Working with Youths in San Francisco to Fight AIDS

During the epidemic of Aids, San Francisco is one of the places that are hit by the epidemic. This continues up to the present time. Thousands of people died because of this onslaught (San Francisco Department of Health, 2004). According to an interview with Dr. Jeffrey Klausner in the article San Francisco Ranks High in STD Incident that San Francisco ranks high because of the effort to make tests that would cure the epidemic (Daniele Tavares, 2005).

It is mentioned in the Community Assessment of San Francisco Department of Public Health (2004) that the reason for the increase in the high-risk behavior of those who are HIV positive is brought upon by the availability of the medication for HIV. This makes the HIV positive, especially the gay people, to become more sexually active. The other negative perceptions of the HIV positives are: they have sex whenever they are under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and that they become more sexually active if they experience sexual abuse during their childhood years. Moreover, the report also mentions that the HIV positives are

Fight AIDS Using Pen-3 Model 3 making the effort to stop the spread of the HIV virus. They are taking the responsibility for stopping the spread of the virus. They should be credited for their effort to change their behavior. Based on the percentage of the HIV positives, the youths who are under 25 years old have a low number of people infected with AIDS. They only constitute 3 percent of the population that is infected with AIDS, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health (2004). This is a positive perception because the youths have knowledge regarding unsafe sex.

Therefore, enhancing their knowledge would help them in avoiding unsafe sex and in learning other precautions so as to avoid the transmission of HIV virus. However, the percentage of those people who are HIV positive by the age of 25 and above is high. This is the reason why the medical practitioners believe that these people infected by HIV have gotten the virus during their teenage years (San Francisco Department of Health, 2004). Because of this reason, the youths who are between 12-18 years old would be the target cultural group for this study.

They should have knowledge on unsafe sex at an early age. Also, many youths are becoming homeless because of the following reasons: dysfunctional family, physical and sexual abuse, abandonment, running away from home, and lack of housing facilities (Stepping Stones). Homelessness is one of the cofactors why HIV positives are increasing. Therefore, raising the cultural empowerment of the youths in San Francisco would help in solving this health problem. Having a healthy socio-cultural environment is the first step in preventing homelessness and other cofactors that would push them to have unsafe sex.

Also, if the youths could have a support group with other youths, they could share their experiences and learn from other people as well. References San Francisco Department of Public Health. (2004). 2004 San Francisco HIV prevention plan. Retrieved February 5, 2009, from http://sfhiv. org/documents/Complete2004SanFranciscoHIVPreventionPlan. pdf Stepping Stones. (n. d. ). Facts on youth homelessness. Retrieved February 6, 2009, from http://www. steppingstones-inc. org/facts. html Tavares, D. (2005). San Francisco ranks high in STD Incident. Retrieved February 6, 2009, from http://xpress. sfsu. edu/archives/news/003840. html

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