In: Biology
What is the sex-related wicked public health problem you chose as your presentation topic and who exactly is affected? Are there specific population groups who are more affected by the problem or may be at greater risk than others?
HIV is one of the world’s most serous public health challenges. Nowadays there are a variety of global commitment to stop new HIV infections and provide treatment to people who acquired this virus. For this reason, I have chosen the topic “HIV and Its impact in the current population. In this case, young people which is starting their sexual life and people who are actively sexual are one of the main groups that are affected. A second group is those populations that are in a hard economic situation such as Africa, which is one of the most affected continents on earth.
Why is the problem important? Provide evidence to support your argument. For instance, what is the extent or magnitude of the problem and how has it changed over time? What are the potential consequences if nothing additional is done to address the problem?
There are approximately 36.9 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS and1,8 millions are children. It has been estimated that 5000 new infections occur per day. Most of the infected children live in sub-Saharan Africa and they were infected by their HIV-positive mothers during pregnancy which makes this issue a huge worldwide problem. If nothing additional is done, the infection will reach higher levels worldwide and without any treatment, the population will decrease permanently.
What are the known and/or suggested causes of the problem? Identify and briefly explain all major causal factors and any complicating circumstances or other aspects that are known to alter the problem (e.g., dampen, enhance, greatly intensify, etc.).
The main causes of this problem can be divided into two. If we talk about population in developed countries, the main cause is education and people who do not use protection methods such as condoms. The main problem is the people’s stigma with AIDS, some people are embarrassed with their condition and they do not communicate with their sexual partner that they have HIV, infecting other people. The second main cause is economy, in poor countries this is a huge problem because governments are not able to provide treatments or education to control this epidemic.
What strategies are currently being used to address the problem and why have they not been sufficient? What other strategies have been suggested to solve the problem and why have they not been implemented?
Nowadays, schools and college have been improving their education to provide a perfect information about HIV and protective methods but children, teenagers and adults are not aware of the importance of this problem, so a huge part of these people will fail to protect themselves. Nowadays, there are several strategies that have been implemented. These strategies are focused on improve education and improve scientific research to eradicate this virus but this has failed because government do not have enough resources to implement effective research. There just a few of countries that are taking this problem seriously.
What additional or alternative strategies do you propose to address the problem and who would be involved in their implementation (e.g., agencies, organizations, groups, etc.)? Provide evidence to support your argument. For instance, what is known about what works and how do your proposed strategies compare? What are the limitations to your strategies and how do you propose to overcome them?
I would propose to improve new programs established by the United Nations (UN) such as ONUAID which is a program that estimate that VIH will be eradicated in 2030. United Nations provide monetary, medicinal and educational sources to fight against VIH. I would propose that these kinds of programs where established by more organizations to help poor countries and provide them with medical treatments and education.