This article was written on October 1, 2009. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that over 4 million Africans are receiving anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. The best treatment progress is in sub-Saharan Africa, which is where two-thirds of HIV infections occur. An increase of 36% more people per year are receiving treatment in 2009 compared to 2008. Those at WHO and other organizations believe that this is still not enough. Treatment is being started too late because people do not come to the hospital until they are sick. This leads to a late diagnosis, which has a major impact on the survival rate. Many of those being treated are dying within the first year of treatment.
The price of the anti-retroviral drugs have decreased greatly in recent years, which is a great start to increasing the number of those who receive treatment. The main groups of people who receive treatment as of now include women and children. Many pregnant women (45%) who are HIV positive receive treatment in order to prevent the spread of the virus to their child. The number of children under the age of 15 years receiving treatment has also increased. Treatment has risen from 50,000 sub-Saharan Africans to over 3 million as of recent!
As a nursing student, this article grabbed my attention. As we have discussed in the class, HIV/AIDS is one of the common illness affecting Africa along with malaria and bilharzia. In my nursing education, we have learned about HIV and AIDS in the pathophysiological sense, but it was interesting to find an article about AIDS and how it affects a community. Sub-Saharan Africa seems to be struggling with HIV positive infections. It is reassuring to see that the numbers of treatment cases are increasing and the price of the treatment is decreasing. Hopefully this climb is steady. It would also be nice to see diagnoses being made earlier and more Africans coming in to pursue treatment.
Reference: http://www.africagoodnews.com/health/more-than-4-million-hiv-positive-people-receiving-treatment.html
The price of the anti-retroviral drugs have decreased greatly in recent years, which is a great start to increasing the number of those who receive treatment. The main groups of people who receive treatment as of now include women and children. Many pregnant women (45%) who are HIV positive receive treatment in order to prevent the spread of the virus to their child. The number of children under the age of 15 years receiving treatment has also increased. Treatment has risen from 50,000 sub-Saharan Africans to over 3 million as of recent!
As a nursing student, this article grabbed my attention. As we have discussed in the class, HIV/AIDS is one of the common illness affecting Africa along with malaria and bilharzia. In my nursing education, we have learned about HIV and AIDS in the pathophysiological sense, but it was interesting to find an article about AIDS and how it affects a community. Sub-Saharan Africa seems to be struggling with HIV positive infections. It is reassuring to see that the numbers of treatment cases are increasing and the price of the treatment is decreasing. Hopefully this climb is steady. It would also be nice to see diagnoses being made earlier and more Africans coming in to pursue treatment.
Reference: http://www.africagoodnews.com/health/more-than-4-million-hiv-positive-people-receiving-treatment.html
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