The increase in the spread of HIV and Aids in society is an issue of concern to both the community and the health care system. Despite the community efforts to curb the spread of the disease, the issue has remained a challenge. The already infected people are not receiving the best health care and support in the community and the health care system. The following discussion is an examination of HIV and AIDS as a health issue in the community;
According to the global HIV and AIDS statistics, the rise of new infections of HIV has risen. The new cases range between 1-2 million as of 2020, posing a significant challenge to both the community and the health stakeholders in responding to the virus (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2017). The increase in HIV and AIDS in society is a challenging issue, especially in the health care system( Remien et al., 2019). The challenge is a result of the increasing expenditures that health care has to spend to prevent the spread and also in managing the existing cases of HIV.
The stigmatization of the infected person’s and the victim’s family is also a community issue that needs to be addressed. The stigmatization has posed a challenge to the health care professionals since they have to diversify their services in terms of offering health care to the patient to help boost the condition and ensure that the infected person is also mentally sober. Providing health care to these person’s in the community is becoming a challenge for the health care system since the increase in the cases means an extra cost in providing medicines and other nutritious food that are a requirement for the infected persons. It also means that health care has to increase the number of health care professionals within the facilities to ensure that the number of patients is well catered and matches the number of health professionals.
The community has a role to play in ensuring that the infected person’s in the community is well taken care of; they are attending their regular clinics, adhere to their medication, and show love and compassion everywhere they go in the community. Individuals also need to ensure that they support them financially and engage them in the community events just like the rest of the people to make them feel free and comfortable like the other person’s.
The president’s emergency plan for aids relief (PEPFAR) is an organization that aims in controlling the rate of HIV and Aids in the world (Jadeja et al.,2018). The organization is a government committed to helping developing countries respond to HIV in the countries. PEPFAR has developed different strategies to assist in controlling the virus, such as; ensuring distribution of antiretroviral medicines and funding the expenses involved in making sure that all the infected person’s access the antiretroviral medication. It has also helped provide finances for all the health professionals who have volunteered in helping control the virus. The program has also aimed at delivering condoms and other commodities that help prevent the spread of the diseases and funding other programs that are educating the public on the importance of preventing the spread of the disease.
The big organization challenge has been how to address the short and long term effects of other diseases on HIV infected persons. The issue of funding of the program and other programs that focus on the disorders specifically has also been a significant issue that is posing a challenge to the organization. Another issue is the gradual increases in the cases of newly infected persons with the disease, making the organization fail to achieve its goal.
However, the organization’s interventions are not consistent in the community, in that these activities are often carried out during specific times, or they are primarily available during times of emergencies. Most of the time, the organization realizes its goals by ensuring that it has distributed the medicines and catered for all the financial resources required to help control the disease. On the other hand, it has failed to ensure that the person’s in charge has made a clear follow up to ensure that these medicines reach the health facilities and that all the people get the medication. It has also not made follow-ups on the health professionals to ensure that they deliver the best health care to the infected persons.
Psychologically PEPFAR has helped the community change its mentality regarding the virus, and the infected person’s in the community( Remien et al.,2019). It has educated the community on the virus, how it is transmitted, how people can help prevent the spread of the disease and what they should do in cases they are infected. The organization has also taught the public how to support and build relations with the already infected person’s. All these educations about the virus have helped bring another view of the virus in the community, making the people accept the infected person’s and learn how to live with them and the infected person’s learning to cope with the condition. The organization, by providing resources, has made the community view the medication as cheap and affordable. These have encouraged many people to go for the testing and adhere to their medicines since they can easily access the drugs without spending on their incomes or struggling to pay for antiretroviral therapy.
The organization’s intervention is a positive approach towards community psychology and should be continuously implemented to achieve more positive results. The organization has reaped many benefits in the community by helping improve the health of the community and the quality of life. The strategies it has employed are beneficial in that they have helped achieve and win the minds of individuals by making them want to lead a better life free from the virus. The strategies are reasonable steps for controlling the virus in that it has reduced the new cases to around 60%, which is an outstanding achievement( Fauci et al., 2019). The organization has also helped the other developing countries achieve in responding to the disease and implementing measures that will help reduce the risk brought by the disease.
In my community, I would encourage the organization to implement its activities and ensure that it attends to the community problems regarding the disease. The challenges in my neighbourhood brought by the virus include; unequal distribution of antiretroviral medicines in the marginalized areas. I will ensure that the organization allocates enough funds to buy the antiretroviral drugs and facilitate the distribution of the medicines to every health facility. The organization should also employ more health care professionals within the health facilities to ensure that the distribution of the health services is fair and that all the health cases are catered for.
I would also want the organization to develop more programs in the community that will help in educating the community more on the virus. The education will include educating the people on the importance of getting tested for the virus, how to undergo medication in case they are infected, and how to help curb the spread of the virus. The public will also be taught how to take care of the infected person’s in the community to avoid stigmatization and feed them. They will be told the reasons as to why they should obtain the methods of eating healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle both for the infected and the none infected persons. Through the education, the community health care administrators will also benefit in that their workload will be reduced since they will have to employ little effort in convincing the individuals to adhere to their regular health care checkups and their medication.
I will also develop a program that will help educate the youth on the importance of abstaining from sex and engaging in safe and protected sex if they have to. I will encourage them to help end stigmatization among the already infected person’s and support them emotionally. Together as a community, we will come up with ideas and strategies that will help us realize a better society free from the virus and ensure that the health standards in the community are promoting quality life. Through the program, I will ensure that all the financial resources needed to ensure that the HIV patients receive the best health care are funded into the health care system and support other programs that are fighting in curbing the spread of the virus.
To make the organization strategies known by the community, I would encourage a campaign to be done that will help the public know about the existing organization that is helping in fighting the virus and its spread( Brescia, Myriam & Scaioli 2019). The campaign will be done primarily at community gatherings and events and in public meetings such as churches. The following action will be to ensure that the program’s beneficiaries password of mouth to the rest of the people and make them realize the importance of joining and supporting the organization in achieving its goal. Ensuring that the programs that will be implemented realize their goals and bring a physical change in the community will also accelerate the organization’s awareness to the public. I will also ensure that the legal authorities recognize the organization and that the government is also helping in advocating for the program to be accepted by the public.
To help educate the community to support the program, I will ensure that agents are set to the field to directly interact with the community members ( World Health Organization 2020). They will be taught the importance and benefits of supporting the program through the exchange. They will also be given detailed information about the organization’s goals and objectives, operations, and stakeholders involved in the organization. Having clear and transparent information about the organization will steer the individuals to support the program and encourage other individuals to make the organization a success.
In conclusion, the increase in the spread of HIV is a global issue that should be addressed in a better and more severe manner. Strategies and plans that will help curb the spread of the virus should be developed and implemented in the best way possible. The community should fully support organizations and programs campaigning to control the disease, legal authorities, and the government.
References
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Global health and the future role of the United States.
Remien, R. H., Stirratt, M. J., Nguyen, N., Robbins, R. N., Pala, A. N., & Mellins, C. A. (2019). Mental health and HIV/AIDS: the need for an integrated response. AIDS (London, England), 33(9), 1411.
Jadeja, S., Pai, G., Bhat, K., & Sathyanarayana, M. B. (2018). President’s emergency plan for AIDS relief. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, 9(1), 6-9.
Remien, R. H., Stirratt, M. J., Nguyen, N., Robbins, R. N., Pala, A. N., & Mellins, C. A. (2019). Mental health and HIV/AIDS: the need for an integrated response. AIDS (London, England), 33(9), 1411.
World Health Organization. (2020). Health policy and system support to optimize community health worker programmes for HIV, TB and malaria services: an evidence guide.
Fauci, A. S., Redfield, R. R., Sigounas, G., Weahkee, M. D., & Giroir, B. P. (2019). Ending the HIV epidemic: a plan for the United States. Jama, 321(9), 844-845.
Brescia, V., Myriam, C., & Scaioli, G. (2019). A Community-Based Social Marketing Strategy to Prevent HIV and Fight Stigma.
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