HIV AIDS Infrastructures around the World

Public Infrastructure and the Status of World Health for Hiv / Aids Treatment

The HIV / AIDS epidemic began as a regional problem but gradually became a global public health issue by the closing decade of the 20th century (Powers, 2016). The same forces that have driven globalization are believed to account for this growth in HIV / AIDS cases, and researchers have since termed the epidemic as "a disease of the global system" (Powers, 2016, p. 239). This paper reviews the relevant peer-reviewed literature as well as nongovernmental organizational resources to evaluate the adequacy of the public infrastructure developed in response to this global problem and a discussion concerning the most important needs in shaping and sustaining the infrastructure for dealing with this public health problem. Finally, a series of recommended changes are followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning the HIV / AIDS global epidemic in the conclusion.

Adequacy of workforce, communications and tracking systems, research and evaluation capabilities, planning, and laboratory facilities

The adequacy of the global infrastructure devoted to dealing with this public health problem in different countries can be discerned from recent infection rates for this disease. A breakdown of the estimated numbers of people living with HIV / AIDS by WHO region reflects these differential infection rates. According to WHO, in 2015, there were 25.5 million people living with HIV / AIDS in Africa, 3,4 million in the Americas, 3.5 million in Southeast Asia, 2.5 million in Europe, 330,000 in the Eastern Mediterranean and 1.4 million in the Western Pacific regions (Global health observatory data, 2016).

At present, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that there are approximately 36.7 million people living with HIV / AIDS as of year-end 2015 and just under half (46.3%) or about 17 million of these sufferers were receiving some form of antiviral therapy, a figure that includes 2 million people who began treatment at some point during 2015 (HIV / AIDS, 2016). In addition, more than three-quarters (77%) of all pregnant women living with HIV / AIDS were being treated with medicines that are designed to prevent the disease's transmission from mother to infant by year-end 2015 (HIV / AIDS, 2016). Despite this progress, there were still 2.1 million new cases of HIV / AIDS and 1.1 million people died from the disease in 2015 (HIV / AIDS, 2016).

In the case of South Africa where infection rates are inordinately high, a sustained lack of resources has caused the national government to increasingly rely on nongovernmental organizations for surveillance and treatment assistance (Powers, 2016). Likewise, HIV / AIDS sufferers in Vietnam are generally unable to access treatment due to the high costs together with a lack of government-sponsored healthcare facilities and most do not receive any treatment for the disease at all (Demarco & Cao, 2015). By sharp contrast, WHO reports no HIV / AIDS-related deaths in the United States since 2012 (USA summary, 2016).

The most important needs in shaping and sustaining the infrastructure for dealing with this public health problem

Although the WHO's comprehensive global strategies for responding to the HIV / AIDS epidemic have been implemented in its regional offices in the Americas and Europe (Himschall, 2016), there remains a lack of resources in many regions that are the most heavily affected by the disease that prevent adequate surveillance and treatment, including most especially South Africa where infection rates are the highest (Jones, 2013). According to Jones (2013), one of the most important needs in shaping and sustaining the infrastructure in South Africa is raising awareness among the general public, clinicians and the mainstream media concerning HIV / AIDS misperceptions and myths that discourage many sufferers from seeking treatment. In this regard, Jones emphasizes that in South Africa, "The absence of accurate and easily accessible scientific information [means] a large portion of the public turns trustingly to the media for direction. Similarly, print media are the main source of information on HIV / AIDS research for health workers in the country" (p. 312). The mainstream media's emotion-charged and largely negative coverage of the disease and the people who are infected by it in South Africa has been implicated in exacerbating the adequacy of the nation's HIV / AIDS tracking and treatment efforts to date (Jones, 2013).

Recommended changes

Although it is reasonable to suggest that the extent to which HIV / AIDS sufferers continue to be stigmatized by a society will be the extent to which these patients will avoid seeking out treatments that have proven efficacy in treating the disease. Therefore, it is recommended that the mainstream media in general and in those countries where the infection rates are highest should be encouraged to participate in an awareness-raising campaign intended to educate all stakeholders concerning the facts about HIV / AIDS in a nonjudgmental fashion in order to promote the timely treatments that can still save people's lives and prevent new cases in the future.

Conclusion

Certainly, complex problems demand complex solutions and the global health threat represented by HIV / AIDS is no exception. Despite the massive investment of resources in recent years, the research showed that there are still nearly 37 million people living with HIV / AIDS and more than a million people still die from the disease each year. The research also showed, though, that factual coverage of the problem by the mainstream media can help raise awareness among the general public and clinicians alike concerning the facts about HIV / AIDS to dispel misconceptions and myths that have contributed to the global health problem in recent years.

References

DeMarco, R. F. & Cao, C. (2015, December 1). HIV prevention, stigma, and care in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Lat Vietnam. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 22(4), 127-131.

Global health observatory data. (2016). World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://apps. who.int/gho/data/view.main.22100WHO?lang=en.

Himschall, G. (2016, September). Director's message: HIV and hepatitis update. World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/newsletter/hiv-hep_newsletter _sep2016/en/.

HIV / AIDS. (2016). World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/hiv/en/.

Jones, N. (2013, June). Have we learned from history? A comparative critical assessment of the independent group's coverage of the HIV / AIDS pandemic in South Africa in 2004 and 2011. Critical Arts, 27(3), 311-314.

Powers, T. (2016, October 1). Transnational donor capital, and localized political formations in South Africa. Human Organization, 75(3), 239-243.

USA summary. (2016). World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/gho/ data/node.country.country-USA?lang=en.