Description of AIDS Trend in the USA
According to AVERT (2017) and the CDC (2017), more than 1.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the USA. Estimates show that one out of eight people within this population group is not aware of their HIV status. Although the prevalence rate for HIV in America is relatively low, compared to the country’s general population size, its incidence among some key population groups is high. For example, the incidences of new HIV infections among gay people and African-American populations are higher than the national average (Galvan, Davis, Banks, & Bing, 2008). Such data are useful in developing new strategies for managing the disease and are usually obtained from the use of different software applications and surveillance methods in the country.
Software Applications and Surveillance Methods
According to the CDC (2017), the division for HIV/AIDS prevention (within the center for disease control and prevention) usually formulates and manages different monitoring and surveillance tools for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data about HIV/AIDS. This division employs different surveillance tools, such as the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance tool for assessing the behavioral patterns of key population groups and the Medical Monitoring Project for producing nationally representative data on clinical and behavioral outcomes about HIV and AIDS in America (Wu, 2014). These tools are mostly tailored to gather data among adults who live with HIV/AIDS in America. The HIV case surveillance method is another disease monitoring technique in America, which is used to gather information about the demographic profiles of people who are affected, by the disease (CDC, 2017). This assessment tool is useful in collecting information regarding the sex, race/ethnicity, place of diagnosis, mode of transmission, viral load and all other relevant information that would help health agencies to gather knowledge about HIV disease progression and how to stop it (Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, 2014).
Are the Surveillance Methods for Monitoring HIV Adequate?
I believe that the surveillance methods for monitoring HIV are adequate because they provide a general link for understanding how national efforts for HIV management work. For example, the data gathered from the national HIV behavioral science (NHBS) method are useful in providing a context for the trends seen in HIV surveillance data, nationwide (Shapiro, Mostashari, Hripcsak, Soulakis, & Kuperman, 2011). The same data is useful in describing key populations that are at risk of infections, thereby allowing health agencies to tailor their disease management strategies to minimize them. Through the same disease surveillance and monitoring techniques, health agencies are also able to have a proper understanding of the leading edge of the epidemic (Shi & Johnson, 2014). Generally, the existing systematic surveillance methods adopted for HIV surveillance and monitoring are important in understanding the impact of the country’s national HIV/AIDS strategy. In the same breadth of analysis, I believe that the available surveillance and monitoring techniques aim to decrease the incidence of HIV, reduce disparities, and improve linkages to care. Therefore, they are adequate.
Recommendations on how to use Informatics in HIV Management
Most of the monitoring and surveillance methods mentioned in this paper have historically been used by health agencies to provide AIDS-related health research data and increase the breadth of knowledge in patient care management of the disease (HealthyPeople.gov., 2015). I believe that existing efforts should be redirected towards using the same monitoring and surveillance methods to help federal, state, and international agencies to improve their response to the epidemic and enhance HIV prevention strategies. This focus would provide a holistic response to HIV/AIDS management.
References
AVERT. (2017). HIV and AIDS in the United States of America (USA). Web.
CDC. (2017). Surveillance Systems.
Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. (2014). America’s health responders: History. Web.
Galvan, F., Davis, E., Banks, D., & Bing, E. (2008). HIV stigma and social support among African Americans. AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 22(5), 423–436. Web.
HealthyPeople.gov. (2015). Health communication and health information technology.
Shapiro, J. S., Mostashari, F., Hripcsak, G., Soulakis, N., &Kuperman, G. (2011).
Using health information exchange to improve public health. American Journal of Public Health, 101(4), 616–623. Web.
Shi, L., & Johnson, J. A. (Eds.). (2014). Novick& Morrow’s public health administration: Principles for population-based management. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett.
Wu, L. (2014). Issue brief: Health IT for public health reporting and information systems. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.