LECTURE : ILLNESS AND HEALTH CARE

Obviously, health care is currently top of ‘mask’ for a majority of people around the world creating social problems of a magnitude never seen before in our lifetime .Consequences both personal and global impact every individual regardless of demographic, economic and political position – producing few winners and many losers. Today’s lecture focuses on:

· The Global Context: Patterns of Health and Disease

· HIV/AIDS: A Global Health Concern

· Sociological Theories of Illness and Health Care

· Social Factors Associated with Health and Illness

· Problems in Canadian Health Care

· Strategies for Action

Illness and Health Care Lecture-

“The defense of this nation seeks involves a great deal more than building airplanes, ships, guns, and bombs. We cannot be a strong nation unless we are a healthy nation.” – President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1940

The Global Context: Patterns of Health and Disease

Globalization and Health

· Globalization is the growing economic, political, and social interconnectedness among societies throughout the world. It has eroded boundaries that separate societies, creating a “global village.”

· Global communications make it easier to monitor and control disease and share scientific knowledge and research findings.

· Increased travel and the expansion of trade and transnational corporations are linked to a number of health problems.

· HIV/AIDS: A Global Health Concern

· CORONAVIRUS – ongoing and deadly.

· Mental Illness: The Invisible Epidemic – Next Week

· People are living longer

Health problems and health care are major concerns Examples:

· Illness often blamed on the individual – Woman on limited income – Dilemma – Fill an expensive prescription or buy food for children? Blamed for failing to follow doctor’s advice if doesn’t fill prescription. – Blamed for parenting if sacrifices children’s food for medication.

· Need to consider social structure, culture and subculture

Understanding Problems of Illness and Health Care

· Although human health has probably improved more over the past half-century than over the previous three millennia, the gap in health between rich and poor remains wide, and the very poor suffer appallingly.

· Poverty may be the most powerful social factor affecting health, other social factors that affect health include globalization, increased longevity, family structure, gender, education, race, and ethnicity.

·

HEALTH – A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being.” World Health Organization (1946, p.3)

Epidemiology – The study of the patterns of health and disease

Epidemiological Transition – The shift from a society characterized by low life expectancy and parasitic and infectious diseases to one characterized by high life expectancy and chronic and degenerative diseases.

Four Main Concerns of Sociologists

1. Impact of social forces

2. Distribution of effects

3. Impact on the individual and others – self-identity – relationships

4 . Health care systems

Four Reasons Why Health and Illness are Social Problems

1. Millions of people affected

2. Illness – unequally distributed throughout society

3. Health care inadequacies – unequally affect some social groups

4. Some problems (e.g. shortage of physicians and nurses) affect everyone

5.

Countries are often classified into one of three broad categories according to their economic status:

· Developed countries have relatively high gross national income and have economies made up of many different industries.

· Developing countries (less developed) have relatively low gross national income and their economies are much simpler.

· Least developed countries are the poorest countries of the world.

Morbidity refers to the amount of disease, illnesses, symptoms, and the impairments and accidents produced in a population.

· In less developed countries, where poverty and chronic malnutrition are widespread, infectious and parasitic diseases, such as HIV disease, tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases (caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites), measles, and malaria are much more prevalent.

· In developed countries, chronic health problems such as cardiovascular disease and cancer are the major health threats.

Patterns of Morbidity

· Acute – Conditions that last less than 3 months

· Chronic – Long-term health problems

· Incidence – “ The number of new cases of a specific health problem with a given population during a specified period).

· Prevalence – “The total number of cases of a specific health problem within a population at a given time” (Examples

· INCIDENCE: In the year 2007, 2.5 million people were newly infected with HIV worldwide-

By comparison, 1.7 million [1.4 million–2.3 million] people became newly infected with HIV (end 2018)

· PREVALENCE:

· 24.5 million [21.6 million–25.5 million] people were accessing antiretroviral therapy (end of June 2019).

· 37.9 million [32.7 million–44.0 million] people globally were living with HIV (end 2018).

· 770 000 [570 000–1.1 million] people died from AIDS-related illnesses (end 2018).

· 74.9 million [58.3 million–98.1 million] people have become infected with HIV since the start of the epidemic (end 2018).

· 32.0 million [23.6 million–43.8 million] people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic (end 2018).

Patterns of Morbidity – Vary according to:

· Social factors – Social class, education, sex, race

· A society’s level of development

· The age structure of the population

Mortality is simply defined as death.

· The leading cause of mortality, or death, worldwide is heart disease…followed by stroke and respiratory infections.

· Leading causes of death in Canada – Cardiovascular Diseases and Cancers

· In low income countries, the three top causes of death are respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and HIV/AIDS.

· The World Health Organization (2009) has identified high blood pressure as the leading global mortality risk factor (responsible for 13% of deaths globally), followed by tobacco use (9%), high blood glucose (6%), physical inactivity (6%), and obesity (5%).

Number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths worldwide as of July 3, 2020, by country

	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths	New Deaths	Total Recovered	Active Cases	Deaths/ 1M pop	Total Tests	Tests/ 1M pop	Population
	World	11,288,258	+105,682	530,955	+2,583	6,404,186	1,448	68.1
1	USA	2,914,838	+24,250	132,208	+144	1,248,400	8,806	399	36,469,453	110,174	331,018,157
2	Brazil	1,550,176	+6,835	63,409	+155	978,615	7,293	298	3,330,562	15,668	212,570,544
3	Russia	674,515	+6,632	10,027	+168	446,879	4,622	69	20,451,110	140,138	145,935,130
4	India	672,644	+22,755	19,279	+610	408,625	487	14	9,540,132	6,913	1,380,085,626
5	Spain	297,625		28,385		N/A	6,366	607	5,448,984	116,543	46,754,972
6	Peru	295,599		10,226		185,852	8,965	310	1,740,969	52,799	32,973,640
7	Chile	288,089		6,051		253,343	15,070	317	1,146,593	59,977	19,117,287
8	UK	284,900	+624	44,198	+67	N/A	4,197	651	10,340,511	152,315	67,888,969
9	Mexico	245,251	+6,740	29,843	+654	147,205	1,902	231	624,987	4,847	128,940,399
10	Italy	241,419	+235	34,854	+21	191,944	3,993	576	5,600,826	92,636	60,460,794
11	Iran	237,878	+2,449	11,408	+148	198,949	2,832	136	1,744,958	20,774	83,997,756
12	Pakistan	225,283	+3,387	4,619	+68	125,094	1,020	21	1,372,825	6,215	220,896,749
13	Saudi Arabia	205,929	+4,128	1,858	+56	143,256	5,915	53	1,823,763	52,384	34,815,518
14	Turkey	204,610	+1,154	5,206	+20	179,492	2,426	62	3,584,066	42,493	84,344,072
15	Germany	197,250	+250	9,074	+1	181,300	2,354	108	5,873,563	70,102	83,786,438
16	South Africa	177,124		2,952		86,298	2,986	50	1,745,153	29,423	59,312,107
17	France	166,960		29,893		77,060	2,558	458	1,384,633	21,212	65,274,927
18	Bangladesh	159,679	+3,288	1,997	+29	70,721	970	12	835,074	5,070	164,699,098
19	Colombia	109,505		3,777		45,334	2,152	74	818,703	16,089	50,885,910
20	Canada	105,211	+120	8,668	+5	68,868	2,787	230	2,885,746	76,455	37,744,314
21	Qatar	99,183	+530	123	+2	90,387	35,324	44	376,881	134,226	2,807,805
22	China	83,545	+3	4,634		78,509	58	3	90,410,000	62,814	1,439,323,776
23	Argentina	72,786		1,453	+16	25,930	1,610	32	390,382	8,637	45,198,395
24	Egypt	72,711		3,201		19,690	711	31	135,000	1,319	102,336,953
25	Sweden	71,419		5,420		N/A	7,071	537	519,113	51,399	10,099,756

Source: worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

Major health concerns in developing nations include:

· Malnutrition

· Pneumonia

· Parasitic and infectious diseases (HIV/AIDS, malaria, tetanus, rabies, measles

Health concerns in industrialized nations include:

· increase in infectious diseases, exacerbated by antibiotic resistant bacteria

· Heart disease and Cancer

· Mental disorders, respiratory diseases

Life expectancy Patterns

Life expectancy – refers to the average number of years individuals born in a given year can expect to live.

· Infant Mortality Rate measured by the number of deaths of live-born infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births

· Indicator of the health of a population

· Worldwide, dramatic increase

Low High

Parasitic and infectious diseases Chronic and degenerative diseases

Types of Disease

Patterns of Mortality

· Death

· Provide indictors of a population’s health

Mortality Rates Among Infants and Children

· Infant Mortality Rate: The number of deaths of live-born infants under 1 year of age per 1,000 live births (in any given year).

· Under-5 Mortality Rate: Refers to the rate of deaths of children under age 5. Under-5 mortality rates range from an average of 153 in least developed nations to an average of 6 in industrialized countries.

· High rates in developing countries – Low rates in developed countries

· 12 million children under five years die each year. Most live in developing countries.

COUNTRY COMPARISON : INFANT MORTALITY RATE

Infant mortality rate compares the number of deaths of infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in the same year. This rate is often used as an indicator of the level of health in a country.

RANK COUNTRY (DEATHS/1,000 LIVE BIRTHS) DATE OF INFORMATION

1 AFGHANISTAN 110.60 2017 EST.

2 SOMALIA 94.80 2017 EST.

3 CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 86.30 2017 EST.

4 GUINEA-BISSAU 85.70 2017 EST.

5 CHAD 85.40 2017 EST.

6 NIGER 81.10 2017 EST.

7 BURKINA FASO 72.20 2017 EST.

8 NIGERIA 69.80 2017 EST.

9 MALI 69.50 2017 EST.

10 SIERRA LEONE 68.40 2017 EST.

25 PAKISTAN 52.10 2017 EST.

47 INDIA 39.10 2017 EST.

122 CHINA 12.00 2017 EST.

170 UNITED STATES 5.80 2017 EST.

163 RUSSIA 6.80 2017 EST.

180 CANADA 4.50 2017 EST.

185 UNITED KINGDOM 4.30 2017 EST.

192 EUROPEAN UNION 4.00 2016 EST.

210 ITALY 3.30 2017 EST.

220 FINLAND 2.50 2017 EST.

221 NORWAY 2.50 2017 EST.

222 SINGAPORE 2.40 2017 EST.

223 ICELAND 2.10 2017 EST.

224 JAPAN 2.00 2017 EST.

225 MONACO 1.80 2017 EST.

Source: CIA.gov Home

Maternal Mortality Rate

· Maternal Mortality Rates:

Where you give birth makes a world of difference- see chart below.

· A measure of deaths that result from complications associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and unsafe abortion.

·

· Maternal mortality is the leading cause of death and disability for women ages 15–49 in developing countries.

·

· The most common causes of maternal death are hemorrhage, infection, and complications related to unsafe abortion.

·

· Disparity between rich and poor countries – Dramatic Differences between first and third world- see chart that follows.

·

· Linked to status of women

· Rank	Country	Maternal mortality ratio per 100,000 live births
1 -14	Italy	2
	Israel	3
	Sweden	4
	Japan	5
	United Kingdom	7
	Germany	7
	France	8
	Canada	10
51	Russia	17
	United States	19[3]
	Palestine	27
	China	29
	Sri Lanka	36
123	Philippines	121
	India	145
164	Zimbabwe	458
181	Somalia	829
183	Nigeria	917
186	South Sudan	1,150
	World	211

Countries by maternal mortality ratio in the year 2017. All data is from the World Bank

Burden of Disease- The number of deaths in a population combined with the impact of premature death and disability.

Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY) – Years lived with illness or disability. One DALY equals one year lost of healthy life.

Some criticize the validity of this measure – Is premature death the result of the disability or due to the social exclusion of disabled persons?

HIV / AIDS: A Global Health Concern

· Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) continues to threaten the health of populations around the world.

· Has claimed more than 23 million lives

· More than 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, most of whom (97%) live in low or middle-income countries.

· Most people infected with HIV do not know it.

· Heterosexual contact predominant mode of transmission – Much more prevalent in women than in men.

· Perinatal transmission (infected mother to fetus or newborn), second most common form of transmission – Approx. 15 to 30 percent of babies born to HIV-infected mothers are HIV positive (Ward 1999). In Mooney et al

HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa.

· More than 2/3 of people with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, where 1 in 20 adults (ages 15 to 49) has HIV.

· There are 16.6 million AIDS orphans (one or both parents have died of AIDS) living in Africa

· High HIV prevalence – low life expectancy

HIV/AIDS in Canada

· 1982 – first case diagnosed in Canada

· More men than women

· Rates rising among women

· Heterosexual contact with high-risk partner

· Injection drug use

· Risk behaviour data suggests cause for concern

HIV/AIDS in USA. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over 1 million people in the United States are living with HIV/AIDS.

· Most common forms of transmission in the United States

· HIV/AIDS among race and gender

· OBESITY

· Obesity is a major problem throughout the industrialized world. In recent years, the prevalence of obesity in the United States has risen significantly.

· 2/3 of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese.

· Researchers predict that obesity will shorten the average U.S. life expectancy by at least 2 to 5 years over the next 50 years; reversing the mostly steady increase in life expectancy that has occurred over the last 2 centuries.

· Childhood obesity is becoming more common throughout the developed world.

· At 8 years of age, Connor McCreaddie, shown here with his mother, weighed 218 pounds.

· In North Carolina, a mother whose 7-year-old son weighed more than 250 pounds reported that the local Division of Social Services threatened to take her child away if he did not lose weight.

· Do you think severely obese children should be considered victims of child abuse and taken from their parents and placed in foster care?

FIGHTING THE GROWING PROBLEM OF OBESITY

· In general, reducing and preventing obesity requires encouraging people to eat a diet with sensible portions, with lots of high-fiber fruits and vegetables, and with minimal sugar and fat.

· Some of the strategies include:

· Restrictions and Advertisements

· Public Education

· School Nutrition and Physical Activity Programs

Interventions to Treat Obesity

· School Boards in Canada and many states are passing laws that require school lunchrooms to provide healthier food options and that require snack and drink machines on school campuses to have healthier options as well. Do you think that laws like this are fair or do you think children should make their own food choices?

Sociological Theories of Illness and Health Care

Structural-Functionalist Perspective

According to the structural-functionalist perspective, healthcare is a social institution that functions to maintain the well-being of social members and, consequently, of the social system as a whole.

· It examines how changes in society affect health – Illness, health, and health care affect and are affected by changes in other aspects of social life

· Illness – Dysfunctional condition that interferes with people performing needed social roles.

Sick Role – Society assigns a temporary role to those who are ill

· Expectation that person will seek medical advice, adhere to prescribed regimen, and return to normal roles as soon as possible

· It also draws attention to latent dysfunctions, or unintended an often-unrecognized negative consequences of social patterns or behaviors

Conflict Perspective

· focuses on how wealth, status, and power influence illness and health care.

· Access to quality medical care linked to socio-economic status

· Life expectancy

· Medical research is shaped by wealth, status, and power – points to ways in which powerful groups and wealthy corporations influence health-related policies and laws through lobbying and financial contributions to politicians and political candidates.

· Criticizes the pharmaceutical and health care industry for placing profits above people. Profit motive underlies illness, injury and death and is related to working conditions and dangerous consumer products.

Feminist Perspectives

· Gender – Influences all aspects of social life

· Tied to class, race, ethnicity, age

· Linked to socio-economic status (SES)

· Impact on health

Gender roles, domestic responsibilities and larger socio-economic factors

· Influence national health policy

· Disadvantage women’s health and well-being

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

· Meanings, definitions, and labels – Vary over time and between societies

· Learned through interaction with others and through media messages and portrayals

· Illness and disease are social definitions

· Trend towards medicalization

· Stigmatizing effects of being labeled ill

· Condition becomes a person’s master status

1. How meanings, definitions, and labels influence health, illness, and health care.

2. How such meanings are learned through interaction with others and through media messages and portrayals.

· Medicalization is defining or labeling behaviors and conditions as medical problems.

· Includes:

· A new phenomenon defined as a medical problem in need of medical intervention such as post-traumatic stress disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

· Normal conditions that are defined as medical problems such as childbirth, menopause, and death.

· Symbolic interactionists also focus on the stigmatization of individuals who are in poor health or who lack health insurance.

· A stigma refers to any personal characteristic associated with social disgrace, rejection, or discrediting.

· Symbolic interactionists focus on stigmatizing effects of being labeled “ill.”

· Individuals with mental illnesses, drug addictions, physical deformities and impairments, and HIV and AIDS are prone to being stigmatized.

Queer Theory Perspectives

· Developed as a response to the management and perception of HIV / AIDS in North America

· Draws attention to problems that result when risk of illness is linked to sexual identity

· Activists successfully contested the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder

Social Factors Associated with Health and Illness

Social Class – Associated with increased risks of:

· Psychiatric conditions

· Higher rates of mortality

· Higher levels of stress

Poverty – Identified as world’s leading health problem – Associated with:

· malnutrition, indoor air pollution, hazardous working conditions, lack of access to medical care, and unsafe water and sanitation.

· Poverty is the percentage of Americans reporting fair or poor health is more than three times as high for people living below the poverty line.

Education

· Low levels of education are associated with higher rates of health problems and mortality (Health Canada 1999a).

· Less educated are more likely to engage in health-risk behaviours of smoking and heavy drinking

· In some cases, lack of education means that individuals do not know about health risks or how to avoid them.

Less educated women:

· Women with less education are less likely to seek prenatal care and are more likely to smoke during pregnancy.

Gender

· Gender discrimination and violence against women (VAW) produce adverse health effects in girls and women worldwide.

· VAW major public health concern

· Currently in Canada – Women live longer than men – Have higher rates of illness and disability – More likely to seek medical care

· In many societies, women and girls are viewed and treated as socially inferior and are denied equal access to health care.

· Gender inequality also exposes women to sexual and domestic abuse. In the U.S., at least one in three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused.

· Physical abuse is a major cause of injury, disability and death among women.

CANADA Life expectancy at birth: total population: Females 81.48 years male: 78.89 years and in the United States, the live expectancy of U.S. women (80.4 years) is greater than that of U.S. men (75.4 years).

Canada – female born in 2002 could expect to live 83.2 years – male born in 2002 76.3 years (Ash 2001:53) in Mooney

In 2017 the life expectancy for the total Canadian population is projected to be 79 years for men and 83 years for women. Among the Aboriginal population the Inuit have the lowest projected life expectancy in 2017, of 64 years for men and 73 years for women. The Métis and First Nations populations have similar life expectancies, at 73-74 years for men and 78-80 years for women. Life expectancy projections show an average increase of one to two years from the life expectancy that was recorded for the Aboriginal population in 2001.

The lower life expectancy in men is caused by several factors: – A more dangerous work environment,

And Men engage in riskier behavior

Racial and Ethnic Minority Status – Aboriginal peoples:

· Life expectancy is seven to eight years shorter than non-Aboriginal Canadians – Infant mortality rate double that of non-Aboriginals

· Rate of accidental death and injury among children four times higher

· Death rates from birth defects, low birth weight, fetal alcohol syndrome, and respiratory illnesses higher

· Higher risk of violent death result of injuries, poisonings, and suicide

· In U.S. racial and ethnic minorities are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to rate their health as fair or poor.

· Non-Hispanic black men and women have higher rates of heart disease and associated complications.

· The highest rates of obesity are among black Americans, followed by Hispanics.

· Health disparities among racial/ethnic minorities is largely due to differences in income, education, housing, and access to health care. Health disparities are sometimes explained by differences in lifestyle behaviors. – Another factor could be the stress resulting from prejudice and discrimination.

· Finally, regarding mental health, research finds no significant difference among races in their overall rates of mental illness.

Problems in Canadian Health Care –

Unmet needs – Long waiting lists

· Wait times in Emergency Rooms

· Shortage of nurses, doctors and other health professionals

· Access to diagnostic equipment

· Shortage of hospital beds

Access to dental care – Just over 50% of Canadians have dental insurance.

The high Cost of Medications Canada had the second-highest per capita drug spending among eight comparator Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

Spending on prescription drugs is expected to total $33.7 billion in 2018, according to a new report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Of that total, $19.3 billion will come from private insurance and individuals paying out of pocket, while the remaining $14.4 billion will be financed by the public sector. As a whole, drug spending is just a portion of the projected $253.5 billion in total Canadian health spending in 2018.

By 2015 the United States had the highest per capita total drug spending at $1,011, followed by Switzerland $ 783, Germany $686, Canada at $669 with France at $583.

Based on 2009 OECD data, the United States had the highest per capita total drug spending at $1,145, followed by Canada at $890 and France at $767.

Out of these eight countries, Canada had the second-lowest share of total drug expenditure financed by the public sector. In 2009, the public sector funded 38.8% of total drug expenditure in Canada, compared with a high of 84.7% in the United Kingdom.

Total drug expenditure is estimated to have reached $32.0 billion in 2011, an increase of 4.0% over 2010; this was equal to $929 per Canadian in 2011. The share of total health dollars spent on drugs is forecast to have been 16% in 2011—the same percentage that was spent on drugs 10 years ago.

“Public/private split for prescribed drug spending remained stable

CIHI’s report shows that prescribed drugs accounted for almost 85% of total drug spending in Canada, at an estimated $27.2 billion in 2011. Spending on prescribed drugs is forecast to have increased by 4.7% over the previous year.

· Prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs and over the counter medicines not covered under Canada Health Act

· High-income Canadians more likely to have private insurance plans

· Likelihood of insurance coverage reduces with income levels – Four provinces provide universal drug plans

Overview of Health Care in Canada

Medicare – Socialized medicine

Government

· Controls the financing and organization

· Pays providers directly

· Guarantees equal access

· Allows some private care

Independent Physicians – Fee for service

Canada is expected to dole out $253.5 billion in total health spending in 2018, or about $6,839 per Canadian, according to a Canadian Institute for Health Information report.

It’s a 4.2 per cent increase over last year and adds up to almost 11.3 per cent of our gross domestic product, says the not-for-profit organization that studies national health care data.

Source Toronto Star, November 20, 2018

Two Tier Health Care?

· For

· Timely access

· Provinces helped with cost through the private sector

· Frees up space in public system

· Against

· Ability to pay vs. need

· Qualitative differences

· Won’t solve the problems in the public system

· Health care specialists would swallow extra cash with higher incomes

· Costs would be driven up as health care providers increase their charges (supply and demand)

Strategies for Action

· Improve Maternal and Infant Health

· HIV/AIDS Prevention and Alleviation

Health Promotion – Health and wellness education

· Change personal behaviours

· Good nutrition

· Exercise

· No smoking

Programs for People with Disabilities – Access varies between provinces

· Interest groups continue to draw attention to the health and social needs of the disabled

Telemedicine

· Uses communication technologies to deliver wide range of health care services

· Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention

· Health support and information, Education of health care workers

Benefits include:

· Improved access to health care in rural and remote areas

· Optimization of resources

· Reduce non-essential costs (e.g. travel)

· Reduced length of hospitalization, patients can be monitored at distance

· Selective primary health care focuses on using specific interventions to target specific health problems, such as promoting condom use to prevent HIV infections.

· Comprehensive primary health care focuses on the broader social determinants of health, such as poverty and economic inequality, gender inequality, environment, and community development.

Improving Maternal and Child Health – Childbearing at an early age involves higher risks for women and infants – Work together to protect women during pregnancy and childbirth

· Between 1990 and 2008, 147 countries had a decline in material mortality rates; 23 countries had an increase. (See more recent data above)

· Declines in maternal mortality can be attributed to several factors:

· Deliveries by skilled health workers

· Contraceptive Use

· Family Planning Services

· Decline in Child Marriage

· Education and Income

· Immunization Programs

IN USA – Safe Motherhood Initiative 1987

· Global partnership between governments, NGOs, agencies, donors, and women’s health advocates

HIV/AIDS Prevention and Alleviation Strategies

· Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent HIV infection. A number of other strategies are available to help prevent and treat HIV/AIDS:

· HIV/AIDS Education and Access to Condoms

· HIV Testing and Treatment

· Fighting Against HIV/AIDS Stigma and Discrimination

· Needle Exchange Programs

· Access to anti-viral drugs

· Financial and Medical Aid to Developing Countries

Public health messages encourage people to get tested for HIV. Are billboards like this appropriate? Why or why not?

REPORTED REASONS FOR NOT BEING HIV TESTED AMONG YOUNG ADULTS