HIV/AIDS
In the recent year of 1981, the
HIV virus was seen as prejudice (The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States: The Basics
1). Now it is affecting many. All ages. All races. All genders. Within this
short time period, the epidemic continues to rapidly grow attacking a large
proportion of the U.S. population. The AIDS epidemic has begun to erode
the lives of millions while withholding over 1.1 million current cases (1). A
large percentage of the people who currently have AIDS are not even informed
that they are carrying this disease (1). Without knowledge, the disease
continues to grow which leads to our current HIV/AIDS epidemic. There is not a
current cure to this disease; the only thing that can be done is prevention
(1).
This virus is very newly
developed and has not been around for a long period of time. This all began in
June of 1981 when five gay men had unusual conditions and very weak immune
systems (“A Timeline of HIV and AIDS” 1). A few days later, two of the men had
already died and this is when they developed more information about the disease
and named it Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease (1). Within the next year, gay
activists were coming up with ways to spread awareness and give knowledgeable information
about the disease to prevent this disease from spreading and effecting a large number
of people within the population. In January of 1983:
the
world’s first dedicated outpatient AIDS clinic, opens at San Francisco General
Hospital. The clinic is a collaboration between the hospital and the University
of California, San Francisco, and it draws staff who are passionate about treating
people with AIDS. Over time, the staff develop the San
Francisco Model of Care , which emphasizes: treating
patients with compassion and respect; providing an array of health and social
services in one facility; and collaborating closely with the local health
department and community organizations. The model eventually becomes the global
gold standard for HIV patient care (1).
With this, the staff was
trying to make the disease seem less prejudice and give people the opportunity
to be treated without being judged. With comforting treatment, they hoped to
allow for more awareness to reduce the number of cases that were occurring.
As
time went on, the number of people with the disease began to grow instead of
decline. By the year of 1994, “AIDS becomes the leading cause of death for all
Americans ages twenty-five to forty-four” (“A
Timeline of HIV and AIDS” 1). Prevention techniques began to get
implemented into the system to reduce the number of cases. A lot of blood
donating restrictions went into play for gays or anyone who was coming in
sexual contact with the same gender (1). Blood is the primary source of this
disease spreading, so restrictions like these were implemented to hopefully
reduce the spread.
By
the year of 2015, researchers started to come to the conclusion that if people
living with HIV would get tested and diagnosed, then it would decrease the
number of cases. (“A Timeline of HIV and AIDS” 1).
This seemed to have a significant impact because by 2017, the number of cases leading
to death, decreased by 80% with middle aged people (1).
In
the current year of 2019, there has been a study to find a possible cure for
HIV/AIDS (A Timeline of HIV and AIDS 1). The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine donated
funds
to possibly develop a cure (1). Their study uses stem cells allowing the immune
system to be programmed to resist the HIV strain although the cure is not confirmed.
This
Epidemic negatively affects the inner circles of our community simply because
of others. With several attempts to make
people with HIV and AIDS to not feel judged, it still happens. With our current
society and recent social developments, all humans know how to do is judge
others and look down on people. When people develop HIV/AIDS, it negatively affects
our society as a whole because this gives people more opportunities to judge
and criticize them for the disease they contracted. This only makes people with
the disease not want to reach out for help which eventually spreads the disease
even further.
Not
only is HIV affecting small communities, but it is also affecting the whole
world. Developing countries such as Africa do not have the technology nor the
supplies to effectively treat patients with this virus, so it is even harder to
contain. (Dixon 1). The virus is making it difficult to maintain labor and
withhold productivity; this only hurts the developing country (1). HIV does not
allow them to grow economically and can be a large set back for the country.
With a poverty-stricken country, there is no money to fund medical treatment or
prevention treatments which can cause the death of many (1).
Another
societal issue from HIV and AIDS is the way it is affecting the middle age
population (Heuveline 1). Since this part of the population is more prone to
being sexually active, the disease that is dominantly spread through sexual
activity affects them the most. This disease is responsible for a large number
of deaths within the working class, decreasing productivity and negatively
affecting the economy (1). HIV, affecting the middle aged population, also
slows down the rate of reproduction. It makes the population smaller, and it
allows fewer people to sexually reproduce stunting the population of newborns.
A
girl by the name of Masiye shared her personal story about the negative impact
of AIDS on her life (“Masiye – the Hardest Part Was Telling My Kids” 1). She
went through many struggles, such as telling her kids, keeping up with
medications, and trying to stay positive through the whole process (1). She
felt somewhat ashamed and this is what made it so difficult to tell her kids
about it. She did not want anyone to fear her losing her life to this disease,
so it took a lot for her to stay strong. Masiye said “I was hurt when I found out I was HIV positive. I cried for
three weeks or more. I still cry, but I don’t allow my status to stop me
working towards my goals in life (1)”. Even though there are many negatives
that come with having HIV, she gained a lot of confidence, strength, and
stamina. She did not allow anything to break her down or stop her from reaching
her goals.
In other cases, HIV can cause people to go into
major depression and become really down on themselves (“Ricardo - Self-Stigma Made Me Feel Depressed”). Ricardo was
diagnosed in December of 2016, and the day after he was diagnosed, he went into
a deep depression, and he did not know what to do about anything to a point
where he began to feel completely lost (1). He went right into blaming himself
for everything and he could not take the pressure off of himself (1). Ricardo was really intimidated and he feared
reaching out for help or for treatment. He said “this was the hardest decision
for me to make, I was scared that I would be judged and felt embarrassed (1)”.
Day after day, he finally got over the hump and faced his fears; he went and
reached out for help and guidance through treatment. After fighting with
depression for a long period of time, he eventually reached out for spiritual
help. He used spirituality to guide himself out of a depressive state of mind and
build himself back to normal (1).
One of the solutions to the HIV/AIDS
epidemic is using the preventative medications that have been FDA approved. “Although there is no cure for acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome, medications have been highly effective in fighting
HIV and its complications (“Searching for a Cure for HIV/AIDS”).” The
biggest concern when finding solutions to HIV/AIDS is stopping the replication
of the virus that is attacking the immune system (1). The University of
California San Francisco has conducted many studies dealing with AID’s and the
biggest known solution is preventative medications that can be taken in the
form of a pill (“AIDS Treatment | Conditions
& Treatments” 1). Medications like Abacavir, Didanosine,
Emtricitabine, and Lamivudine are used to keep the immune system strong
and decrease any risks of the disease becoming stronger (1). Many people that do have HIV/AIDS do not have
the confidence or strength to reach out for help and protect their health. The
main steps of being able to receive treatment is the willingness to seek
medical services, identifying any other illnesses that you have, and knowing
what stage your disease is currently in (1).
Since this disease is only spread
through bodily fluids, another solution is to educate at risk individuals.
(“The basics of HIV Prevention Understanding HIV/AIDS” 1).
HIV transmission is
only possible if these fluids come in contact with a mucous membrane or damaged
tissue or are directly injected into the bloodstream (from a needle or
syringe). Mucous membranes are found inside the rectum, the vagina, the opening
of the penis, and the mouth (1).
Sexual
contact and injection equipment are the biggest concerns when considering the
spread of this disease. Having safe sex by using condoms is an easy prevention
solution and eliminates contact of vaginal fluids or semen (1). This includes
checking for defects, expiration dates, and using condoms every time an
individual has sex. Eliminating the use of non-sterile injection needles is
also an easy way to prevent HIV. There is always potential that people that are
also
using
the non-sterile needle could have HIV and spread it to others. This solution is
not always successful in some cases because being safe isn’t always the easiest
way out. Some people cannot afford things like condoms so they choose to have
unsafe sex and spread the disease through sexual contact. In other cases, most people
that are injecting drugs are doing it illegally and not wanting people to know
about it. In these cases, they find whatever they can and use it to inject
drugs and the needles are not always sterile.
Another simple solution is getting
tested for HIV before coming into any type of contact with other people’s
bodily fluids (“The basics of HIV Prevention Understanding HIV/AIDS” 1). As
mentioned before, a large majority of the population with AIDS do not even know
that they are carrying the disease. Although, a drawback to this solution is
that a lot of people are in denial that they carry the disease so they do not
feel the need to get tested.
As research has developed, a
possible cure to HIV is the transplant of stem cells. With this virus that infects
cells and destroys the immune system, the potential cure is composed of using
stem cells to replace the immune system with a system that the virus cannot
infect (“HIV/AIDS Fact Sheet” 1). The possible cure still has minor errors that
need to be worked out, but there is a large possibility for this to be the cure
in the near future (1).
Albert Camus was a person of the
dark nature and had a very blunt and depressing state of mind. He was well
known in the 1940’s for his absurdness and his negative views on life (“Camus and absurdity” 1). Camus believed that
“life had no meaning” and “nothing exists that
could ever be a source of meaning (1).” His negative outlook on life does not
really have a correlation with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In our society, so many
people are on the lookout for possible cures and many researchers are
passionate about saving lives and trying to find a way to stop the epidemic.
Camus would very well disagree with any researchers and doctors because he sees
no potential in the meaning of life. Camus would much rather let people die
from the virus, than help cure them because he sees no potential in life.
Camus would
also oppose many people who use prayer to solve health issues. There are many
religions in our society that pray in times of distress and suffering. In many
cases, people with HIV/AIDS pray about their situation to bring positive hope
in surviving from the disease. Religion had absolutely no meaning to Camus
because he saw religion as an illusion (“Camus and absurdity”). In his mind, he
believed that if god does not exist, then how can he create all things that do
exist. Camus’ negative absurdity does not have any relation to the HIV/AIDS
epidemic because our society is trying to work together to decrease the number
of cases while Camus sees no meaning in life.
In conclusion, AIDS is not a disease
that should be talked about in a joking manner because it is not just a
disease, it is something that affects our population heavily. Many people find
it hard to reach out for help because everyone sees it as so obscene, and
victims do not want to get made fun of or judged for the disease that they are
carrying. In addition to this, many people do not even know they are carrying
the disease, so there is large potential for it to spread. AIDS is a disease
that attacks the immune system which is also central to fighting off other
outside diseases that attack the internal organs (“HIV/AIDS- Symptoms and
Causes” 1). The only current method to solving this epidemic is to work hard
towards prevention and sustain the current number of cases instead of allowing
the number of cases to grow. Doctors and researchers hope to further develop
the cure by using stem cells to create an immune system that the disease cannot
infect (“HIV/AIDS
Fact Sheet” 1). There is so much potential that
can help put an end to this disease that is effecting all ages. All races. All genders.
\
Works Cited
"AIDS Treatment | Conditions
& Treatments." UCSF Medical Center,
www.ucsfhealth.org/conditions/aids/treatment.html#.
“A Timeline of HIV and AIDS.” HIV.gov, 5
Feb. 2019, www.hiv.gov/hiv- basics/overview/history/hiv-and-aids-timeline.
"The Basics of HIV Prevention
Understanding HIV/AIDS." AIDSinfo, 13 Apr. 2019,
aidsinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv-aids/fact-sheets/20/48/the-basics-of-hiv-prevention.
"Camus and
Absurdity." Philosophy Talk,
www.philosophytalk.org/blog/camus-and-absurdity.
Heuveline,
Patrick. “Impact of the HIV Epidemic on Population and Household Structure: the
Dynamics
and Evidence to Date.” AIDS (London, England), U.S. National Library of Medicine,
June 2004, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3929185/.
"HIV/AIDS - Symptoms and
Causes." Mayo Clinic, 19 Jan. 2018,
www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hiv-aids/symptoms-causes/syc-20373524.
"HIV/AIDS Fact
Sheet." California's Stem Cell Agency, 26 Mar. 2018,
www.cirm.ca.gov/our-progress/disease-information/hivaids-fact-sheet.
"The Impact of HIV and AIDS on Africa's
Economic Development." PubMed Central (PMC), Jan. 26,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1122139/.
“Masiye
– the Hardest Part Was Telling My Kids.” AVERT, 22 Feb. 2019,
www.avert.org/living-with-hiv/stories/masiye.
Published: Feb 04, 2019. “The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United
States: The Basics.” The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, The Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation, 4 Feb. 2019,
www.kff.org/hivaids/fact-sheet/the-hivaids-epidemic-in-the-united-states-the-basics/.
“Ricardo - Self-Stigma Made Me Feel Depressed.” AVERT,
22 Feb. 2019, www.avert.org/living-with-hiv/stories/ricardo.
"Science of HIV and
AIDS." AVERT, 8 May 2017,
www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-science.
"Searching for a Cure for HIV
and AIDS." AVERT, 22 Jan. 2019,
www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-science/searching-cure.
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