Introduction
In America, the first case of what was later referred to as AIDS can be traced back to 1969, and since the number of people infected plus those who have already passed away has increased to more than a million. In the 80’s it was suspected to be a form of cancer that was caused by homosexuality and at that time it was referred to as gay cancer (HIV symptoms, 2011, pp1). In the whole world today, over thirty-four billion people are infected and others have already died.
AIDS is believed to be an African disease this is because Africans are the leading in several infected people. Also in the Americas, African Americans are leading infected people. This is not true but the truth is that there are different types of HIV (HIV 1 and HIV2) HIV2 is most common in Africans and it is easily transmitted compared to HIV1. It also takes much more time to develop into Aids. This may be one of the reasons why Black people are the ones with the highest number of infected people.
The prevention of the spread of HIV has been a great challenge since its discovery. This is because everyone is at risk of contracting the virus and there is no medicine has ever been invented that could cure it. Different methods of preventing its spread have been put into practice by different governments but all of them are limited and are usually faced with a lot of challenges, as we will see later in this article. Some of the challenges emerge from poverty, religion, ignorance, high levels of illiteracy, lack of funding overdependence on external funding, etc.
This essay analyses the most effective methods of preventing the spread of HIV that several countries all over the world have put in place and succeeded. It also briefly discusses the statistical results that were recently released about the number of infected people and its trend in the US and other parts of the world.
HIV/AIDS Statistics
Recent statistics show that in the United States the number of people living with HIV and AIDS is higher among men than women. This is a result of the increase in gay sexuality, and bisexual men over the last ten years. Over 1.3 million Americans are infected with HIV (Including those living AIDS), men compose 74 % of these while the rest are women, (HIV Symptoms, 2011, pp 3).
Approximately forty thousand people are diagnosed with HIV annually. Transmission through heterosexual sexual relations accounts for only 11% while bisexual and Gay sexuality accounts for 89%. Considering the transmission among the different American races African American top the list having 51% of the total 1.3 million, Whites (non-Hispanic) are the second accounting for 29%, followed by Latinos 18%, and the rest are from the other races including e.g. Asians (HIV Symptoms, 2011, pp 4).
Infection among the young and unmarried people (youth) in the USA is lower than the old married people. This has changed with time since 15 years ago infection among the youth was higher than among the older population. This is a result of behavioral change in both age groups. People between 40-49 years account for 27% of the infected population, 30-39 years account for 26%, 25% of them are between 20-29 years, 14% are 13-19 years and above 60 years and lastly, only 1% are below 13 years (HIV Symptoms, 2011, pp 4).
Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region in the world, with approximately 22.5 million people living with HIV/ AIDS. This is more than 60% of the total global infected population. Statistics released in 2009 indicate that about 1.8 million people were infected and 1.3 million had already died from AIDS. The high mortality rate left 14.9 million children orphaned and this affected all sectors of the economy and rolled back development progress (Avert, 2010, pp1).
In the United States HIV1 subtype, B is most common while in West Africa HIV2 is most common. Comparing HIV1 and HIV2, HIV2 is easily transmitted but the time between the infection and the actual illness is much longer than in the time In the case of HIV1 which is the most common. (Avert, 2010 pp1-2).
Prevention and Control of HIV/ AIDS
The best strategies that would help in reducing the transmission and death caused by AIDS involve preventing the infection of new people and controlling the health of the ones already living with the virus. The following are some of the most effective preventive and control measures.
Condom Use
Condoms have played a major role in preventing the spread of HIV especially in Sub-Saharan, research conducted in 2006 established that between 2001 and late 2005 eight out of a total of 11 countries in Africa had a significant increase in condom use. This was a result of increased donor funding due to the increase in deaths caused by HIV/AIDS. Averages of 13 billion free condoms were supplied during this period representing a ratio of 10 condoms per man (Avert, 2010).
Encouraging safer sex by using condoms is a much cheaper way of preventing the spread of HIV compared to other methods. This is because every person in the entire population is at risk of contracting the virus from an infected person. Although it is relatively economical, it also has limitations for instance if a couple wishes to have a baby i.e. the woman wants to get pregnant they cannot use a condom. Also, it seems hard to people who for some time have not been using them to convince their partners to use them. They suspect that their partner may consider them unfaithful. Also, some religions discourage the use of condoms and this may also help in discouraging their use.
Post-exposure prophylaxis
This is administering antiretroviral drugs to people who have been exposed to the virus within 72 hours. The antiretroviral boosts the immune system of a person and prevents the virus from surviving (Avert, 2010). This helps in protecting some victims of sexual violence from contracting the virus. Doctors who accidentally inject themselves with already used needles can also be protected by this method.
Prevention of mother to child Transmission
By the end of the year, 2009 over three hundred thousand children had been infected with HIV. This is a very large number of the young population and most of them had been infected by their mothers during pregnancy, at birth, or afterward when being breastfed. Research has proven that without proper medical care and advice there is a 20% to 40% chance that an infected mother can transmit the virus to her child before or after birth.
Prevention of mother-to-child infection has helped in reducing the number of infected children and children dying of AIDS all over the world. In some countries in Africa, medical services are limited due to the high poverty levels and this poses a major challenge to the fight against the spread of HIV.
The most Effective Preventive Measures
Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Centers
In most countries where the spread of HIV has significantly reduced, voluntary testing and counseling programs and centers have been established. This allows a larger percentage of the population to know their status. Those who are negative continue protecting themselves by engaging in safe sex. Those who are positive are provided with the required treatment to make them healthier and they are encouraged to use protection to avoid infecting others.
African countries such as Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Lesotho have established VCT centers. In 2009 30% of all women and 20% of all Men in Kenya were tested and knew their HIV status. In 2003 less than10% of the total population had been tested. In sub-Saharan Africa, 66 people in every 1000 have already been tested this according to statistics produced in 2009 (Avert, 2010).
ABC Method
This is one of the most effective ways of preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS all over the world. This is because it covers all age groups and all kinds of people. The letters A, B, and C stands for Abstinence, Be-faithful, and Condomize. The youth are advised to abstain from sex from having sex till they are married. The older ones and the married in the society are encouraged.to be faithful to their partners and not to have several partners because this would encourage the spread of HIV. If one is unable to or cannot adhere to the above two, he/she is supposed to use a condom every time (Avert, 2010).
Conclusion
Since the discovery of HIV in the 1980s, there has been progressing in reversing its effects. There is no effective vaccine yet but life-prolonging drugs have helped prevent millions of deaths. However, even with anti-retroviral therapy, there are still challenges that make the fight against HIV/Aids difficult. As indicated in the statistics, the developing world especially sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected. Unfortunately, they are the same regions with some of the lowest incomes in the world. The resulting poverty has denied many aids infected people the chance to live a healthy life because they can hardly access proper nutrition. The UN, other non-governmental organizations, multilateral donors, and respective governments need to be commended for the efforts measures they have taken in controlling the spread of the virus.
However, given the fact that there is no known cure for HIV/Aids, emphasis must be put on behavior change. In some of the successful cases where the prevalence rate has managed to drop like East Africa, the control and prevention measures highlighted below have been credited as the main reason.
The adverse effects resulting from HIV including loss of labor, healthcare costs, absenteeism from work, and loss of livelihood through incapacitation can easily be avoided if the spread of the virus is checked. In addition to the developing world, the focus should now be turned to areas like Eastern Europe where the number of new infections is rising despite the awareness campaigns carried out all over the world.
References
Avert. (2010). HIV and AIDS in Africa.Web.
Avert. (2010). HIV Types, Subtypes and Groups: What is the difference between HIV-1 and HIV-2? Web.
Avert. (2010). Post Exposure Prophylaxis and Pre-exposure Prophylaxis. Web.
HIV Symptoms. (2011). HIV in USA. (pp 3-4 ). Web.