Showing 41 - 59 of 59
Results for "China"
Results
Further interventions are needed to provide support (physical, psychological, technological, economic) to patients and caregivers. Studies showed that patients and caregivers have many physical, psychological, and economic unmet needs, with high rates of depression and poverty, and in some cases, rely on their young children or relatives to provide care with no outside support. Some studies show that caregivers suffer from stigma attached to caring for someone HIV-positive. [See also %{s:67}] Some studies showed that women have a lower quality of life than men. A study in a high HIV prevalence area showed that for women, lack of control in sexual decision-making was associated with depression, while for men, intergenerational sex was associated with depression.
Adolescents living with HIV need information and services through adolescent-friendly HIV services on a number of topics, including disclosure, safer sex, contraception, safe motherhood and gender-based violence. Studies found that health providers were unprepared to discuss HIV and contraception with adolescents who acquired HIV through perinatal transmission, despite the fact that significant numbers of these adolescents were already sexually active. Another study found that these adolescents need skills to disclose their serostatus to sexual partner. WHO recommends that perinatally infected adolescents be advised of their positive serostatus by age 6 (WHO, 2013) but there is little guidance on disclosure for adolescents. Facilitated disclosure by parents and providers to adolescents living with HIV may lead to higher retention in HIV care (Arrive et al., 2012). Parents living with HIV whose adolescents may be living with HIV also need assistance to disclose to their adolescents, as parents fear rejection from their children. Positive health dignity and prevention interventions can help people living with HIV lead healthy lives and reduce HIV transmission, but tailored interventions for adolescents and their parents have not been evaluated for effectiveness, although a trial is currently ongoing (Cunningham, 2015; Mofeson and Cotton, 2013). One study found that 29% of young women aged 16 to 24 living with HIV reported being forced to have sex. No validated curriculum that was shown to be effective for reducing unsafe sex among adolescents living with HIV was found, although some manuals have been developed (Parker et al., 2013c; UNESCO and GNP+, 2012).
Interventions are needed to reduce barriers to treatment adherence and to understand how these differ by sex. Increased research is needed to understand the most effective strategies to increase adherence. Studies found that a number of barriers that impact treatment adherence, such as violence, stigma, transport costs, childcare, forced migration, the need for food, the need to hide their medication from their male partners and changes in body image. Screening and treatment for depression may improve adherence, although some studies have shown mixed results. A review found that adherence differs by sex, but with little disaggregation for which factors affect women. Data collection should be more nuanced and not assume that women fall into static groups. A study of people living with HIV who disengaged from ART found that harsh and disrespectful treatment by providers, as well as competing work and livelihood demands, lack of funds for transport, etc. made attendance at ART clinics challenging.
Women Who Use Drugs and Female Partners of Men Who Use Drugs
Despite injecting drug use being a main driver of the HIV epidemic in many parts of the world, evaluated tailored responses for women who use drugs or for female sexual partners of men who use drugs have not matched the needs of this population. Injecting drug use is globally widespread and the main driver of the HIV epidemic in some parts of the world. Approximately 16 million people in 148 co...
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most often caused by a virus. The most common types of viruses are hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D and hepatitis E. "Hepatitis A and E are typically caused by ingestion of contaminated food or water and are not known to cause chronic liver disease" (WHO, 2010c). A vaccine exists for hepatitis A and a meta-analysis of eight studies fr...
Women Prisoners and Female Partners of Male Prisoners
"... Prisons have been largely neglected in the global response to the HIV pandemic" (Angora et al., 2011: 1244). Comprehensive HIV prevention, voluntary testing, care and treatment are often not provided in pretrial detention, even where these services exist in the community (Csete, 2011). "Many prison systems limit access to antiretroviral therapy, according to country reports to UNAIDS" (UNA...
Reducing Stigma and Discrimination
"...Three decades into the epidemic, stigmatization remains a core feature of the patient experience of HIV/AIDS" (Gilbert and Walker, 2010: 144). Or as one woman living with HIV in Thailand put it: "It does not matter how many thousand people have HIV/AIDS... I would say that only zero percent will accept people living with HIV/AIDS" (Liamputtong et al., 2009: 865). Stigma and discrimination h...
Transforming Gender Norms
Gender norms stand in the way of reducing HIV; indeed, a recent study states that, "The global HIV pandemic in its current form cannot be effectively arrested without fundamental transformation of gender norms" (Dunkle and Jewkes, 2007: 173). As former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated: "Achieving our objectives for global development will demand accelerated efforts to achieve gend...
Partner Reduction
Multiple sexual partnerships have long been a concern in HIV prevention programming, which has focused on partner reduction. Multiple partnerships bring increased risk of HIV acquisition: A meta-analysis of 68 epidemiological studies from 1986 to 2006 with 17,000 HIV-positive people and 73,000 HIV-negative people found that women who reported three or more sex partners had three times as much l...
Orphans and Vulnerable Children
In some countries, three generations have been affected by HIV (Oladokun et al., 2010a). Even as incidence declines, there is a clear need to continue meeting the needs of children orphaned and made vulnerable due to HIV and AIDS.
"Nowadays there is a deadly disease called AIDS. This disease is only treated but not cured. Anyone can be infected -- male, female, young, old, rich, poor, educated...
Increasing Access to Services
While the literature on access to HIV services by adolescents is limited, the literature on access to sexual and reproductive health services more broadly demonstrates that youth-friendly approaches can increase use of reproductive health care services by female adolescents (Gay et al., 2015). Young peoples service needs are frequently overlooked in HIV programming that is not specifically for ...
Meeting the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of Women Living With HIV
Given that most HIV transmission occurs through sexual intercourse, it is critical to include a sexual and reproductive health lens in HIV programming. In fact, several European governments have recently revised their international policies, recognizing that HIV/AIDS is a sexual and reproductive health issue (Germain et al., 2009).
All women have the right to decide freely and responsibly on t...
Prevention for Women
In this era of great strides forward in treatment, it is important not to lose sight of the continued need to undertake a range of interventions to prevent HIV transmission. An estimated 2.7 million people newly acquired HIV infection in 2010, as they did for each of the years 2009, 2008 and 2007, down from 3.1 million people in 2002 (WHO et al., 2011b). However, even with all this encouraging ...
HIV Testing and Counseling for Women
Knowing ones HIV serostatus is the first step in getting the appropriate treatment and care. According to UNAIDS, fewer than 40% of those living with HIV are aware of their serostatus (UNAIDS, 2010c). In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, more than 80% of people living with HIV do not know their positive serostatus (Anand et al., 2009). Global consensus exists that greater knowledge of HIV status is ...