HIV prevention strategies and approaches

HIV Prevention

Sex and the portrayal of sexual activity is extremely prevalent in contemporary society. The media, television, movies, video games, advertisements, books, magazines; all of these and more not only condone sexual promiscuity but glorify it. The children of America are subjected daily to these explicit thoughts and images. Unfortunately, most media depictions of sexual activity do not provide the information of safely protecting oneself from diseases or pregnancy. In the majority of movies and television it is rare to see one stop to use a condom; or the girl talking about birth control. Educating youth efficiently about sexuality is not only wise, it is vital with the public school system, and it is not too early to begin in elementary school with some basic facts, and enhance those facts in Junior and Senior High. Not talking about the subject will not make it less real, and giving students at least a chance for good information may, in fact, be the wisest course in preventing disease and unwanted pregnancy. America must join the world and understand that sexuality is part of human nature, children and adolescents are being exposed to images and are therefore, naturally curious. Arming them with information is the key to HIV and STD prevention and lowering of teenage pregnancies.

Literature Review

The purpose of this literature review is to assess interventions to decrease adolescent and adult risky sexual behaviors and to increase HIV prevention practices. Oxford, JSTOR, and Sage Journals are where most of the research came from. By researching these journal articles a lot of information was found about HIV prevention in adults and teenagers. The years of the articles that were researched were from 1980 -- 2010. The keywords that were used while completing research were abstinence, HIV, and sex education. While obtaining information about HIV two research questions was developed. The first is, how effective are these interventions (abstinence, safer sex) over time in reducing risk behaviors associated with HIV transmission for the adult population. The second question is, what are the effects on education on preventing risk behaviors associated with HIV transmission in the adolescent population. Several different programs have been developed as interventions to prevent teenagers from taking risky behavior. Such programs are often educational in nature, trying to impart information and so gain acceptance of safe sex or abstinence, which are also suggested by the lessons.

Certainly, preventing HIV transmission among adolescents affects the educational experience by keeping these young people in school and by avoiding the sort of difficulties faced by them and their classmates when HIV becomes a more common disease. The issue can be analyzed in terms of how different populations respond to the lessons taught and what they think of the educational efforts made. How the students view these efforts has much to do with how effective the lessons are, for it is important not merely to impart the necessary information but to gain compliance and achieve a safer environment for these young people. The aim here is to determine how effective these methods are and whether a different approach might or might not be preferred. Educational efforts have surrounded the issue of HIV for some time, not just for adolescents but for the entire population. Early in the process, Friedman and des Jarlais (1991) cited several specific risk factors for IV drug users, including the frequency of drug injection, the sharing of injection equipment, injecting in shooting galleries, and sexual behaviors.

They define the transmission of the HIV virus as a form of interaction among two or more persons, and these high risk behaviors involve two or more persons under circumstances that would facilitate the transmission of the HIV virus if it were present (Friedman & des Jarlais, 1991). The depth of the problem can be seen in the results of a survey reported by Booth, Koester, Brewster, and Weibel (1991) which show that over fifty percent of the subjects injected drugs on a daily basis, while 70% shared needles with other addicts. Only 22% used a disinfectant with their needles every time they injected. It was further found that 86% shared a "cooker" with other users, and nearly fifty percent reported injecting in a shooting gallery. These subjects were not merely dangerous to themselves, either, since 90% reported having sexual relations in the six months prior to the interview, with one-half having had multiple partners. The subjects rarely used condoms (Booth, Koester, Brewster, and Weibel, 1991).

This was the situation after a long effort at public education on the dangers of HIV infection and ways to avoid it. Leukefeld, Battjes, and Amsel (1990) suggest, along with many other professionals and researchers, that prevention efforts to reduce the risk of AIDS among IV drug users should be a priority considering the high levels of AIDS risk behavior within this population and the fact that the sexual partners of IV drug users are also at risk (Leukefeld, Battjes, and Amsel, 1990). The sharing of needles is the primary risk factor for IV drug users. Lishner and Look (1990) emphasize that this is one of the major means of transmission of the HIV virus into the general population. Education and other programs have thus addressed the matter with the hope of reducing the incidence of high risk behavior, with mixed results. Lishner and Look cite the case of Seattle where liberal laws made acquisition of needles relatively easy, the assumption being that needle sharing would then not be a significant problem.