HIV Prevention Plan Analysis Paper Example

The African continent has high rates of people infected with HIV and high rates of death due to the same. The poverty level, inadequate medical facilities, and poor political goodwill in the whole continent have continued to slow down the fight against HIV infections. Presence of high unemployment leading to young and the majority of the population engaging in prostitution have continued to worsen any attempts to fight and prevent HIV. Also, poor funding for medical researchers and undeveloped health care are among the leading cause of continued new infections. This study is meant to come up with the best prevention plan for HIV that can be adopted by the whole continent to curb the spread and the rate of new infections.

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A study has shown that Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) has chances of decreasing the risk of HIV transmission among the heterosexuals by an approximate of 60%. The known as President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been behind the increase of VMMC for the teenager and mature male in nations with the low rate of male circumcision (Grud, 2015.p26). In a country like Nigeria, a study found out that heterosexual intercourse has been the major cause of the spread of HIV this accounts for over 80% of the infections. There are groups with High-risk which are comprised of about 1% of the people in Nigeria and concerning homosexuals (men who have sex with men (MSM)), commercial female sex workers (FSWs) and those drugs users who take drugs by the form injection, significantly will lead to new HIV infections in the near future. 40% of new infections will be from groups and their partners, while those practicing heterosexual sex were to contribute 42% of the general population this was due to the low use of condom and the population that will have HIV positive and which has FCT will be at the greatest occurrence rate which was to be 9.2%. The major worrying population was that of IDUs in FCT that were found to inject themselves with a drug multiple times in a day of which more than 40% were consistently using unsterilized needles. From study women, who were injecting themselves with drugs were about seven times high with chances of contracting HIV than men (Awofala, 2016.p698).

In this context to come up with a solution or prevention plan for HIV in Africa different prevention plans that have been used all over the world that are applicable in African will have to be addressed. Therefore, a study in Peru on trans-women, wherein 2014, the Ministry of Health articulated their commitment on program improvement and that involves trans-women organizations by giving first priority to the developing of a "Targeted Strategy Plan of STIs/HIV/AIDS Prevention and Comprehensive Care for Trans-women".

There were goals that were established which included: (1) Strengthening the diagnosing and treating capacity of the medical appointment centers that were to offer main care for trans-women; (2) establishing precise scientific and programmatic course of action plan that will deal with the most important health requirements of trans-women; (3) creating two centers on quality that will provide broad care to trans-women; (4) strengthening management of information and monitoring the healthiness and surveying of trans-women; (5) providing easy access to STI/HIV diagnosing, treating, and health services to trans-women; and (6) strengthening the involvement of trans-women groups. The mapping of the social space of trans-women in Peru cities was aimed at describing the population's geographical distribution that will help in identifying the troubles and putting into considerate the relations between trans-women with the members of the other groups. This mapping was very vital to Peru for conducting an assessment of its HIV strategy while helping to define the plan for reducing the transmission of HIV/STI among trans-women in cities of Peru (Salazar, 2016.p.2).

In Africa, there is a call for developing policies and involving the community because they are the elements of change. Participation by the community will help to create healthcare services that are able to address their needs and expectations. HIV prevention programs African countries must be able to address the stigma that increases their vulnerability to contract HIV and affects their lives. African countries should use the Peruvian government way which put interest in the basic changes in its official and societal contexts that were making trans-women vulnerable to HIV. The experiences of Argentina of "friendly" health centers should be put into consideration, also, in Uruguay where health centers are free from ''homo-Lesbo-trans-phobia,'' this two offer comprehensive healthcare (Salazar, 2016.p3).

The need for better methods and ways to prevent and curb the spread of HIV in the world led to the research of new treatment and prevention strategies. A new drug Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been found to curb the likelihood of HIV transmission. Strong evidence since the initial clinical trials, followed by thorough studies and research that were meant to test the best-practice implementation models, and the clinical delivery real case that have been conducted of late have demonstrated PrEP being very highly effective, undeniably incredible at providing protection against acquiring HIV. However, for PrEP to have an impact that can be termed important to the HIV pandemic, it should have not just individual benefits but also the entire population. Therefore, to synergize PrEP and other preventing and treating interventions, it will be possible to substantially achieve the reduction of new infections and the resulting death and morbidity that are as a result of HIV. Many recent infections have been reported in poor and middle-income countries. In 2020 UNAIDS is advocating for more than 3 million people will be on PrEP. There are ambitious programs such as the DREAMS initiative which gets support from the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has been advocating the prioritizing of prevention of HIV using multifaceted prevention program that is the use of PrEP among young women from 10 countries in Africa (Baeten, 2018.p10).

Conclusion

Developing the strategic initiative that will help the African continent to fight this epidemic of HIV there are four basic pillars that should be considered. One, there should be a diagnosing program for all people with HIV at an early stage just after infection. Second, for there to be a sustainable suppression of this viral to be achieved HIV infection should be treated rapidly and effectively. Third, there should be an emphasis on the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent those individuals that are at high risk of acquiring this HIV infection. Fourth, there should be a reduction of new transmissions of HIV infections that should be done by detecting and rapidly responding to any up-and-coming groups. Young pregnant women should receive intensive clinical care to prevent them from contracting HIV and spreading the same to their unborn babies. For proper prevention, there should be education from all corners of the continent on the better ways and methods to prevent the spread of HIV.

References

Awofala, A. A., & Ogundele, O. E. (2018). HIV epidemiology in Nigeria. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 25(4), 697-703.

Baeten, J. M. (2018). Amplifying the population health benefits of PrEP for HIV prevention.

Grund, J. M., Toledo, C., Davis, S. M., Ridzon, R., Moturi, E., Scobie, H., ... & Benson, F. N. (2016). Tetanus Cases After Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention-Eastern and Southern Africa, 2012-2015 (No. 16-08). NAVAL HEALTH RESEARCH CENTER SAN DIEGO CA SAN DIEGO United States.

Salazar, X., NunezCurto, A., Villayzan, J., Castillo, R., Benites, C., Caballero, P., & Caceres, C. F. (2016). How Peru introduced a plan for comprehensive HIV prevention and care for transwomen. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 19, 20790.