Introduction Problem and its Background Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome is a growing problem throughout the world that requires humanitarian attention. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that several million adults are infected with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) (Chenoweth 53). The number of people infected with HIV worldwide has increased exponentially from just a handful of cases in the early 1980s to about 40 million by the end of 2003 and more than 20 million people have already died of AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome).
In South Africa, the early phase of the epidemic was restricted to just few hundred cases among men who have sex with men, and persons receiving unsafe blood transfusion. However, by the early 1990s, heterosexual transmission came to dominate as the mode of transmission of HIV infection, and with it, the concomitant HIV epidemic in newborns and young children through perinatal transmission (Karim and Karim, 2005 p. 31). In the 1980s Western epidemiologists and health planners in the development agencies greatly underestimated the potential magnitude of HIV/AIDS in Africa.
The risk group paradigm fostered belief in AIDS as an urban disease, in both biomedical and popular circles. High risk believed to be limited to bounded groups of “core transmitters. ” These included sex workers and their clients, the military and long-distance truckers, all of whom were recognized as having multiple sex partners (Kalipeni, 2004 p. 16). Africa now, particularly in the south, is the country estimated to have the largest number of people living with AIDS/ HIV (Karim and Karim, 2005 p. 31). Scopes and Limitation
The prevalence of the condition of individuals with AIDS/ HIV grows in a massive count in a very short period. Such case is an international concern that is absolutely considered critical in the disease history and epidemiologic status of the current civilization. As the research progress, we shall cover the fundamental controversy in terms of HIV/ AIDS occurrence primarily in Africa. By accumulating supportive evidences in terms of statistical counts and epidemiologic ratings, we shall formulate an international based intervention plan utilizing the concept of precede- proceed model.
The following shall be the major objectives of the study, which shall also serve as the prime limitations of the study. a. To be able to illustrate and elaborate the HIV/AIDS epidemiology in Africa addressing it as an international concern by providing statistic ratings, and social issues related to the pathologic controversy b. To be able to formulate an international-based plan of intervention that shall mainly address the needs of HIV/AIDS victims in Africa, particularly in terms of disease-spread control, through the use of precede-proceed model
Purpose of the Study The main purpose of the research is to provide the most appropriate and necessary intervention in order to aid the AIDS/HIV condition in the area. As epidemiologic count is surging exponentially, the significance of this research mainly connotes the need for an intervention that aids in the halting of the epidemiologic spread of the disease. With the health education and community management approach, the research provides the massive fundamental awareness expansion. Discussion
On the concept of international justifications, health promotion requires the knowledge of the case proper in order to provide adequate and appropriate planning and interventions to be incorporated in the program proper. The condition of HIV predominantly strikes males than females, as for the case of homosexuality. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 out of 260 Americans has HIV; hence, it is possible that at least one employee from a worksite contains the virus or HIV positive (Chenoweth, 2007p.53).
Between 1981 (the beginning of the AIDS epidemic) and 2001, total of 816,149 AIDS cases in the United States have been reported to CDC in Atlanta, Georgia. Of these cases, about 467,910 amounting to 57% have died. Mostly, the sexually active homosexual males have been the primary afflicted group and currently represent about 45% of these reported cases. Another 25% of the cases are or have been male or female injection drug users and 6% have come from homosexual drug users.
Lastly, heterosexual transmission, birth or by blood transfusion during the period when the American blood supply are not monitored for HIV antibodies (1981-1985). The number of reported AIDS cases is of less importance for the worldwide situation than the estimated number of HIV infected individuals. At the end of 1999, the WHO estimated that 33. 6 million adults and children were living with HIV/AIDS. By the end of 1999, it is estimated that a total of 16. 3 million adults and children will have died because of HIV/AIDS since the epidemic began in the early 1980s (Reichart and Philipsen, p.22).
By the end of 2005, the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimated that 38. 6 million people worldwide were living with HIV, more than 90% of them in developing countries. In 2005, 4. 1 million people acquired new HIV infections, and AIDS caused the deaths of 2. 8 million people. Women comprised 48% of adult HIV cases, and 6% of persons living with HIV were children under the age. In contrast, East Asia represented about 25% of the global population aged 15 to 49 in 2005 but accounted for just 2. 6% of persons living with HIV in this group.
Although the adult HIV prevalence was just 0. 6% in South and Southeast Asia, there were approximately 7. 6 million people living with HIV in this region, representing about 20% of cases in the world. North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and East Asia each had between 0. 7 and 1. 6 million people living with HIV. Although the 330,000 people living with HIV in the Caribbean constitute less than 1% of global cases, the adult prevalence rate of 1. 6% in this region is among the highest in the world, exceeded only by Sub-Saharan Africa (Libman and Makadon, p. 345).