in a position to acquire what the patient requires (Sherman, 2000). Factors to be considered by the Registered Division 1 Nurse in planning nursing care for HIV patients Caring for the HIV infected persons is a highly demanding task that the nurses are facade with. The nurses should in the first place consider the health status of the individual. One of their roles being to restore the health status of the patient, the nurse should first consider it. This will help him/her plot on where to start the care giving process (Allen, 2009). The mental status of the patient should also be considered since most of the patients are mentally disturbed and as seen earlier, they have the suicidal thoughts. The nurse should therefore assess the mental status of the patient so as to verify the need for mental counselling. The age of the patient is also a very important consideration since as noted earlier, older HIV infected persons are different from their younger counterparts. Their demands are also different and this should be an important consideration. The care that is offered to an older person cannot apply to a younger one and vice versa. All these factors are very essential and should be considered before initiating the care giving by the nurses (Caetano, & Pagliuca, 2006). Role of the Division 1 nurse as a Coordinator of care for HIV patients The role of coordinating care for HIV infected persons that are charged with the Division 1 nurse include collaborating with the community based care givers and offering them with guidance on how to go about it. The Division 1 nurse also assesses screens and plans for treatment and consultation, and offering training to the clinicians and the community care provides. This nurse therefore delegates responsibilities to the community care givers who coordinate with him and consults him in matters of difficulty during the community care giving (Valimaki, 2008). Conclusion With the current increase in the rates of HIV infection among the gay community in Australia, there is a need for the review of the act that led to the legalization of the gay sexual behaviour. The United Nations and the government of Australia should review the act of legalization instead of concluding that the gays are the population of concern regarding the HIV infections. It would have not been a concern if the vice was not made legal in the first place. But since homosexuality is already legalized in Australia, there is a need for proper education and training for the gays so as to ensure that they practise safe sex. If this is done properly, there will be few cases of HIV spread among the gays. Nursing care should also be intensified so as to ensure that the HIV positive individual acquire optimum for their treatment. The same should be spread among the home care givers so as to optimise the nursing process and requirements for HIV infected persons. References Valimaki, M., et al. (2008). Willingness to care for Patients with HIV/AIDS. London: SAGE Publications. Caetano, J., & Pagliuca L., (2006) Self-care and HIV/aids patients: nursing care systematization. Rev Latino- am Enfermagem maio-junho. Prestage, et al. (2009) 'Does age affect sexual behaviour among gay men in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia?', Austria: Routledge. Ven, P., et al. (2004). Risk management and harm reduction among gay men in Sydney. Sydney: University of New South Wales. National Centre in HIV Social Research, (2007), Differences between HIV-positive gay men who ‘frequently’,’ sometimes’ or ‘never’ engage in unprotected anal intercourse with serononconcordant casual partners: Positive Health cohort, Australia. Austria: Routledge. Sherman, D., (2000). Advanced Nursing: Experiences of AIDS-dedicated nurses in alleviating the stress of AIDS caregiving. New York: New York University. Dowsett, G., (2003). 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