Analyzing the Advocacy Campaign

¶ … healthcare advocacy campaign for individuals living with HIV.

The Health Issue

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks and damages the human body's immune system. The immune system exists for one key purpose to fight off foreign bodies and diseases or infections that get into the body. This means that if someone contracts HIV, then he or she becomes vulnerable to various kinds of dangerous infections and diseases, which may cause death. As the virus continues to weaken the immune system, the system may weaken to the level that it cannot fight off infections or diseases anymore. At such a stage, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus may result in a more life-threatening disease referred to as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). However, not every person who has HIV contracts AIDS. Research has found that more and more elderly individuals have HIV / AIDS. This is largely due to enhanced treatments and clinical interventions that are helping HIV infected individuals to live longer. In the United States about 20% of people living with the virus are over the age of 55. Many of these individuals were found to be HIV positive when they were a lot younger. Still, thousands of old people are getting infected with the virus every year (HIV, AIDS, and Older People -- National Institute on Aging, n.d). More and more blacks and Hispanics are also getting infected with HIV. In fact, more than 50% of the population of individuals living with HIV or AIDS comprise of either Hispanics or African-American. The number of women getting infected with the disease is also steadily increasing. Substance abusers are also at high risk of contracting the virus, especially in cases where they share needles.

Two Campaigns

The first campaign dubbed Let's Stop HIV Together shows that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus affects all segments of the American society. Persons featured in this campaign, include Regan Hoffman (magazine editor) and Jamar Rogers (a contestant on "the voice") who use their popularity to raise awareness in the public on the fight against HIV (Let's Stop HIV Together, 2012). It has been more than thirty years since the first case of HIV / AIDS was reported in the U.S. and the disease is still a crisis here. About fifty thousand Americans contract the disease each year. In fact, it is now estimated that over a million Americans live with HIV / AIDS. However, about 20% of these infected individuals don't know their status. It is important for every member of the public to learn the basics about the virus and the disease and the basic ways to protect oneself against it. It is also important to talk about what one has learnt about the disease with friends and acquaintances so as to raise awareness levels in the society. The program has a special page to help with this -- it is referred to as the HIV basics page and can be shared on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook (Let's Stop HIV Together, 2012).

The second campaign is a harm reduction campaign that was started in Indonesia. The campaign started after a team of Indonesian nonprofit organizations and government officials toured Australia on a fact finding mission. During the study tour, the participants opted to start the Indonesian Harm Reduction Network and a Harm Reduction Steering Committee for Indonesia. The former was chaired by a non-governmental organization in Bali, Indonesia and the latter largely comprised of government officials. As of the end of 2002, quite a number of other advocacy networks and groups had already been formed in the country to help in the fight against HIV / AIDS. Members of the government-led harm reduction committee met periodically and helped open and increase communication between relevant community organizations and government departments (ADVOCACY GUIDE: HIV / AIDS PREVENTION AMONG INJECTING DRUG USERS, 2004). The non-profit led Harm Reduction Network focused on networking activities and building the capacity of community organizations to raise awareness in the fight against the disease. Some six programs were started to provide HIV / AIDS prevention and informational material. Needle exchange programs were also started in several sites around the capital (Jakarta), in Denpasar and the island of Bali. The government agreed to integrate these programs into its health policy if they were evaluated and found to be effective.

Several methadone programs were also planned and meetings held by government officials to establish self-help groups among drug users and individuals living with HIV. Some of the initiatives started by the harm reduction programs include: funding of study tours for health and law enforcement officials; support for international personalities in the raising of awareness among individuals living with HIV / AIDS; advocating for methadone substitution programs for drug users; publication of harm reduction informational products; and active collaboration with other concerned government and non-government entities (ADVOCACY GUIDE: HIV / AIDS PREVENTION AMONG INJECTING DRUG USERS, 2004)

Change and Advance to HIV Health Advocacy Plan

The Plan: Improving the National HIV and AIDS agenda of Tanzania