Worldwide, rates of sexually transmitted infections among young people are soaring: one-third of the 340 million new STIs each year occur in people under 25 years of age. Each year, more than one in every 20 adolescents contracts a curable STI. More than half of all new HIV infections occur in people between the ages of 15 to 24 years. The sexual health needs for adolescent girls are generally overlooked, Stigma and vulnerability affects particular groups of men as well as women. Although men generally have more access to information on sexual issues than women, and more decision-making power regarding sexual behavior, Access to information, and treatment for other infections which facilitate the transmission of HIV and onset of AIDS, including sexually transmitted infections, are limited because of weak public health services, health workers' negative attitudes, and the high cost of treatment.
There is a vaccine called Menactra which is recommended by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the CDC, there are no major side effects from the vaccine, which does not contain the live virus. The vaccine is made from a protein of the bacteria that allows the body to build the appropriate antibodies. Should the body ever encounter the live bacteria, it will recognize it and be ready to fight it. The vaccine lasts up to ten years.
Alive and Well AIDS Alternatives is an AIDS dissident movement that was started by Christine Maggiore, a HIV patient who was diagnosed in 1992. When Christine found out that she was HIV positive, she was a little confused because she did not exhibit any symptoms of her illness. Even seven years after her diagnosis, she still felt alive and well without the use of antiretroviral drugs. She created Alive and Well to try to speak to others in the same predicament and let them know that they would be alright, even without taking the drugs the mainstream medical community professed would help them.
More specifically, this report showed that the occurrence of pregnant woman with AIDS dropped from 24.6 percent to 21.3 percent from 2002 to 2004. Possible explanation for the decline involved behavioral changes such as, safer sex practices and a decrease in sexual partners. Similarly, the Human Science Research Council (HSRC) released the results of a study in 2005 which linked the changes in South Africans' behaviors and a reduction in HIV prevalence. More importantly, these behavioral changes were a result of HIV/AIDS education and awareness (2005). This suggests that the "strong prevention programs implemented by a wide range of stakeholders" such as the South African Government, Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and Faith-based Organizations (FBOs) are having an impact on the South African AIDS pandemic. The key factor in developing and implementing programs aimed at combating AIDS in South Africa, is sustaining potential results. As AIDS prevalence and incidence decrease educational programs must continue to teach and promote safe sex, reducing the number of sexual partners, abstinence and condom use. With children, it is essential to begin teaching these elements early in life, which is why it is so crucial that the children can get to school and medical centers.
Children's medication in developing countries tends to be very expensive. Drug manufacturing companies are not as motivated to make medicines for poor countries as it is wealthier ones, because it does not pay enough (AVERT). There are not enough child appropriate antiretroviral treatments available for HIV/AIDS infected children. Not surprisingly, "HIV in children is rare in the developed world" (AVERT). The needs of developing countries include, drug treatments for children, staff specialist training and treatment and continued care treatment (2006).
Second, Talbott concluded that no other studies have shown why Africa as a continent experiences such higher rates of the virus compared to the rest of the world, with as many as 25% of the adult population being infected with AIDS in certain nations. But his study found that Africa as a whole has almost four times the number of prostitutes as the rest of the world, with the number of prostitutes in Africa being four times as infected as the rest of the world as well. Interestingly, as many as 7% of prostitutes in southern Africa are infected, while is other parts of the world, only .1% of the population is infected.
HIV and AIDS infections are present in people of every age-level and in every segment of society today. The person next to you on the bus, in the grocery store line-up, or playing with your child in the school yard may be infected. It's important that everyone knows, and that young people are informed about this dreadful disease and exactly how it is transmitted.
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