The Rationale for Selecting HIV Among Young People - Essay Sample

Introduction

Many teenagers engage in sexual intercourse without protection and with multiple partners that place them at the risk of easily contacting sexually transmitted diseases like HIV. Among people who are sexually experienced, adolescents who are between the age of fifteen to nineteen are considered to have some of the highest STDs rates that are reported. Moreover, some groups of teenagers even go further in engaging in greater behaviors that are risk-taking. Therefore, the rationale for selecting HIV among young people is because their health is at great risks and their life may be shortened due to low self-esteem. Additionally, ensuring that they have the support and knowledge in developing sexual behaviors that are healthy into young adulthood as well as during adolescence, helping them understand the continued risks and cautions that HIV poses, maintaining a healthy life particularly for those living with HIV and reducing the spread and contact of new infections related to HIV (Pettifor et al., 2013 p.155).

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Areas to be Explored and Analyzed

Following the increased risks of contracting HIV in adolescents, various actions need to be taken to reduce or prevent the rate at which the virus acquired. Therefore, the areas to be explored and analyzed include why the adolescents are a population that is unique, why they are vulnerable to HIV and the prevention of HIV among them.

Why Adolescents are a Unique Population

Many people or researchers describe adolescence as a period of great psychological, social, biological and economic transitions. It is a period when the substantial development of the brain takes place such as conceptual thinking and a complex capacity. Nonetheless, the amalgamation of responsiveness that is heightened to rewards, that is coupled with some immaturity rate in the behavioral control areas of the mind might lead to the emotional reactivity and risky decisions and actions that help in characterizing adolescence (Dellar, Dlamini, and Karim, 2015 p.19408). The formation and exploration of identity are also considered by many individuals to be the primary goal of development of adolescence.

Moreover, in their social life, teenagers are always looking for a sense of belonging from their peers, who lead to behavior change or influence. Social transitions is also a mark for the adolescence period which includes finding employment, completing school, pregnancies, first sexual relationships, independent living, marriage to mention but a few (Ross et al., 2016 n.p). Thus, these milestones often take place in a period of reduced supervision by adults when the young people still have a knowledge that is limited, life skills and self-confidence, that can lead to behavioral engagement that may heighten the risk of contracting the virus (Kirby, Laris, and Rolleri, 2017 p.209).

Why Adolescents are Vulnerable to HIV

Teenagers or adolescents are vulnerable to HIV during two public stages of their lives; early in the first life decade when the virus can be easily transmitted from mother to child through various ways, at some point referred to as vertical transmission and the second life decade whereby adolescence brings and creates new vulnerability to the virus. Nevertheless, approximately seventy percent of teenagers who are living with HIV might have acquired the virus through vertical transmission and therefore, would be living with HIV since birth (Kirby, Laris, and Rolleri, 2017 p.210). However, while programs of preventing transmission from mother to child have been hugely successful in the past years, decreasing infections that are new among teenagers is becoming more difficult. There are numerous reasons which drag adolescents at an elevated risk of acquiring HIV. Early adulthood and adolescence are critical and crucial development periods when significant emotional and physical changes take place. Young people and adolescents always have a growing personal responsibility and autonomy for their health individually (Dellar, Dlamini, and Karim, 2015 p.19408).

Also, the transition from childhood to adulthood is a time for navigating and exploring many gender norms, peer relationships, economic responsibility, and sexuality. Therefore, data gaps that are considerable often exist in people's knowledge of HIV among young people and adolescents. Moreover, the incident is specifically for younger teenagers because of the problems in getting parental approval for their engagement and involvement in surveys and lack of questions that are age-appropriate (Pettifor et al. 2013 p.155). Also, where data exists, lack of disaggregation and limited sample sized limit evidence available for informing programming. Thus, due to the gaps, young people and teenagers are always missing from the national strategic plans of HIV, especially interventions beyond the prevention of mother to child transmission (Ross et al. 2016 n.p).

Vulnerability to Transmission of HIV via Unprotected Sex

Exclusion of vertical transmission, having unprotected sex is the route that is most common of HIV infection for adolescents and young people, with the sharing of needles that are infected coming second. For some individuals, the case is as a result of not having the proper knowledge of the virus and ways of preventing it (Kirby, Laris, and Rolleri, 2017 p.211). Thus, highlighting the need for education in reproductive and sexual health and rights as well as HIV. For other people, it might be the result of being forced to inject drugs or have unprotected sex.

Early Sexual Debut

The sexual debut age is increasing, depicting a positive change in different attitudes among adolescents regarding their sexual behavior. However, it might be low in numerous nations, such as Africa, and lower among girls than boys in their adolescence period in the middle- and low-income countries. Moreover, it is often common for adolescents to become active sexually in the late adolescence and most girls can be estimated to have their first children before the age of nineteen (Kirby, Laris, and Rolleri, 2017 p.212). Additionally, child marriage is considered to be the primary driver of early sexual debut, and on many occasions, it is reported that their first sexual experience is always forced.

Older Partners

Sex that is intergenerational is often thought to be a significant driver of the HIV epidemic, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Most older partners are likely to be living with the infection thus risking the exposure to innocent adolescents. Moreover, they are likely to expose the adolescents to sexual behaviors that are unsafe including low use of protection (Dellar, Dlamini, and Karim, 2015 p.19408). In numerous occasions, sexual relationships that are age-disparate occur between older men and adolescent or young women which is transactional as there is motivation by the implicit assumption that their bodies will always be exchanged for material support and other numerous benefits (Pettifor et al. 2013 p.155).

Prevention of HIV Among Adolescents

Many protective and risk factors operate at various levels; such as the individual (parent/partner/peer), societal level and the community at large. Identification of risk determinants and behaviors that are protective is always necessary for ensuring interventions are desired to the context and population where they are delivered (Pettifor et al. 2013 p.155). The need for the amalgamation of prevention strategies for the virus, incorporating interventions which address structural, behavioral and biological factors should be emphasized as the primary way of impacting the epidemic. Also, there is needed research on optimizing and selecting the combinations for the largest impact, especially among various young people and adolescents. However, the important gaps in preventing the knowledge of HIV for young people remains (Kirby, Laris, and Rolleri, 2017 p.214).

Conclusion

In conclusion, young people are at a higher risk of acquiring HIV. Some teenagers acquire the virus through vertical transmission while others get it through lack of knowledge that the virus exists or through force by their peers or partners. Moreover, young people are the most vulnerable to the infection as they tend to be sexually active during the period that pushes them to make some wrong decisions in life. However, the critical gaps in preventing the knowledge of HIV for young people remain the need for the amalgamation of prevention strategies for the virus, incorporating interventions which address structural, behavioral and biological factors must be emphasized as a primary way of impacting the epidemic.

Reference List

Dellar, R.C., Dlamini, S. and Karim, Q.A., 2015. Adolescent girls and young women: key populations for HIV epidemic control. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 18, p.19408. https://doi.org/10.7448/IAS.18.2.19408.

Kirby, D.B., Laris, B.A. and Rolleri, L.A., 2017. Sex and HIV education programs: their impact on sexual behaviors of young people throughout the world. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40(3), pp.206-217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.11.143

Pettifor, A., Bekker, L.G., Hosek, S., DiClemente, R., Rosenberg, M., Bull, S., Allison, S., Delany-Moretlwe, S., Kapogiannis, B.G. and Cowan, F., 2013. Preventing HIV among young people: research priorities for the future. Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999), 63(0 2), p.S155. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e31829871fb

Ross, D.A., Dick, B., Ferguson, J. and World Health Organization, 2016. Preventing HIV/AIDS in young people: a systematic review of the evidence from developing countries.