Contexts in HIV/AIDS
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Infectious diseases are those which are caused by microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast, viruses and fungi. Examples of these diseases include; dengue fever, HIV/AIDS, malaria, Ebola, and flu. Many organisms live in our body and are harmless but under certain conditions they cause diseases and at this point they become pathogens. The understanding, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of these infectious diseases evolve with time. There are several contexts which shape this understanding and they include; social concept, biological concept, cultural concept, local and political concepts. The way human beings react and take the infectious disease is very important. A good example of an infectious disease which keeps evolving in terms of treatment, diagnosis and prevention is HIV/AIDS. Among the two contexts that shapes the understanding of HIV/AIDS as a disease is the cultural concept and syndemics which makes it hard to understand the disease and facilitate effective research on the journey to find the cure to HIV.
The disease is dated back in 1959 but it is until 1989s that it was given a name and conditions, diagnosis and symptoms classified. The virus traces its origin in Africa despite the obscure research. Retrospective screening of stored sera has shown that the earliest known infection occurred in Kinshasa, Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1959. The discovery suggests that the multiple of global AIDS viruses all shared a common African ancestor within the past 40 to 50 years. One of the earliest documented HIV-1 infections was discovered in preserved blood sample taken in 1959 from a man. In the U.S, HIV aids was first reported in Los Angeles/ San Francisco, Bay & New York City. The first indication of this new syndrome came in 1981 in homosexual drug addict males. They had two things in common- Pneumocystis pneumonia and Kaposi’s sarcoma (collapsed immune system). Both these are of collapsed immune system, the affected patients appeared to have lost their immune competence, rendering them vulnerable to overwhelming and fatal infections with relatively a virulent micro-organism, as well as to lymphoid and other malignancies (Mogobe, et al., 2016). This condition was given the name Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Since its discovery in 1982, subsequent research and trials of alternative medicines have transformed the disease into a manageable chronic condition. Despite the constant evolution in treatment methods and preventive measures, cultural beliefs and how people view the disease have led to varied researches and difficulties to reach those living with HIV/AIDS since everyone has a version of the disease. Culture and other related concepts have led to difficulties in breakthrough especially to the young adults and as a result, those between age 22 and 30 years are at a greater risk of being infected with the disease. According to a research by UNAIDS program, in the year 2003, over 38 million people were living with HIV virus and this rose by over 40% whereby in 2005, over 40.3 million people were living with the disease and a great number were the youths between age 24 to 30 who had acquired it in the recent two years (UNAIDS, 2005). The issue comes when it is a big challenge to reach the young people with the virus since there are varied cultural beliefs and stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. The different cultures existing in different countries, the differences in perception of the disease among the youth and researchers has made it difficult to spread preventive message and administer drugs to the infected persons (Hall, M. 2016). Because culture is dynamic, thus ways of addressing the disease need to be updated every now and then since it is the humans who shape the disease despite being spread through a virus.
It is the sociocultural patterns which makes the understanding of HIV/AIDS a complicated issue. Humans associate the disease with immorality despite the different ways in which one can get infected. It is the stigma that has left many people living without knowing their status since they fear being associated with the disease. Currently, about 25% of the world’s population have not tested their HIV status to know if infected. 90% of people in Africa probably do not know they are infected. Since they are afraid to get tested and some are just ignorant about the whole idea about the disease being chronic. Other hypothesis for the origin of AIDS have been proposed, AIDS denialism argues that HIV or AIDS does not exist or that AIDS is not caused by HIV; some of its proponents believe that AIDS is caused by lifestyles including sexuality or drug uses, and not by HIV. It is these unscientific beliefs which makes the journey to getting permanent cure for HIV/AIDS complicated. Some conspiracy theorists in India and Asian countries have it that the diseases, HIV was created in a Bioweapons lab, perhaps as an agent or genocide or an accident in order to reduce population. In fact, many cultures in Africa still believe on this myth that the Europeans and Whites wanted to reduce the earth’s population that is why they introduced HIV virus to human beings in order for people to die since there is no cure.
Since the discovery of the disease in 1981, there has been medicines invented nearly in every three years. Due to inequality in the health sector, not everyone gets instant access to the quality medicine discovered. This is one of the things that shapes HIV as a disease. On discovery, top hospitals and research centres use the preventive measures on the selected patients whom they believe can afford it and after the drug is almost getting outdated, that is when it gets its way to poor countries especially in Africa. Africa is best known to be the peak of the virus spread and many people die out of it. It would be more realistic it the quality drugs are brought to Africa in order to prevent more deaths as a result of HIV/AIDS. There is a culture in the health sector where health is not offered equally but basing on social status and geographical region. For instance, India is best known for their good skills in medicine but still you will find marginalized areas of the country not receiving good treatment while foreigners receive the services. It is this cultural framework that has led to the years of getting permanent cure to be elongated since the drugs invented are not used on those with chronic viral infection or they are not administered fairly.
The spread of HIV in many poor setting is as a result of heterosexual intercourse even though many assume homosexuals to be the key carriers of the disease. Changing patterns with increased risk due to heterosexual intercourse, sex trafficking, migrant populations has made it difficult to describe the disease (Fauci & Marston, 2015). Disproportionate impact on the poor difficult to access healthcare delivery, HIV treatment is expensive thus the spread to other victims keeps increasing in poor countries. Despite teaching on the value of tradition and other related subjects, due to lack of proper sex education it makes it hard for teenagers to understand the dangers associated with unprotected sex thus the increased spread of HIV/AIDS among the teens and adults between age 20 to 30.
The humans have shaped the understanding of HIV/AIDS to be a chronic disease, however, less come out to carryout research on the same with the notion that patients with it will eventually die. Every culture has its own history including the scientific culture of understanding things. There are many vulnerable groups whose understanding of the disease has been shaped by past events such as warfare, genocide and slavery. Some associate the disease to a natural disaster making it difficult for scientists to convince them on possible preventive measures and medication. AIDS activist groups in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York led efforts to raise awareness, mobilize resources and sympathy for modern plague. They were successful in raising awareness but there was still stigma.
Despite the fact that there is characterization of a list of infections and neoplasms associated with HIV/AIDS, comorbidities make the entire understanding and treatment of the disease difficult. Syndemics is what makes people die of the infectious disease. There are a series of infections that are related to HIV and in case of diagnosis with the diseases, one must be tested for HIV since they are related. Examples are Malaria, Tuberculosis, cancer, persistent flu, neuropathy, yeast infection among others. These infections mainly manifest as a result of weakened immunity by the HIV virus. As a result, treatment of both the new disease and the existing disease become complicated and stronger medicines are needed to be prescribed in order to counter the pathogens (Limper, et al., 2017). For instance, a patient with Tuberculosis has a long healing journey if he or she also has HIV virus since the body is fighting two pathogens where the other destroys immunity wile in an attempt to treat tuberculosis. A growing number of patients with malaria and tuberculosis die while taking treatment since they are infected with HIV. Infact, scientists argue that it is not HIV that kills but the diseases that manifest into the body of a patient with HIV/AIDS since the immune of the body is so weak to fight the new disease thus the patient then dies as a result of malaria or tuberculosis and other diseases treatment failing to work accordingly in the body.
Human culture is just one of the cause of difficulties in understanding HIV/AIDS, pathogen evolution is also another issue. It becomes hard to get a permanent solution since the virus keeps evolving and with time it becomes resistant to available drugs thus new drugs as to be invented. However, humans are to be blamed since majority take time to get tested making the virus spread through the whole body and when testing is done the virus will have already adopted to living in the body thus hard to destroy it (Fauci, & Marston, 2015). New forms of the virus grow in the body after a longer stay thus normal ARVs cannot help boost the immune and stronger drugs will be needed.
Biomedicine and local science are always on the run to discover the cure of HIV. Less
concern is placed into traditional healing especially healing from the African countries where their research is considered to be of low quality and because of structural violence, many assume that the chances of the invented medicine to work on the Whites. There are testimonies on patients who have been cured as a result of local treatment (traditional medicine), but no one has ever bothered to prove it and obtain supplements from the alleged medicine. The same case applies to biomedicines offered for HIV/AIDS where patients tend to survive for a longer period of time after taking the ARVs which are scientifically proven to be working (Rueda, et al., 2016). Local medicine is just but a matter of trial and error where patients take the medicine and wait for an outcome. In future, there is much expected more so on cure and prevention of the disease since the situation is not the same as it was back in the 1980s when HIV/AIDS victims would be isolated and were seen to be contagious.
Conclusively, in recent years, many science students have come out to carryout research on the same disease and with time a permanent solution will be discovered. This is so because currently there is the PREP medicine that is consumed to prevent people from contracting HIV just in case they encounter with HIV positive victims. The world Health Organization spreads the message against stigmatization and encourages those living with the disease that they are just like any other person and can live longer compared to those who are not infected. HIV/AIDS should be treated like any other patients and there needs to be great dedication in trying to find permanent cure to the disease.
References
Fauci, A. S., & Marston, H. D. (2015). Ending the HIV–AIDS pandemic—follow the science. New England Journal of Medicine, 373(23), 2197-2199.
Hall, M. (2016). Global Health Law by Lawrence O. Gostin.
Limper, A. H., Adenis, A., Le, T., & Harrison, T. S. (2017). Fungal infections in HIV/AIDS. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 17(11), e334-e343.
Mogobe, K. D., Shaibu, S., Matshediso, E., Sabone, M., Ntsayagae, E., Nicholas, P. K., … & Webel, A. (2016). Language and culture in health literacy for people living with HIV: perspectives of health care providers and professional care team members. AIDS research and treatment, 2016.
Rueda, S., Mitra, S., Chen, S., Gogolishvili, D., Globerman, J., Chambers, L., … & Rourke, S. B. (2016). Examining the associations between HIV-related stigma and health outcomes in people living with HIV/AIDS: a series of meta-analyses. BMJ open, 6(7), e011453.
UNAIDS (2005). HIV infection rates decreasing in several countries but global number of people living with HIV continues to rise. Retrieved April 11, 2006, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/unaids_who/en/index.html. [PubMed]
