Introduction
Numerous sexually transmitted diseases affect people. The majority of the population is often concerned with the transmission of HIV/AIDs. Young people in the United States have marked the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies in the last few years. Practicing safe sex is important in maintaining good health among the population. Sex education is common in the majority of schools but practicing safe sex is not taken seriously among the young population. Different states have different policies that address the STD epidemic, especially among young people constantly engaging in irresponsible sexual behavior. Despite offering communication channels and education on the essence of safe sex the transmission is rampant which undermines the health departments of different states. Different policies are put in place to offer guidance in preventive measures of sexually transmitted diseases.
There are numerous aspects of STD prevention that include testing and treatment but research on the effectiveness is minimal. It is essential to demonstrate the effectiveness of a policy in different populations. Policy efforts that involve collaborations of the public and private sectors are useful in STD prevention. The approaches in the policies differ from one state to the next which reflects the differences in infection rates. The purpose of addressing policies is assessing how effective they are in mitigating infections and finding better policies that influence the decisions of the people to do better. In New York, there is a condom policy where health facilities provide different condoms for a reduced amount and sometimes free. The policy is common in the majority of US states and distribution of condoms and other safe sex materials such as lubricants to local organizations and health facilities are made easy.
Health Policy Background
Condoms are the only sure way of preventing sexually transmitted diseases. Majority of policies that are stated by the governments revolve around safe sex and screening. The current focus in healthcare is the provision of preventative measures that minimize the burden on health facilities. There are however challenges to acquiring condoms among populations including the high cost and limited availability. According to longitudinal studies, condoms prevent the risk of HIV by 95 % when used consistently and correctly (Kavanagh et al., 2021). The use of condoms has however recently stagnated especially in the US. Globally there is a need for 13 billion condoms every year but only 4.4 billion are used in the prevention of sexually transmitted infections. Achieving high rates of condom use is possible when they are conveniently provided. Sex workers and people living with HIV within the state are provided with condoms in different organizations.
Having a policy that makes condoms and other safe sex items available creates awareness of the essence of having safe sex. The policy gives information on the different types of condoms available and offers the people an option of getting the items mailed to their addresses through registration on the health department website. According to the CDC provision of condoms minimizes the spread of sexually transmitted significantly and the majority of the states took up the initiative and began distribution of the facilities. The target population is communities that are at a greater risk of infection which includes sex workers. The state has enhanced the distribution of condoms by combining two interventions (Bulstra et al., 2021). There are behavioral and structural interventions that reduce infections. The structural interventions include community mobilization while behavioral interventions address communities and groups.
Problem statement
Despite having a partnership with the New York City Condom program since 2019, the state continues to face an increase in infections. The NYC condom program is managed by the department of health in providing condoms. The serve included inulin the program is a list of organizations within the state that provide the items free including home test kits. There are social marketing tools of the campaign including posters and ads available in Spanish and English. There are resources for confidential testing, emergency contraception, testing centers, and public health organizations that focus on reproductive and sexual health. There are detailed descriptions on how to safely use condoms both on the website and in different organizations working with the state (Zalla et al., 2021). Implementation of preventative policies is essential in addressing the health issues faced by the public. However, it is important to assess the effectiveness of the policies to improve on various aspects and change some. What are the implications of the availability of condoms to the population in addressing sexually transmitted infections across different populations?
There is the provision of info the ration on different organizations and online platforms. Policies are faced with numerous challenges including financial elements that hinder the distribution of condoms. The state has acquired different partnerships with organizations that help distribute condoms. People can get their condoms and other infection amenities through mailing systems. The mailing systems increase discretion which is important in addressing greater populations. It is essential to evaluate the problems that are encountered in the distribution of the amenities to different populations including prison facilities. The government spends billions every year on healthcare and prevention is an important aspect of the wellness of the communities. There are different reasons why people are still not accessing and using the amenities provided. What are the factors that undermine the use of the amenities such as condoms and testing kits across different populations that impact the rate of infections within the state and what changes can be made to make it better?
Policy analysis
According to surveilladatetthe a report, the rates of primary and secondary syphilis increased by 9 % among men and 24 % among women in 2020 from the previous year. In 2015 New York ranked 4th in the 50 states in the number of HIV diagnoses. It was also ranked 12th in chlamydial infections and 16th in gonorrheal infections. The cases were higher among women as compared to men. The data in the state shows that despite having a policy that supplies condoms to people the infection rates are still high and increasing instead of decreasing. The people are still practicing unsafe sex. The sexually transmitted infections increased during the pandemic with the majority of New Yorkers failing to seek routine testing. The infections can cause lasting harm to the victims without proper medical facilitation. The numbers during the pandemic could have been caused by different issues including lack of proper access to facilities providing the amenities. Majority of people during the pandemic sort care for acute needs. As the country reopened people began seeking out different sexual partners without getting tested. Despite having a provision of condoms and other amenities majority of the population fail to access the services due to ignorance. The majority of partners test for HIV/AIDS and leave out other sexually transmitted infections. The increase in the rate of infections indicates gaps in the policies in combating the infections cases.
There is decreased awareness about the implications of other sexually transmitted diseases. The Majority of people are afraid of getting HIV/ AIDS and only test for it when finding a sexual partner. Sexually transmitted infections testing is not rampant with the majority of populations ignoring the need. Sexually transmitted infections are treatable but can cause problems in reproduction for those that go untreated. Chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea cause infertility and pelvic pain when untreated. Syphilis causes paralysis, hearing and vision loss, and dementia. Pregnant women infected with syphilis often pass the infection to the fetus which causes low birth weight, premature birth, miscarriages, and death after birth (Sande et al., 2021). The majority of STIs do not have signs and symptoms in the early stages but could still be infected. The information surrounding STIs is often not acknowledged with the majority of young people only seeking out information on how to prevent HIV/AIDS. Infections with STIs increase since most people do not use protection.
Options to Address HIV
Each year, approximate separate but equal HIV diagnoses are recorded. The government’s plan to prevent new HIV infections is based on the most recent empirical proof, and simulations have influenced the distribution of funds decisions in terms of methods, geography, and the individuals most at risk. In summary, these results indicate that the effective way to avoid new HIV infections is to make active treatment and participation in diagnosis and services more accessible to people living with HIV, to increase the proportion of people living with HIV who have achieved undetectable viral loads.to focus preventative measures resources to countries with the largest global disease burden and people at greatest risk, and to ensure that the most applicable preventive strategies are selected or widely implemented. Investigation to test innovative preventative approaches (such as vaccinations, necessary to properly, and lengthy versions of which was before prophylactic and to strengthen the effective implementation of HIV prevention, care, and therapy are also part of state government’s efforts. Furthermore, the executive branch finances several initiatives that are crucial for reducing deviant behavior and ensuring that Aids people continue to get medical attention and treatment (West & Schneider, 2018). These services include drug addiction treatment and other mental health treatments, as well as housing assistance, travel, and perhaps other assistance that have been shown to lower HIV transmission risks or hamper HIV patients’ ability to achieve undetectable viral loads. This proven method is reflected in the new National HIV/AIDS Plan, which incorporates the most recent scientific findings. This plan’s first goal is to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. Organizations from across the federal government are working to prevent HIV infection and spread in several ways. According to the findings, new Infections have declined in just about all categories in all regions about which data can be obtained. Certain sections of males who have sex with guys are outliers.
Although anybody can get diagnosed with the disease or spread HIV since they are surviving with HIV and have not reached undetectable viral load, the pandemic in the United States is focused in a few major demographics and geographical regions:
Gay, bisexual, as well as other males who have intercourse with men of all races and ethnicity (with African American/Black gay and bisexual men bearing a disproportionately high HIV load) Women and men of African descent/ African Men and women of Latino descent injecting drug users. HIV is highly prevalent among young African American/Black homosexual and bisexual males aged 13 to 24 years. People in the United States of America’s South Transgender women (HIV is prevalent among (particularly African U.s transgender women). There are many currently numerous alternatives for reducing the likelihood of contracting or spreading HIV than ever before, and the most modern approaches are even more effective than those previously available. Individual behaviors like abstinence, having just one mate of the same Infection status, and selecting fewer risky hobbies are all examples of individual behavior. are examples of risk management tools, assistance, and proposals provided by the health care suppliers, health authorities, social institutions, and others, as well as risk mitigation tools, assistance, and initiatives provided by healthcare suppliers, health authorities, social institutions, and many others. Screening for HIV/AIDS (to detect untreated infectious disease), Drug Treatment (which includes medication-assisted treatments), and HIV medications to help halt transmission are all now available strategies that are being discovered that reduce the risk of becoming infected or acquisition considerably.
Individuals having been completed successfully recommended to develop and maintain risk management mitigation Condom use, antiretroviral therapy compliance, and injection protocols are all promoted through advertising and marketing, behavior modification, medication management, and other methods. Schooling for healthcare professionals, coaching, and institutional capacity are all important factors that can help healthcare professionals and structures, as well as community-based institutions and their personnel, provide HIV prevention, care, and therapeutic services more effectively and successfully.
For instance, the most persuasive data to present suggesting earlier HIV treatment reduces the risk of infection the final results of a According to a research financed by the Institutes Of health, heterosexual partners may transfer the virus 93% of the time. Other research involving a variety of demographics, particularly homosexual and bisexual males, have shown similar results. Most notably, none of these trials have documented HIV transmission by sexual contact with someone with a reduced immunogenicity. Such study results, combined with the findings of previous studies displaying that beginning HIV treatment right away is beneficial to people residing with HIV’s wellbeing and helps to examine done to anticipate the contribution of different initiatives on HIV transmission, end up making “care as preventative measures” the topmost concern of the US government’s HIV response.
Considering this objective, the CDC, Overcome the existing, Based on standardized, VA, Universal healthcare, the national Indian Healthcare System, the Department of Corrections, and other agencies offer HIV testing. People can be linked to HIV care, stay in care, and follow their treatment regimens through a number of federally supported programs. HRSA’s Hugh White Healthcare Coverage Program, which supports almost half of all living HIV-positive persons, is another federally funded HIV treatment and care program.(Yang et al., 2021). Both of these government-funded projects offer HIV healthcare in medical clinics and support the training of medical providers as well as other health practitioners, as well as mental health care, shelter, mass transit, job opportunities, legal assistance, and other services that help people living with HIV get the HIV quality care they need to avoid emergency room visits, hospital admissions, disease, handicap, and fatality, as well as the onward. See what the federal government is doing to help people with HIV/AIDS.
HIV medications can also play a significant role in avoiding infection in people who do not have the virus, according to an NIH-funded study. PrEP, a regular preventive medicine, was already found to become more than 90% successful in suppressing Viruses when administered as prescribed in many trials. It also has the potential to cut drug users’ infection rates by up to 70%. Several government projects provide PrEP information to health care practitioners and local residents, as well as diagnostic tests, drugs, and other services to assist individuals in getting PrEP. A broader definition to expand number of pre prophylaxis (PrEP) serves as a model to legislative attempts to increase PrEP as a strategy to stop the virus from spreading and lowering infection rates in the United States.
Connectivity to modern contraceptives and aseptic syringes, addiction treatment, as well as screening and treating other sexually transmitted illnesses, Selecting fewer harmful casual sex and limiting an individual’s lot of partners are also good ideas, have all been shown to reduce overall exposure to risk factors and are, in several instances, cost-effective.
Recommendations
Observing how HIV/AIDS has a a significant influence on culture and financial systems, as well as the realm of labor in both formal & informal sectors, laborers, their family members and dependents, workplace and workers organizations, as well as governmental and non – governmental businesses, and diminish the achievement of proper work and environmental sustainability, and Reiterating the significance of the International Labor Organization Organization’s role in combating HIV and AIDS in the workplace, as well as the need for the Institution to step up its attempts to accomplish gender equality and battle HIV and AIDS discriminatory practices and dehumanization in all facets of its work and requirement, and In order to effectively engage the working world in the fight against HIV and AIDS, it is critical to reducing the underground economy by achieving proper work and environmental sustainability and Elevated concentrations of disparities, inadequate knowledge and consciousness, a lack of secrecy, and inadequate connection directly to and response to medication all greatly increase the risk of transmission, death, the number of children who have lost one or both parents, and the number of workers engaged in informal work, according to the report. And Because deprivation, social and economic inequity, and instability raise the probability of an absence of availability to preventive, therapy, care, and assistance, as well as the transmission of infectious, and mentioning that shame, prejudice, and the possibility of losing one’s employment for people living with HIV or AIDS are obstacles to disclosing one’s personal HIV status, raising employees’ exposure to Aids and weakening their access to social advantages, and Pointing out the fact that HIV and AIDS have a larger effect on those who are weak or at danger, and Observing that HIV impacts equally males and females, but that because of gender discrimination, women and girls are more at risk of contracting HIV and are preferentially impacted by the epidemic than males, and that female equality is, therefore a critical aspect in the global response to HIV and AIDS, and reminding people of the importance of the ILO code of practice The need to increase the effect of the 2001 ILO code of conduct on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, given the limitations and inadequacies in its application,
Making the observation the importance of promoting and implementing global labor agreements and guidelines, as well as other legal agreements related to HIV and AIDS and the workplace, such as those that acknowledge the entitlement to the best health possible and good living conditions. Considering employers’ and laborers’ associations’ unique roles in identifying and encouraging domestic and international initiatives to combat HIV and AIDS in and into the workplace,
Conclusion
The world’s deadliest epidemic is HIV/AIDS. More than 22 million people have died from HIV/AIDS, and more than 42 million people have been infected. AIDS would still kill roughly 40 million people every year if an HIV vaccine were produced today. The AIDS epidemic has spread rapidly throughout various countries, notably in Africa and the hardest-hit countries like Lesotho, Zambia, and Mozambique, bringing sickness, mortality, deprivation, and suffering in its path. The illness is still in its initial stages in other nations. The pandemic has a severe impact on every element of human life. People, families, organizations, and continents have all been hit hard by it. The pandemic is hurting personal goals, household well-being, and national growth in many nations. The outbreak is jeopardizing the Millennium Development Goals’ accomplishment. In the nations with the greatest incidence rates, the impact of AIDS is already palpable. The effect on fatalities, population numbers, and development in such nations has been significant. In the most extreme instance, the average lifespan is anticipated to plummet from 65 years in 1990-1995 to just under 40 years in 2000-2005 in Botswana, where more than one in three persons is HIV positive. Botswana’s populace is predicted to fall in the next years as a result of its high mortality rate. HIV/AIDS isn’t merely a population tragedy; it has ramifications in every area of society. The effects of HIV/AIDS on people, communities, and residences, as well as on ecological productivity, commerce, the health industry, schooling, and enhanced competitiveness, are shown in this research. The toll that the illness takes on individuals and homes is enormous. In most cases, an individual in his or her peak dies as a result of the disease, having left behind not just a heartbroken family, but also an HIV-infected partner and abandoned children. The reduction in income, as well as the expense of caregiving for family members over a protracted period of sickness, as well as the expense of caregiving for family members over a protracted period of sickness, can put a family’s finances in jeopardy. The disease’s stigma will be felt not only by individuals who are sick, but also by their family members, and the stigma will last even after death. Adult deaths, particularly those of parents, frequently result in families dissolving and children being transferred to live with family or even dumped on the streets. The vulnerability of farm laborers to HIV/AIDS has repercussions for agricultural production in the agriculture industry. According to a survey conducted in Zimbabwe, the agricultural productivity of AIDS-affected families decreased by about 50%. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture, the ten most seriously impacted African nations would shed between 10% and 26% of their working population by 2020.
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