Learner Objective
The issue of HIV/AIDS remains one of the most acute problem of the global society nowadays. Multiple researches and studies have discussed different aspects of the consequences the HIV/AIDS problem brought into the world throughout the years. Thus, it is important to maintain comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge about HIV/AIDS in general, and the impact it had and continues to have on the healthcare industry in the United States and around the world.
Introduction
HIV/AIDS is rapidly spreading across the globe, gaining the scale of a pandemic. An infection which was unknown to humanity only about forty years ago is now the leading cause of death and lost years of productive life in the world. According to the recent data, at the end of 2020, there were more than 37 million people living with HIV, the majority of whom were from the African region (“HIV/AIDS”, 2021). The analysis of the current state of the problem of HIV/AIDS proves the impact of this disease both on individuals and on the state of healthcare industry in general.
Global Problems of HIV/AIDS
In the modern world, the main problems of HIV/AIDS are considered precisely from the point of view of the growth rate of patients’ mortality. The number of infected in most countries is growing every year. Research demonstrates that in 1990 there were approximately only 8 million individuals who had HIV/AIDS (Pandey & Galvani, 2019). The United States are far from the last in the number of people infected with the dangerous virus.
Global Health Issues of HIV/AIDS
The disease’s incurability poses a significant threat to healthcare industry today. However, there are also many people in whom the infection has not been identified, as well as those who did not seek medical help. In this regard, the urgency of the HIV/AIDS problem is extremely high. After all, if the epidemic danger is not eliminated, then in just ten years the number of infected people may increase several times.
HIV/AIDS Impact on the U.S. Healthcare Industry
With the annual increase in the number of new HIV/AIDS cases, as well as the accumulation of the number of people living with untreated HIV/AIDS due to the lack of the possibility of recovery, the global health care industry is suffering a crisis. Providing medical care to HIV/AIDS patients requires the participation of all medical specialists, and a multidisciplinary approach is much needed to train specialists in the main issues of HIV/AIDS and the accompanying opportunistic diseases. Thus, the U.S. implement and fund different projects aimed at prevention of HIV/AIDS. For instance, “Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America” is a federal program which seeks to achieve the goal of reducing the number of infections by 90% in 10 years (Fauci & Lane, 2020).
HIV/AIDS Impact on the Brazilian Healthcare Industry
In Brazil, the issue of HIV/AIDS is more acute than in the U.S; however, the country has reached good results in countering the epidemic. To improve the situation, the government had also launched a variety of projects regarding the problem. For example, Brazil was one of the first countries to offer self-testing kits to its population for free (“HIV and AIDS in Brazil,” n.d.). It is quite easy for the population to get tested and know their HIV-status, and diagnostics rate in Brazil is higher than in other countries. Moreover, Brazil was also the first middle-income state to provide free antiretroviral therapy to the population.
Nurses’ Role in Battling HIV/AIDS
Nurses are the largest contingent of health workers in the world, and they bear the burden of managing many diseases. HIV/AIDS is not just a disease – it is a social phenomenon with pronounced social and behavioral characteristics. Nurses act in the forefront of healthcare industry, educating the population on the problem of HIV/AIDS, preventing the spread of infection, and, most importantly, participating in treatment.
Nursing Interventions Regarding HIV/AIDS
A variety of additional measures is accessible to nurses in order to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. Raising awareness of the population through education is considered one of the most important nursing interventions. Additionally, nurses often initiate life-saving antiretroviral therapy in the absence of physicians, especially in poor regions of the planet (Nutor, 2020). They also help patients adhere to the necessary regimen and alleviate their suffering by providing psychological or other support depending on the specific needs of each patient, as well as social support for families with HIV-positive people.
Conclusion
The issue of HIV/AIDS is far from its solution; still, certain measures have been successfully implemented to stop the spread of the disease. Since nurses play a key role in HIV/AIDS programs, it is very important that they have complete information about everything related to it. If the nurses are properly informed, then they can prevent the spread of the disease through various means and interventions.
References
Fauci, A., & Lane, H. (2020). Four decades of HIV/AIDS — Much accomplished, much to do. The New England Journal of Medicine, 383(1), 1–4.
HIV and AIDS in Brazil (n.d.). Avert. Web.
HIV/AIDS. (2021) World Health Organization.
Nutor, J. (2020). Nurses are playing a bigger role than ever in the fight against HIV – they deserve more support. The Conversation.