How Can Hiv Be Prevented
No vaccine currently exists against HIV, though efforts are being made to develop one. One can help reduce the chances of infection via sexual intercourse by making use of condoms and other suitable barrier methods, or better still, avoid having multiple sexual partners. Also, precautions can be taken to avoid HIV infection through other routes by avoiding the multiple use and sharing of needles, syringes and other sharps, as well as ensuring adequate sterilization between uses. It is important to get tested for HIV in order for one to know their status. The use of pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis can also be employed by those that wish to prevent HIV infection before and after exposure to a transmission risk, such as having sex with a HIV positive individual.
Right Data & Right Tools
Data tell us that most new HIV infections occur in a limited number of counties and among specific populations, giving us the information needed to target our efforts to those locales that will make the biggest impact on ending the HIV epidemic. Further, today we have the tools available to end the HIV epidemic. Landmark biomedical and scientific research advances have led to the development of many successful HIV treatment regimens, prevention strategies, and improved care for persons living with HIV. Notably:
With these powerful data and tools, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to end the HIV epidemic.
How Is Hiv Transmitted
The virus can be transmitted through certain body fluids like blood, seminal, vaginal and rectal fluids, as well as breast milk. The transmission can occur through any of the following processes:
By sharing sharp objects that come in contact with blood, such as needles and syringes, as well as certain haircut equipment and tattoo instruments that are not properly sterilized between uses.
Through open exposure to the body fluids of an infected person, which is not very common .
From mother to child during pregnancy and delivery, as well as during breastfeeding.
Through blood transfusions and organ transplants, which only happens when proper testing and screening is not done before the transfusion or transplant process.
Note that HIV cannot be spread through plain physical contact like handshakes, hugs, skin touch and so on. Also, it cannot be spread through air or water, or by contact with surfaces that an infected person has touched.
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The Effect Of Individual Condom Use On Prevalence And Incidence
Condom use in Kisesa is very low, with only 9% of men and 0.9% of women reporting any use during the previous year in the 19945 survey. The vast majority of people reporting condom use during the last year also reported multiple partners during the same period . Reported condom use in Kisesa can thus be viewed as a proxy for multiple partnerships, as condom use within marriage is very rare. Condom use among women had little effect on prevalence. Among males, condom use was associated with a statistically significant higher probability of being HIV positive in 19945 in all four models. Similar results were observed in the incidence models, with hazard ratios of 2.3 in the four different models . These results concur with other studies in the region.
What Is Hiv Drug Resistance
When HIV isnât fully controlled by HIV medicine, the virus makes copies of itself at a rapid rate. As HIV multiplies in the body, it sometimes mutates and produces new forms of the virus that may not be as sensitive to a particular medicine as the original virus. This is called drug resistance.
With drug resistance, HIV medicines that previously controlled a personâs HIV are no longer effective against new, drug-resistant HIV. In other words, the HIV medicines can’t prevent the drug-resistant HIV from multiplying. Drug resistance can cause HIV treatment to fail.
A person can initially be infected with drug-resistant HIV or develop drug-resistant HIV after starting HIV medicines. Drug-resistant HIV also can spread from person to person. Drug-resistance testing identifies which, if any, HIV medicines wonât be effective against your specific strain of HIV. Drug-resistance testing results help determine which HIV medicines to include in an HIV treatment regimen.
Taking your HIV medicine as prescribed helps prevent drug resistance.
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What Is Ending The Hiv Epidemic In The Us
Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. is a bold plan announced in 2019 that aims to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030. Agencies across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services developed an operational plan to pursue that goal accompanied by a request for additional annual funding.
The plan leverages critical scientific advances in HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and outbreak response by coordinating the highly successful programs, resources, and infrastructure of many HHS agencies and offices. Initially, the initiative is focusing on areas where HIV transmission occurs most frequently, providing 57 geographic focus areas with an infusion of additional resources, expertise, and technology to develop and implement locally tailored EHE plans.
When Should You Start Hiv Treatment
If you have HIV, itâs important to start treatment with HIV medicine as soon as possible after diagnosis,regardless of how long youâve had the virus or how healthy you are. HIV medicine slows the progression of HIV and can keep you healthy for many years.
It is especially important for people with HIV who have early HIV infection or an AIDS-defining condition to start HIV medicines right away.
People with HIV who become pregnant and are not already taking HIV medicines should also start taking HIV medicines as soon as possible to protect their health and to prevent transmitting HIV to their babies.
If you have been diagnosed with HIV and are not currently taking HIV medicines, talk to a health care provider about the benefits of getting on treatment.
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Social Effects Of Hiv & Aids
For the more than 1 million Americans living with HIV, the social effects of this diagnosis can be distressing and disruptive. Infection with HIV can lead to AIDS, if left untreated. Prior to the introduction of combination antiviral therapy in the mid-1990s, an HIV diagnosis was more intimidating and life-threatening. With effective treatment, however, people with HIV can expect to live a near-normal lifespan, according to a study published in December 2013 in “PLoS One.” With effective treatment, people with HIV often lack obvious symptoms but, unfortunately, may still experience negative social effects and unfair treatment.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
Economics Of Hiv/aids Care
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has profoundly affected the economy, the work force, individual workers and their families, health care expenditures, the cost of labor, and savings and investments . AIDS is the second leading cause of death among adults in developing countries. It is projected that HIV will be responsible for almost 40% of all deaths from infectious diseases by 2020 . AIDS also has costly consequences, especially for the poor. Because AIDS affects people during their most productive years, it has negative consequences for worker productivity, family income, and national revenues . As the pandemic evolves, it widens the gap between available resources and the needs for care. Annual medical costs in African countries during 1990 to 1993 ranged from US$210 to US$936 per person . In industrialized countries during those years, costs ranged from US$20,000 to US$57,000 per person . The overall cost of care in industrialized countries has increased steadily because of the increased number of AIDS cases, longer survival time, and increased use of expensive therapies.
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The Impact Of Hiv And Aids On The Community
HIV has a major impact on individuals and on community structures such as the family, and the illness and death of an individual impact on these structures . HIV infects the individual but the individual seldom lives as an island to him/herself. This individual dwells in a family and in a community of people. In the context of this study, the individual is a parent or the primary caregiver. In many African and Asian countries, the AIDS pandemic has changed the social structure of society with AIDS-orphans and children infected and affected by HIV and AIDS becoming more common . Among the most devastating effects of the AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa is that it is orphaning generations of children, thereby jeopardising their rights and well-being as well as compromising the overall development prospects of their countries .
In addition to this, instead of the country focusing on its economic growth, it is forced to look after its orphans socio-economic needs and therefore its development prospects will be put on halt or slowed down.
The community caregivers do home visits to these vulnerable groups and render psychosocial support services and in worst scenarios immediately refer the case to the social worker who is in charge of the programme, who then further refers the matter to the relevant departments or stakeholders for appropriate interventions.
Hiv/aids: The Indomitable Disease
Impact of HIV/AIDS on human development in selected African countries
During the last decades, the prevalence and incidence of HIV/AIDS have seen an exponential growth . African countries are the most affected by this epidemic, which is strongly affecting all components of human development, as indicated explicitly by the set of national human development reports given below.
Figure 1
Prevalence and incidence of HIV/AIDS: An exponential growth. The number of cases affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide has increased four-fold in 121 years.
Zambia
Table 4 Zambia: life expectancy and HI with and without AIDS
Mozambique
Table 5 Mozambique: comparison of regional and national HIV prevalence rates
Kenya
Kenya National HDR 2006 has dealt with HIV/AIDS as a challenge to human security and human development . As stressed by the report, despite Kenya’s recent gains in reversing the trend of HIV/AIDS incidence and prevalence, the epidemic still presents a major challenge in the country, threatening sustained progress in human development. It is also underlined that HIV/AIDS remains a serious concern, as patients can remain asymptomatic for many years, masking the reality that the virus could be spreading rapidly but silently across the country .
Table 6 Kenya: adult HIV prevalence by province and sex
Malawi
Benin
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS varies according to different regions of Benin. The region with the highest prevalence has the lower life expectancy index .
Zimbabwe
South Africa
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Impact Of Hiv On Caregivers And Healthcare Sector
The major burden of caring for the people living with AIDS rests with the family and the health care providers. In the era before anti retroviral therapy, this used to be an immensely stressing task because most of times the health of the infected patients deteriorated rapidly, they were bedridden and has to be taken care of. The advent of HAART has greatly improved the need for round the clock help since the patient can now lead a healthier life without need for much help. Important care givers are mainly the family, close friends and health workers.
Respiratory And Cardiovascular Systems
HIV makes it hard to fight off respiratory problems such as the common cold and flu. In turn, an HIV-positive person may develop related infections, such as pneumonia.
Without treatment for HIV, advanced disease puts an HIV-positive person at an even greater risk for infectious complications, such as tuberculosis and a fungal infection called pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia .
PJP causes trouble breathing, cough, and fever.
The risk of lung cancer also increases with HIV. This is due to weakened lungs from numerous respiratory issues related to a weakened immune system.
According to available research , lung cancer is more prevalent among people with HIV compared to people without it.
People with HIV are more likely to develop high blood pressure. HIV also raises the risk of pulmonary arterial hypertension . PAH is a type of high blood pressure in the arteries that supply blood to the lungs. Over time, PAH will strain the heart and can lead to heart failure.
If a person has HIV with a low CD4 count, theyre also more susceptible to tuberculosis .
TB is an airborne bacterium that affects the lungs. Its a leading cause of death in people who have AIDS. Symptoms include chest pain and a bad cough that may contain blood or phlegm. The cough can linger for months.
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Epidemics Impacts And Responses
The impact of AIDS has many dimensions, only a few of which are captured in official statistics or analysis by the research community. The numbers of AIDS cases and HIV infection count as an impact: cumulatively, they state the effect on the population of the United States and on particular subpopulations. Each case has many dimensionspersonal, professional, and institutionalthrough the many social organizations that touch the life of each infected person. Each set of interactions creates an impact, and the diverse impacts have generated equally diverse responses by individuals, groups, and communities.
The panel set out to study these impacts, and it immediately confronted the problem of defining the terms of reference. “Impact” is an overused word that in common parlance has become a synonym for “effect.” In this sense, it indicates that one action or state of affairs is caused or influenced by some other action or state of affairs and is used to describe both major and minor effects. Reaching deeper into the language, however, impact has a more powerful meaningcollision. In this use of the word, an impact is an effect that radically changes the previous state of affairs or even destroys it.
After extensive deliberation, the panel determined that it had sufficient information and understanding to describe social impact and response for six institutions :
- the public health system
- voluntary organizations
- the correctional system
Why Is Hiv Treatment Important
If taken as prescribed, HIV medicine reduces the amount of HIV in your blood to a very low level, which keeps your immune system working and prevents illness. This is called viral suppression, defined as having less than 200 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood.
HIV medicine can also make your viral load so low that a standard lab test canât detect it. This is called having an undetectable level viral load. Almost everyone who takes HIV medicine as prescribed can achieve an undetectable viral load, usually within 6 months after starting treatment. Many will bring their viral load to an undetectable level quickly, but it could take more time for a small portion of people just starting HIV medicine.
There are important health benefits to getting the viral load as low as possible. People with HIV who know their status, take HIV medicine as prescribed, and get and keep an undetectable viral load can live long and healthy lives.
There is also a major prevention benefit. People with HIV who take HIV medicine as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load will not transmit HIV to their HIV-negative partners through sex. Learn more about the prevention benefits of having an undetectable viral load.
HIV treatment is most likely to be successful when you know what to expect and are committed to taking your medicines exactly as prescribed. Working with your health care provider to develop a treatment plan will help you learn more about HIV and manage it effectively.
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Economic Impact Of Hiv/aids
HIV/AIDS affects economic growth by reducing the availability of human capital. Without proper prevention, nutrition, health care and medicine that is available in developing countries, large numbers of people are developing AIDS.
People living with HIV/AIDS will not only be unable to work, but will also require significant medical care. The forecast is that this will probably cause a collapse of babies and societies in countries with a significant AIDS population. In some heavily infected areas, the epidemic has left behind many orphans, who are cared for by elderly grandparents.
The increased mortality in this region will result in a smaller skilled population and labor force. This smaller labor force will be predominantly young people, with reduced knowledge and work experience leading to reduced productivity. An increase in workers’ time off to look after sick family members or for sick leave will also lower productivity. Increased mortality will also weaken the mechanisms that generate human capital and investment in people, through loss of income and the death of parents. As the epidemic progresses, the age profile of those infected will increase, though the peak is expected to stay within the working age population. HIV disproportionately infects and impacts on women, so those sectors employing large numbers of women e.g. education, may be disproportionately economically impacted by HIV
Us Response To The Global Epidemic
The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is the U.S. Governmentâs response to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and represents the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history. Through PEPFAR, the U.S. has supported a world safer and more secure from infectious disease threats. It has demonstrably strengthened the global capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to new and existing risksâwhich ultimately enhances global health security and protects Americaâs borders. Among other global results, PEPFAR provided HIV testing services for more than 50 million people in Fiscal Year 2021 and, as of September 30, 2021, supported lifesaving ART for nearly 18.96 million men, women, and children. PEPFAR also enabled 2.8 million babies to be born HIV-free to parents living with HIV.
In addition, the National Institutes of Health represents the largest public investment in HIV/AIDS research in the world. NIH is engaged in research around the globe to understand, diagnose, treat, and prevent HIV infection and its many associated conditions, and to find a cure.
Read more about the U.S. Governmentâs global HIV/AIDS activities.
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