AIDS AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM
This is an excerpt from the paper...
According to the National Institutes of Health (2004), by the beginning of this year, there were an estimated 37.8 million people who were living with HIV/AIDS. Of these, approximately 850,000 to 950,000 are Americans, one quarter of which are unaware of their infection. The NIH further notes that each year, there are 40,000 newly infected people, half of which are younger than 25 years of age. The annual number of AIDS-related deaths is a little over 16,000 people representing a small reduction from 1998. Of these deaths, most tend to be African American (52 percent) or White (28 percent). Figures are lower among Hispanics (19 percent) and very low among Asians, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and Alaskan Natives (less than 1 percent in all of these categories). Barnett and Whiteside (2003) report that the consequences of HIV/AIDS are devastating at both the individual and societal level. Consequences include physical deterioration and death, skyrocketing medical bills placing an enormous drain on the healthcare system, extreme psychoemotional stress not only of those with the disease but also family and friends as well as a host of psychosocial problems such as lost productivity and man-hours to businesses, increases in business-provided insurance and so forth. Despite the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS, there is a good deal of hope. Turpin (2003) reports that new drugs are helping people to liv
. . .
ainst the drugs. Researchers, as of yet, do not feel that there are enough drugs and/or combinations of drugs to allow them to stay ahead of the constantly mutating virus.
Contributing to the problem, is the fact that many of the social issues such as discrimination and negative attitudes have not gone away. The public is better informed but, as a whole, they are not as yet well informed and several negative stereotypes and myths remain about AIDS and people suffering from it (Barnett & Whiteside, 2003). Additional and ongoing psychosocial problems that must be dealt with by society are discussed below.
Discrimination
Discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS has been discussed by Cogan and Herek (2004) who point out that in the United States people with HIV/AIDS are often stigmatized. As the authors put it:
Negative attitudes have also been manifested in behavior. AIDS discrimination in employment, housing, school policies, and services has been widespread. Employers have refused to provide insurance coverage for employees with AIDS; property owners have refused to rent to PWAs or have evicted them; parents with AIDS have been faced with legal battles concerning child custody and visitation rights; and PWAs have experie
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Cogan Herek, Health Organization, Barnett Whiteside, America Noting, AIDS Action, Moreover HIV/AIDS, Nature Macionis, Care Initiative, Institutes Health, Health July, bullers 2001, document available, aids action, cogan herek 2004, hiv positive, world health, people living, action 2004, cogan herek, herek 2004, aids action 2004, health organization 2001, lack adequate, world health organization, barnett whiteside 2003,
Approximate Word count = 1689
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
More Essays on AIDS AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
