The HIV Pandemic in the Black Community of Missouri - Research Paper Example

  The HIV Pandemic in the Black Community of Missouri Introduction According to the National Center for HIV/AIDS (2010), African Americans are the most affected with HIV in the United States (US). As of 2007, African Americans accounted for approximately (46%) of people living with HIV in the 37 states and 5 U.S territories. The 2006 reports indicated that African Americans accounted for (45%) of new infections in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Even though the acquisition rates of HIV have gone down overtime, infections rates among African Americans have been roughly stable since the 1990s. Compared with members of other races and ethnicities, African Americans still account for a higher percentage of HIV cases and deaths in the United States. In Missouri, HIV has been a thorn in the flesh for the community. St. Louis, the biggest metropolis in the state has one of the highest rates of HIV cases in the United States. KMOV, St. Louis leading Health Newspaper reported that more than five thousand people in the greater St. Louis area live with HIV with African Americans being the most affected social group. In 2010, 300 new cases of HIV sufficed. According to the State Health Department, over 75 percent of the cases affected African Americans. African American women were most hurt with 86 percent of the new cases victims being women (KMOV, 2011). This paper explores the problem of HIV in Missouri with emphasis on how HIV affects African Americans. The last section of the paper suggests solution that offers solutions for the problem of HIV. What is HIV? According to Medicine Net, an online-based medical consultant, HIV is a virus that enters a group of specific immune system’s cells and kills them. With time, it makes the body to incapable of defending itself adequately from opportunistic infections. After about five years, the body stops manufacturing white cells. The white cells facilitate the body defense mechanism against diseases. With low white cell count, opportunistic infections certainly affect the body thereby affecting the body’s immune system. After a long period of incubation that can sometimes extend to ten years, the HIV causes AIDS. AIDS has no known symptoms because it works with opportunistic infections. The clinical manifestation of AIDS is a collection of opportunistic diseases. While some of the AIDS manifestations are severe such as TB, others are less severe and comparatively harmless like a common cold. There is no known cure of HIV although continued medical research has reduced the deaths caused by HIV (Medicine Net Inc, 2012). Transmission of HIV Lyon & D'Angelo (2006), documents some of the most common causes of HIV. According to the most, the common ways that people acquire HIV include blood transfusion, prenatal acquisition, and sexual ways. According to Lyon & D'Angelo, when AIDS cases were first reported in 1980, many young adults, and children acquired the virus through unchecked blood transfusion to heal conditions such as hemophilia, in which clotting blood required replenishing. However, since the discovery of the causes of HIV, the cases from blood transfusion have significantly declined (p.4). Royce, Sena, Cates,& Cohen (1997) reported that transmission of HIV through sexual conduct accounts for approximately 75 percent to 85 percent of the nearly 28 million infections of HIV. The probability of infection through sexual contact, although varies considerably appear lower sexually than through other routes. The possibility of sexual infection partly depends on the viral dose. Sometimes, transmissions depend on the method of transmission especially whether the virus permeates through blood or sexual secretions. In women, sexual transmission is higher than in men. According to AIFDSInfo (2009), oral sex is also a possible cause of transmission. While the risk of transmitting HIV through oral sex is lower compared to that of vaginal or anal sex, several studies indicate that oral sex can also lead to transmission of HIV. Other possible ways that HIV can be transmitted include: Sexual irresponsibility manifested by having numerous sexual partners. This increases the risk of infection because higher number of sexual partners increases the risk sex having with an infected person. Having unprotected sex also increases the risk of having sex especially if the sexual partner is infected HIV can also be acquired through Sharing of sharp objects such as needles, blades, among others Scope of the Problem in Missouri Missouri is a state with a population of 5, 967, 100 people. The black population in Missouri is 643, 800 which is 38% of the total Missouri population Missouri’s State Black Annual AIDS case rate per 100,000 is 59.3 percent. 6,175 black people live with HIV in Missouri (National Black AIDS Awareness Day, 2012). Like all American communities, African Americans face a number of challenges that lead to higher rates of HIV infection. In Missouri, socioeconomic issues associated with poverty leads to limited access to better healthcare, housing, and HIV education. These challenges increase the rates of HIV education increases the rates of HIV in Missouri area. Perhaps the biggest problem associated with HIV rates is caused by lack of awareness of the potency of the problem. In the city of St. Louis, 67 percent of affected African American youths were unaware of their status (AIDSInfo, 2009). In addition to unawareness, the HIV victims also face the problem of stigma associated with being HIV Positive. Because of the social attitudes towards HIV, many victims dread the position of being branded social misfits and would rather hide their status than seek counseling or testing. With limited tests and counseling, youths may continue to spread the virus unaware of what of what their actions causes to the society (AIDS Info, 2009). Solutions to the Problem of HIV/AIDS in Missouri Several Black Community organizations founded for sensitizing the black community about HIV and other STDs. One such organization is the National Black HIVB/AIDs Awareness Day that was founded in 1999. The organization receives funding from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The aim of the program is to support capacity building assistance to black communities in order to elevate the problem of HIV/AIDS. The organization holds a single day in the year to carry out HIV awareness campaign at the grass root level. The organization main goal is eliminating HIV/AIDS in the black community. Every year, approximately 20,000 African Americans in the United States test positive for HIV. Currently, the organization reports that about 100,000 black youths are living with HIV. The organization aims at increasing awareness of HIV by encouraging testing and counseling (National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness, 2012). The National HIV and STD Testing Resources is another organization that aspires to eradicate the HIV menace in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) owns and operates the National HIV and STD testing Resources. The organization works in a Website that provides information about HIV and has information about all the available testing centers in the United States (National HIV and STD Testing Resources, 2012). Another organization that plays a key role in raising HIV awareness is the center for Disease Control and Organization. CDC coordinates with partner organizations while pursuing high impact methods to accomplish the goals of the National HIV/AIDs to maximize the efforts of preventing HIV infection rates. CDC is careful of the methods they use so that they are directly applicable to environment chosen. Examples of CDC methods include partnership with other organizations to create awareness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). The media also promotes HIV awareness in Missouri. Black radio stations boost HIV testing and the use of condom in the open radio discussions. Some conservative radio stations advocate for abstinence amongst the youth. Problems of Solving the HIV menace in Missouri African Americans continue to experience higher rates of HIV than any other social group on the United States because of factors such as unawareness, social economic problems, poverty, limited education and the societal pressure of living with HIV. In order to wipe out HIV, services such as youth sex education, increased tests and improved economic situation will be required to reduce idleness and irresponsible sexual behaviors. According to Boykin& Harris (2006), more than a decade after the renowned sexual revolution and the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, the United States is still a nation in denial about the need for sex education. Instead of talking about issues such as homophobia, AIDS, and shared responsibility to handle these challenges, America talks about irrelevant issues (p.5). Like Keith Boykin and Harris point out, the problem of HIV in Missouri is that it garners limited attention. Michael Sidibe, UNAIDS Executive Director asserts that prevention of AIDS is only possible after a revolutionary change that combats public hypocrisy on sexual issues. In addition, there should be a higher degree of AIDS expertise and understanding, promotion of sexual and reproductive rights by movements ( UNAIDS, 2012). The relationship between governments, civil society, and the public creates an opportunity for financial resources to be available. These resources can then be channeled to offer solutions for problems arising out of HIV and AIDS. The absence of the partnership between the civil societies, government, and the general public inhibits effecting combating of the HIV menace. For the most part, the HIV problem is still, a class struggle between the rich and the poor. Unless the poor blacks are economically empowered, higher rates of HIV cases will be unavoidable Recommendation for HIV Problems The primary concern of HIV activists should be reducing high-risk behaviors such as unprotected sex, unfaithfulness. Scholars report that counseling reduces the self-reported risk behavior. With counseling, the affected individuals face the challenge of taking a personal motivation to change their own lives (Colfax, 2006).Counseling works by channeling thoughts from stress to positive thinking. Moreover, counselors receive training that enabled them to handle different cases. In Missouri, limited counseling results to high-risk behavior due to stress and vulnerability. Accordingly, a change in lifestyle can make a difference in HIV rates in Missouri. Livelihood includes garnering skills to become productive. In South Africa, studies conducted found out that empowering young people economically reduced the rate of HIV by almost half. Poverty was realized as a possible cause of HIV (Population Council Inc, 2011). Based on the South African experiment, I support economic stimuli programs that will send the majority of idle youths to school and to vocational training institute. That way, there will be reduced rates of infections since idleness will be reduced. CDC recommends working with African American leaders from every sector of the society to rally the people of color against HIV and deliver ethnically suitable campaigns and messages. Developing homegrown solution will also help a fantastic deal in solving the problem since different cultures have different ways of doing things. Conclusion The paper has explored the problem of HIV in the Missouri by providing statistics of the problem as well as highlighting challenges faced about HIV in the black community of Missouri. At the end, the paper presents recommendation on some of the issues in order to tackle the HIV problem in Missouri. Based on the research, this paper recommends an holistic approach toward tackling the issue of HIV. This holistic approach should incorporate the government, civil society, and the individuals. References AIDSinfo. (2009, September). Oral Sex and HIV Risk [CDC HIV/‌AIDS Facts]. Retrieved September 12, 2012, from http://www.cdc.gov/‌hiv/‌resources/‌factsheets/‌pdf/‌oralsex.pdf Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [HIV and STDS control]. (2010). Retrieved May 8, 2012, from http://www.cdc.gov/‌hiv/‌topics/‌aa/ Colfax, G. (2006, March). Does Counseling HIV-Infected Persons Lead to Lower-Risk Behavior? HIV InSite Knowledge Base Chapter, Vol. 4(No: 345), p 340- p 460. Keith Boykin, & Harris, E. L. (2006). Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies, And Denial in Black America. New York: Avalon Publishing Group. KMOV.com. (2011, October 4). HIV/‌AIDS infection rate among African American women alarmingly high in St. Louis . KMOV-TV, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.kmov.com/‌news/‌health/‌HIVAIDS-infection-rate-among-African-American-women-alarmingly-high-in-St-Louis-131118338.html Lyon, M. E., & J. D’Angelo, L. (2006). Teenagers, HIV, And AIDS: Insights from Youths Living With the Virus. WestPort, KT: Praeger Publishers. MedicineNet. (2012). MedicineNet [Medicine]. Retrieved May 14, 2012, from http://www.medicinenet.com/‌human_immunodeficiency_virus_hiv_aids/‌article.htm National Black HIV/‌AIDS Awareness Day [Community Advocay]. (2012, February 2). Retrieved May 7, 2012, from http://www.blackaidsday.org/‌about_nbhaad.html National Center for HIV/‌AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. (2010, September). Prevention Challenges. In HIV among African Americans [CDC National Prevention Information Network]. Retrieved May 14, 2012, from http://www.cdc.gov/‌hiv/‌topics/‌aa/‌resources/‌factsheets/‌pdf/‌aa.pdf National HIV and STD Testing Resources [National HIV and STD Testing Resources]. (2012). Retrieved May 10, 2012, from http://www.hivtest.org/‌aboutus.aspx The Population Council, Inc [Financial literacy/‌lLivelihoods]. (n.d.). Retrieved November, 2011, from http://www.popcouncil.org/‌topics/‌fl.asp Royce, R. A., Seña, A., Cates, W., & Cohen, M. S. (1997, April). Sexual Transmission of HIV. The New England Journal of Medicine, No: 3546, :1072-1078. UNAIDS. (20111). Reducing Sexual Transmission [UNAIDS ]. Retrieved May, 2012, from http://www.unaids.org/‌en/‌targetsandcommitments/ Read More