Week 7 HIV/AIDS Prevention Scenario

Title: Week 7 HIV/AIDS Prevention Scenario

Week 7 HIV/AIDS Prevention Scenario Thank you for coming to today's session.  The human immunodeficiency hello afternoon virus HIV and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome aids present massive global threats to human health.  And discussions about HIV and AIDS bring up many ethics’ issues based on the marginalized populations most affected by the disease because HIV and AIDS are tide to poverty the sex trade and other social issues that make progress difficult and education essential. The question we will be discussing today is what a media course or courses of action should we take to slow the spread of HIV and AIDS in Africa? We would like to come to a consensus on this matter and publicize our recommendations. our speakers today are doctor Williams and Doctor Meadows. Each had ideas about what we should recommend. Dr Meadows - we need to get more condoms into the less developed areas of Africa where aids is running rampant. Condom use decreases the likelihood of contracting HIV tenfold. we also need to address real world issues such as resistance in the supply chain. Of course, we want to stress education above all else, but education alone is nowhere near effective enough to combat this problem. Doctor Williams - I agree that condom use is vital, but we also need to implement mandatory HIV testing in some areas. it is potentially intrusive but without it no practical way exists to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS. mandatory testing would bring huge benefits to both individuals and society as the early detection and treatment of HIV has proven to be a successful way to limit the transmission of the virus to others and to improve the survival rates of HIV positive patients.  you mentioned resistance issues with the condom supply chain, and I agree.  some of the charitable organizations currently distributing goods in Africa refused to distribute condoms for religious reasons so we can't depend on condom distribution alone people who don't undergo testing will remain ignorant of their status and will continue to spread the infection in the community we must have mandatory testing to convince infected persons to use condoms. According to the World Health Organization there were about 2.3 million new infections in 2012 worldwide that's more than 6300 new HIV infections per day. Dr. Meadows - Circumventing a supply problem by committing a human rights violation is not an ethical solution doctor Williams. The inventory HIV testing would have disastrous consequences for a person whose results are disclosed publicly. it would expose HIV positive people to stigmas and dangers related to their profession’s sexual orientations or other fears. a mandatory HIV testing strategy ignores basic human rights to privacy and confidentiality as well as the concept of informed consent. testing should happen but it needs to be voluntary accessible and available with a guarantee that identifying information will not be released without consent.   Dr. Williams -The current average life expectancy in Zambia is 33 years. that's the lowest in the world and aids is a major contributing factor. mandatory testing can identify those who pose the greatest threat to the health of the population. we have to keep the greater good in mind here.  What good are policies if people are still dying in such huge numbers. I agree that education and condoms can be parts of the solution, but the tests must be done.   Doctor Williams a member of our audience wants to know if condom distribution programs work. Dr. Williams - 10 out of 11 Studies found that condom distribution programs increase condom use among participants. However, these studies rely on self-reported information regarding condom use. Now it's your turn to participate in this discussion consider the following responses and choose the one you believe to be the most ethical by selecting ABC or D on your responder you will need to be prepared to defend your position using the concepts and theories of ethics we've learned about in this course.

1. Doctor meadows is correct we need to start with the least invasive approaches such as awareness campaigns. abstinence campaigns also present no cost to personal liberties and should be part of that plan there is no question that abstinence works no sex means no sexuality transmitted disease the last thing we want to do is to encourage even more promiscuity than already exist.
2. I agree with doctor Meadows who have to address this problem in terms of tackling the supply chain problem and getting more condoms out to more people there is a real difficulty in getting people to change long held beliefs that prevent them from seeing that condom list reduction is ethical a travel education condom variability and voluntary testing should lead the charge here and we should always first consider testing programs that we can implement with the least possible harm to personal freedoms such as using codes rather than names to identify patients in order to keep their health information private and protected.
3. The likelihood that our recommendation will alter the Catholic churches position is closed to nil. we can hope that church will embrace the more liberal policy with regard to content distribution, but we can't make hope and ethical position. we should start a campaign to support the use of condoms and make it known to the public and to those who donate to charities. people should not donate to charitable groups with religious dictates that serve as public health impediments.
4. doctor Williams is right. testing is too important to ignore keeping testing voluntary will mean that the people who need to be tested the most will avoid being tested out of fear of the stigma associated with the disease some things come with a price and mandatory testing is the price we must pay to ensure a healthier population moving forward.