According to the Bureau of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases, in the early 1980s, the number of people diagnosed with HIV was a increasing steadily. From 1987 to 1990 the cumulative number of HIV diagnoses reported was almost doubled (from 8,016 to 15,166) (1, 2). Between 1990 and 1997 there were between 2,000 and 2,700 HIV diagnoses reported annually. (3) From 1999 there was a huge rate of increase in the number of annual HIV Infected people, peak period was in 2005 standing at 7,982.
During Past subsequent years, a slight decrease in the number of HIV diagnoses was found, but now a day’s number of new diagnoses is still higher compared with that of pre-2003 period. Fig: 01 In the mid-1990s the introduction of combination antiretroviral treatment has resulted in a notable decline in the number of AIDS cases and deaths reported a year. Near-around 750 people living with HIV died in 1997, compared to 1,723 in 1995. Since 1998 the number of deaths among HIV infected people has remained more or less constant, with an average around 400 to 500 per year.
The Purpose of this report is to evaluate the methods & steps for care & prevention of HIV-AIDS diagnoses in UK. Statement of Problem (Background): Year 2011 is the 30th year since the first reports of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was generated. In June 1981, five young homosexual men in Los Angeles were reported to have Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and case histories suggesting a cellular-immune dysfunction related to a common exposure (4). They were the first cases of having AIDS. Ten days later, the first UK case of AIDS was reported in a young man with hemophilia, followed by further reports of AIDS among homosexual men.
To till date, 120,000 people have been diagnosed with HIV in the UK, of whom 27,000 have developed AIDS and more than 20,000 have died. The development of an HIV test in 1984 led to the establishment of the UK laboratory surveillance of HIV antibodies among those tested. Now a day, where antiretroviral therapy has wide availability, it has transformed HIV infection into a chronic manageable condition. People treated for HIV infection can expect a near normal lifespan now with far fewer side effects compared to the earlier drug era.
But, the benefits of treatment rely on the early diagnosis of infection (5). The surveillance of HIV in the UK has adapted to major changes in the clinical management and epidemiological features of the infection. The data have been the driving force behind policies to prevent and control HIV infections and ensure those living with the virus are tested promptly and receive high quality health care. Statement of Problem: Almost one fourth of the HIV/AIDS affected populations are/were unaware of their infection (6). HIV is one of the fastest growing serious health conditions in the UK.
The common problems about HIV/AIDS affected are they were not aware of the infection, they are not always under care according to their specific rights and the major is: as this epidemic has no vaccine-no cure, it could not be stopped or prevented, whereas, care doesn’t reach uniformly to the sufferers! Validation of Problem with a Secondary Research: As the purpose of this report is to evaluate the HIV/AIDS care & Prevention Strategy, we need to consider some basic key questions like: * How HIV/AIDS is spreading in UK? * Is the communication Technique doing its job of spreading consciousness about HIV/AIDS prevention & care properly?
* Is the approach of UK Governing body sufficient for prevention & care of AIDS Sufferer? * What about the Feedback of the AIDS affected population to the care system? * Is there any Cure yet? Considering these questions, we can validate the stated problem as follows: Let’s get into the questions: * How HIV/AIDS is spreading in UK? * As stated in the Problem Background, this epidemic was first introduced through homosexual couples, then comes the unsafe needle handling among drug users and unsafe blood transaction. Later, when the Epidemic gets a big run, then it started spreading through pregnancy (to new born ones) as well as breastfeeding.
As none of the above mentioned reasons could be stopped normally, HIV/AIDS is spreading almost without any bound. * Is the communication Technique doing its job of spreading consciousness about HIV/AIDS prevention & care properly? * The widest contribution to the decreased rate of HIV/AIDS diagnoses and ignorance of the sufferer is of the effective communication technique. Since the statistics of aids affected people is generated & published, there has been a significant change in public mentality about using needles, having sex, during pregnancy & lactation.
There has been a great change about the care of HIV/AIDS affected population after universal awareness programs are broadcasted and carried out. In this point of view, I must say, the communication technique has been doing its job since the initial stage sufficiently.
But we need to spread awareness more frequently so that, we can see a new generation cent percent aware of HIV/AIDS matters like spreading, prevention and having enough courage to care the aids affected population as well. Primary Research: * Objectives of study.* Research Brief Discussion: Findings: Concluder Paragraph: Appendix.
References Used to conduct this report: 1: Bureau of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases (1988, 15th April) ‘UK statistics’, AIDS Newsletter, Vol. 3, Issue 5 2: Bureau of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases (1991, 28th January) ‘Statistics’, AIDS Newsletter, Vol. 6, Issue 2 3: Public Health Laboratory Service AIDS Centre & the Scottish Centre for Infection & Environmental Health (1998, February) ‘AIDS/HIV Quarterly Surveillance Tables: UK data to end December 1997’ 4: CDC.
Pneumocystis pneumonia– Los Angeles. MMWR 1981; 30:250-2. Accessed 12 December 2011. http://www. cdc. gov/hiv/resources/reports/mmwr/1981. htm. 5: May M, Gompels M, Delpech V, Porter K, Post F, et al. Impact of late diagnosis and treatment on life expectancy in people with HIV-1: UK Collaborative HIV Cohort (UK CHIC) Study. BMJ. 2011 Oct 11; 343:d6016. 6: Health Protection Agency (2011). HIV in the United Kingdom: 2011 report Location: Kent & White chapel, London.