HIV Prevention Strategies

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AIDS is the most advanced stage of infection caused by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) Most people who are HIV positive do not have AIDS. An HIV-positive person is said to have AIDS when his or her immune system becomes so weak it can't fight off certain kinds of infections and cancers, such as PCP (a type of pneumonia) or KS (Kaposi sarcoma, a type of cancer that affects the skin and internal organs in HIV), wasting syndrome (involuntary weight loss), memory impairment, or tuberculosis. HIV PREVENTION STRATEGIES HIV prevention programmes are interventions that aim to halt the transmission of HIV. They are implemented to either protect an individual and their community, or are rolled out as public health policies. Initially, HIV prevention…show more content…
A behavioural intervention may aim to reduce the number of sexual partners individuals have; improve treatment adherence among people living with HIV; increase the use of clean needles among people who inject drugs; or increase the consistent and correct use of condoms. To date, these types of interventions have proved the most successful 'Know your epidemic, know your response' Developing a clear and evidence-informed picture of a specific HIV epidemic is needed before deciding on a package of HIV prevention interventions. The ‘know your epidemic, know your response’ approach is the starting point for combination prevention programming, and is comprised of a series of exercises to help categorise an epidemic (such as generalised or concentrated). This involves looking at factors such as modes of HIV transmission, key affected populations and key epidemiological trends (such as the number of new HIV infections among young people). The planning process that programmers and policy makers are recommended to follow is described below: • A planning process that is inclusive and based on…show more content…
It is estimated that 2.2 million children, defined as those under the age of 15, are living with HIV/AIDS, constituting 13% of new HIV/AIDS infections and accounting for 17% of HIV/AIDS deaths annually The burden of HIV infection and disease continues to increase in many developing countries. An emerging theme is of an HIV pandemic composed of mini-epidemics, each with its own characteristics in terms of the trends in HIV prevalence, those affected, and the HIV-related opportunistic diseases observed. A number of explanations for the observed differences in the spread of HIV infection have been proposed but since the factors concerned, such as sexual behaviour and the prevalence of other sexually transmitted diseases, are closely interrelated, it is difficult to tease out which are the most important. Among HIV-related opportunistic diseases, tuberculosis stands out as the most important cause of morbidity and mortality in most developing countries, but the relative prevalence of other diseases shows considerable regional variation. Thus, there is a need for local approaches to the global problem of managing HIV disease. The most pressing public health challenges are to use existing knowledge of strategies to reduce HIV transmission, and to apply them in ways appropriate to the local situation, and to develop, evaluate and implement interventions to prolong healthy life in those already

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