AIDS Essay Example

Current Event on HIV/AIDS Essay Example Current Event on HIV/AIDS Paper Current Event on HIV/AIDS Paper Essay Topic: Current The article that I have chosen is: â€Å"WHO advocates circumcision to curb new HIV cases The practice would best serve males in sub-Saharan Africa, researchers say. † By Jia-Rui Chong (Times Staff Writer), Dated March 29, 2007. (Quoted). The article speaks of one of the latest finding related to HIV/AIDS involving male circumcision. The WHO recommends it as a one of its main strategies to help prevent HIV/AIDS spread in Africa. The WHO claims that this new finding and execution of it as a strategy in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS during sexual intercourse in men could save millions of lives in Africa. Male circumcision is widely being performed in the Northern African regions, and is less frequently performed in the Southern and the Eastern African regions. The WHO feels that the if it was more widely performed, it could help to prevent in the transmission of HIV/AIDS and save millions of lives. The Director of the WHO’s HIV/AIDS Department Kevin De Cock, feels this could be utilized as an additional intervention in countries where the prevalence of HIV/IDS was high and where circumcision was appropriate. This could effectively reduce the risk of transmission of HIV/AIDS in heterosexual men. In many parts of Africa, male circumcision is performed to lower extents nowadays, and if these were increased, it would help in reducing the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Initially, when HIV/AIDS was began to spread in Africa, it was observed that men who had undergone circumcision had less frequently transmitted or developed the infection, than those who were not circumcised (BBC-Health. 2007). However, these earlier observations were unconfirmed, and only through recent trials have they been established. The risk of HIV/AIDS spread reducing after conducting male circumcision is well-documented. According to the CDC, the foreskin present on the penis is less keratinized and a greater number of Langerhans cells are present (specific cells that are targeted by the HIV virus). During sexual intercourse, the foreskin is at a greater risk of undergoing damage, and so the risk of transmitting HIV/AIDS increases. The environment existing in the area between the glans penis and the unretracted skin is such that viruses could easily survive. Besides, several individuals having ulcerated STD’s (including syphilis) have greater risk of transmitting and acquiring the disease in case the penis is not circumscribed. A clinical trial conducted in Africa to demonstrate the benefits of male circumcision on HIV/AIDS demonstrated that circumcision not only reduced the risk for transmission of HIV/AIDS but also other ulcerated STD’s. Clinical trials have also demonstrated that the spread of HIV/AIDS decreased from an infected male to a normal female, especially when the viral load was low (CDC. 2007). The WHO feels that male circumcision could help prevent the transmission of about 5. 3 million new cases of HIV infection, and reduce fatalities in about 3 million people over the next 20 years. In the year 2006, about 270, 000 new cases of HIV had developed. The Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, feels that several strategies such as condom use, determining the HIV status of the sex partner, etc, could be used along with male circumcision in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Circumcision was to be introduced free of cost to targeted males by individual nations. Dr. Mark R. Dybul, the US global HIV/AIDS coordinator, said that the US would support male circumcision as a strategy in preventing the transmission of HIV/AIDS. However, the WHO expressed some amount of caution over this new finding, as men would experience a false sense of complete protection. The transmission of HIV/AIDS could not be completely stopped by using male circumcision. The transmission rates reduced by 48 to 60 %, and should not be perceived as 100 % (BBC-Health. 2007). Another study conduced in males in Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, demonstrated that risk of HIV/AIDS transmission reduced by about 60 %. Hence, the WHO advocates that men should continue using other strategies such as condom usage and questioning their sex partner of the HIV/AIDS status. The WHO and the UN had a meeting in Monteaux, Switzerland, to discuss these finding of male circumcision and the manner in which it could be utilized in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Dr. Maria J. Wawer, who works as a Research Associate at the John Hopkins University and who also contributed in the Uganda trial, is very excited about the findings achieved through these Trials. She compares the results obtained through these trials to that of inventing a Vaccine for HIV/AIDS. She feels that the public enthusiasm would be high when a vaccine for HIV was obtained, and hence, the public should be happy about male circumcision. Dr. Maria J. Wawer, also feels that this could be used as a cost-effective strategy in preventing the transmission of HIV/AIDS. During the trial, it costs about 69 US dollars for one male to undergo circumcision. The cost was high during this period, as the additional tests were performed by the researchers and surgeons were utilized to perform the procedure. Dr. Wawer feels that in the future nurses could be trained to conduct the procedure and reduce the costs of male circumcision. The author of this article Jia-Rui Chong has given his email address for any doubts and clarifications. The credentials of the author have not been mentioned, but his position at the LA Times has been mentioned. The article is a recent one, and the findings of this article have been confirmed through the websites of reputed organizations (such as BBC Health and CDC). Reference: The Article Jia-Rui Chong.‘WHO advocates circumcision to curb new HIV cases The practice would best serve males in sub-Saharan Africa, researchers say. † Los Angeles Times 31 Mar. 2007. latimes. com/news/science/la-sci-circumcision29mar29,1,1793948. story? ctrack=1cset=true Others – BBC Health. â€Å"WHO agrees HIV circumcision plan. † BBC NEWS 31 Mar. 2007. http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/health/6502855. stm CDC (2007). â€Å"Male Circumcision and Risk for HIV Transmission: Implications for the United States. † 2007. CDC-HIV/AIDS 31 Mar. 2007. cdc. gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/circumcision. htm