Introduction
Many writers have different ways of defining health. Health is defined and understood as the state of full physical and psychological wellbeing, and not just the absence of diseases in the body (Harrington and Estes 2009), while a health policy is the plans, strategies and actions undertaken by an organization to achieve a set of health goals and objectives. Good health is vital to every living being, because it is the basis and foundation for all physiological and psychological activities that living beings undertake (Hunter 2003)
Health Policy
My selected policy in this policy search is “To reduce the rate of HIV spread and infections by 98% in the next 10 years” The epidemic has had adverse effects across the globe. In fact statistics from the World Health Organization indicate that out of the 60 million people who have been infected worldwide, 20 million already succumbed to HIV and basically the whole global population affected, either directly or indirectly. Women and the youth are the major virus bearers and a very small percentage of them have access to antiretroviral drugs (Milstead 2004) This is because it has not been easy to ascertain the exact number and distribution of people living with HIV/AIDS and in fact, 24-27% of the infected people do not know that they have already been infected, and this further complicates the issue. An estimated population of 1 million USA citizens and migrants are living with the virus, and there are reported 40,000 new cases annually. The above described statistics show the extent to which HIV/AIDS has spread in USA. Though the number of new HIV/AIDS infection has been on the rise, it is possible to maintain it at an optimum level. With a given level being maintained, it will be easy to deal with the epidemic from one constant and common angle (Weissert and Weissert 2006)
The stakeholders involved in this policy are the infected persons, the government, non-governmental organizations and well-wishers. To start with, maintaining the epidemic at a constant level will call for aggressive distribution of antiretroviral drugs being one of the measures. The infected should then be advised on the kind of foods they should always include in their diet, so as to keep the infected bodies healthy and free of other diseases’ attack. This will reduce the number of deaths from HIV/AIDS. Protective measures should then be taken, so as to confine the spread of the disease from the infected to those who haven’t been infected. This will be possible through availing various forms of protection such as condoms for both the males and the females. The masses should also be educated on how to prevent themselves from the epidemic for example through abstinence and proper use of protective measures, especially to the youths. It is also important to set strategies of how and where to get funds to carry out the above discussed measures that comprise the policy. Funds can be acquired from sponsors, the government and non-governmental organizations such as the United Nation’s World Health Organization.
Conclusion
With the above described strategies being followed, it will be an achievable policy to bring down the levels of HIV/AIDS infection to 98%, thus making the epidemic to be viewed as any other disease affecting the USA population.
References
Harrington, C and Estes, L.C. (2009) Health Policy: Crisis and Reform in the US Health Care Delivery System, 4th Edition. Mississauga, Canada: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Hunter, D.J. (2003) Public Health Policy. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Milstead J.A. (2004) Health Policies and Politics: A Nurse’s Guide. Barb Mews, London: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Weissert C. S. and Weissert W.G. (2006) Governing Health: The Politics of Health Policy, 3rd Edition. Baltimore, Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press.