Fighting HIV/AIDS has taken the U.S. and other nations worldwide more than three decades to find the right strategies for controlling its spread. The government has invested a significant amount of money in HIV prevention plans. So far, the techniques have helped reduce the disease’s effects by ensuring dramatic reductions in the number of annual infections after its peak in the mid-1980s. Nonetheless, control actions need to be taken by implementing plans to address the problem in the future.
HIV/AIDS is a pandemic that must be addressed in the U.S. and other nations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately 1.2 million individuals in the U.S. are living with the virus as of 2021 (Katz & Jha, 2019). A close analysis demonstrates that this represents around 0.38% of the U.S. population. Nonetheless, it is essential to note that not all people with the virus have been diagnosed and know their status. The idea implies that the actual number of persons affected by the disease might be higher than the current figures. Besides this, specific populations, including homosexuals, individuals who use injectable drugs, and African Americans, are the most affected groups by HIV/AIDS. This is because they tend to record more new diagnoses and deaths related to HIV than other groups.
In the United States, a predominant historical outbreak of HIV was noted in 1981 in the U.S. More specifically, the first case was identified as AIDS, and it occurred in New York City, one year after the first case was reported in 1980 (Katz & Jha, 2019). In the following years, more cases were reported, and by 1985, there were approximately 12 cases in the U.S. (Kang et al., 2022). The increasing numbers of affected people raised significant concerns at the government and community levels, causing the community to adopt strategies to control further spread. One approach that communities utilized to prevent HIV/AIDS was providing access to prevention tools such as condoms, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The community also took the initiative to educate everyone on the disease, including how it is transmitted, prevented, and potential treatment methods.
A leading objective of my public education plan to control HIV/AIDS is to increase awareness about its transmission and prevention. In this case, the program will aim at educating community members concerning how HIV is transmitted and offer more information on proactive prevention approaches like using protection. Another objective of the education plan to control the disease includes enhancing regular testing, especially in persons who are at a greater risk of contracting the virus. This could involve offering the public information regarding testing locations and dealing with any barriers to testing, such as lack of access and stigma. Adopting this strategy will ensure that most individuals know their status and can take treatment measures. The feasibility of these objectives will be effective based on the availability of resources and community support.
The U.S. government has adopted various initiatives to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS since it emerged. One key initiative is the creation of the Office of AIDS Research. Katz & Jha (2019) posit that the OAR was developed in 1988 specifically to enable reliable coordination between HIV researchers in all national health institutes and federal agencies. The approach successfully reduced the infection rates since it allowed the synchronization of all research. The U.S. government also implemented the National HIV/AIDS Strategy in 2010. The primary objective of this body was to enhance HIV prevention and care in all states. Besides this, the government further introduced the HIV/AIDS Treatment Adherence, Health Outcomes, and Cost Study Act to improve treatment adherence among the affected population.
One suggested measure in the plan actually to minimize HIV risks and spread is adopting a targeted outreach. The action will mainly target individuals at a higher risk of contracting the illness, such as the black community. It will ensure that the most affected persons can access the right HIV prevention resources and services. Another measure to reduce health risks is providing the right support services. The feasibility of this measure is that the support services will enable the affected individuals to stay engaged and adhere to the treatment by their healthcare providers. The plan also recognizes that the pandemic is a global concern. Therefore, it calls for international collaboration to ensure effective prevention and treatment approaches are adopted worldwide. This plan could involve supporting finding new prevention and treatment strategies.
The plan will allow the public to recognize the pathogens related to the cause of HIV by enabling them to understand the transmission mode from one person to another. This concept will allow the public to know that HIV is transmitted through bodily fluids such as breast milk, virginal fluids, semen, and blood. Through this, the public will be able to comprehend how the pathogens are transmitted; thus, they will be able to adopt the right strategies to prevent it. The plan will also enable the public to recognize that pathogens are related to the cause of the disease by including the retrovirus classification of HIV. The plan will include that HIV is categorized in the retroviruses family, which RNA viruses use to reverse transcriptase enzymes to convert into DNA from the RNA genome, as postulated by Kang et al. (2022). The feasibility of this part is that the public will better understand the mechanisms that the virus transmits, and this is easier to address.
To prevent the outbreak of HIV/AIDS, the plan will suggest education and awareness. More specifically, it will educate the public concerning the transmission of the disease and that prevention is a critical concern in preventing an outbreak. Sullivan et al. (2021) suggest that prevention could entail targeted outreach to populations with increased risk for the illness, disseminating information concerning safe sex, and encouraging regular testing. Measures to prevent the outbreak will also be suggested, with an emphasis on harm reduction strategies. For example, the plan would highlight the dangers of sharing sharp objects through needle exchange programs. This will be critical in helping them reduce the risk of disease transmission among populations that inject drugs. The plan will ensure mechanisms for assessment and monitoring to evaluate the productivity of the plan while determining areas that require improvement.
In conclusion, dealing with HIV/AIDS requires efforts from the government and the local communities. It is crucial to adopt the right strategies and implement plans to deal with the HIV epidemic. The plan must include aspects like access to prevention tools, education and awareness, targeted outreach, harm reduction, and testing and treatment strategies. The feasibility of these plans depends on different factors, including community support, timeline, and availability of necessary resources. Accessibility to these factors will play an essential role in determining the plan’s success or the necessity to make further adjustments.
References
Kang, J. Y., Farkhad, B. F., Chan, M. P. S., Michels, A., Albarracin, D., & Wang, S. (2022). Spatial accessibility to HIV testing, treatment, and prevention services in Illinois and Chicago, USA. PloS One, 17(7), e0270404, 637-1123. Web.
Sullivan, P. S., Johnson, A. S., Pembleton, E. S., Stephenson, R., Justice, A. C., Althoff, K. N. & Beyrer, C. (2021). Epidemiology of HIV in the USA: Epidemic burden, inequities, contexts, and responses. The Lancet, 397(10279), 1095-1106. Web.
Katz, I., & Jha, A. K. (2019). HIV in the United States: Getting to zero transmissions by 2030. JAMA, 321(12), 1153-1154. Web.