Download Research Paper on AIDS

Killer disease
According to U.S. Surgeon General Antonio Novelo. The average age for a girl in
the United States to have sexual intercourse for the first time is 16. The average age for a
boy is 15.5. It is estimated that 2.5 million teens are infected with sexually transmitted
diseases each year. This translates to one new infection every 13 seconds, some of which
will be HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). The Department of Human Services
reports that one in every 250 Americans is now infected with HIV infection and occurs
every 13 minutes. Sixty percent of all American high school seniors have used illegal
drugs, some of which injected. Sharing drug needles and syringes substantially increases
the risk of infection with HIV virus (Internet).
AIDS is not curable but it is preventable. We can prevent AIDS in various ways.
The following are the four major ways one can be protected: abstinence and controlling
risky sexual behavior, increase sex education in schools, family values which includes
increasing religious values, and safe sex.
Prevention Marketing Initiative (PMI) prevention messages encourages
abstinence, but the studies have shown that this term is interpreted differently to different
people. For some people, abstinence means voluntarily refraining from all sexual acts.
For HIV prevention and other public health purposes, abstinence may be defined as
refraining from practicing sexual activities that involve vaginal, anal, and oral
intercourse. Delaying the initiation of activity, or practicing abstinence is a valuable,
healthy behavior for young people. It also prevents unintended pregnancy and the
transmission of other sexually transmitted diseases (STD).
Any activity that allows the exchange of body fluids (semen, vaginal secretions,
or blood) could result in the transmission of HIV if one of the partners is infected. As
defined by PMI, any kind of penetrative sexual intercourse (vaginal, oral, or anal) that
latex condoms are not used, or not used correctly is called risky sexual behavior. Having
anal intercourse presents an increased risk for both homosexual men and heterosexual
women. Most heterosexual transmission occurs through vaginal intercourse, and in some
cases oral intercourse. (Harding, Paul The Essential AIDS Fact Book Pg. 7,14).
Enforcing sex education in schools is essential for high school students. When I
was in high school, in four years I only had 1.5 months of sex education, which is not
something that will help you to get the big pictures of HIV. Information about HIV will
help decrease the risk of getting infected by this terrible disease. There are many
youngsters with no education about HIV yet. According to World Health Organization
(WHO), there was no evidence of sex education leading to earlier or increased sexual
activity in young people who were exposed to it. Although there are a lot of myths about
this topic, in fact, six studies showed that sex education lead either to delay in the onset
of sexual activity or to a decrease in overall sexual activity. Ten of the studies showed
that education programs increased safer sex practices among young people who were
already sexually active. In addition, to the evaluation of school-based education
programs, the WHO report concluded that two public information programs evaluated,
showed no effect on the age of the first intercourse, no increase in sexual activity, and a
huge increase of the use of condoms and contraception (internet). After all the facts show
that AIDS is the leading cause of death among Americans between 25-45 years of age.
Every hour numbers increase. From 1993 through 1994, AIDS deaths in this age group
rose from 28,100 to 30,300. We need to teach our young generation about this fatal
disease (internet).
According to PMI the definition for “risky sexual behavior” is a sexual
intercourse with either the absence of a condom or no use of it. Another way of
preventing HIV is practicing SAFE SEX. Dr. Michael Merson, Executive Director of the
WHO said, “Of course, the condom remains the primary means of the preventing HIV
transmission. However, faced with the prospect of at least an additional one million
women infected worldwide the HIV each year.” It is clear that the majority of Americans
want strong prevention messages that include information on condoms. A 1995 Public
Opinion Poll found that nearly eighty percent of Americans believe information on
condoms should be aired on television. Condoms are not 100% safe, but if used properly,
can reduce the risk of getting AIDS during an intercourse. According to many doctors,
“Protecting yourself against the AIDS virus is of special concern because this disease is
fatal and has no cure.”(internet) About two-thirds of the people with AIDS in the United
States got the disease during an sexual intercourse with an infected partner. Experts
believe that this could have been avoided by using condoms. Condoms are used for birth
controls and reducing the risk of the disease. A lot of people think other forms of birth
control like diaphragm, cervical cap, or pills will protect them against HIV, but they are
mislead. Most of those are for birth control only.
Condoms are physical barriers against HIV transmission but they are not 100%
dependable. Condoms can have holes or cracks that are invisible. They break or slip off.
Most of the time when condoms brake it’s because the lack of lubrication. Lubrication is
very important to prevent condom breakage. In case of condom breakage there should
always be a backup protection like spermecides, which kills the fluids, and contraceptive
jells. Even if condom doesn’t brake, it safer to apply those to increase the protection. The
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strongly recommends to buy condoms that are
made out of latex, which is a form of rubber. The condoms that are natural and made of
skin of lamb’s intestines are not as effective as latex kind. The membrane surfaces in the
intestines are permeable, which means that some large, biological molecules are able to
pass through the material. In FDA laboratory experiments, some viruses are able to pass
through the natural membrane condoms. Therefore, it is very important to choose a
condom that has sign on it that states “Disease Prevention” on the package. It is very
important not to use a damaged condom (Antonio, Gene The AIDS Cover-up? Pg. 96).
Parents play an influential role in their kid’s sex life. According to many health
organizations when a mother had her first intercourse when she was young the chances
are very high for her daughter to follow her in similar footsteps. For boys, most of the
time when they use the phrase, “I have a cool dad,” it means that their dad doesn’t pay
attention to them and they have the freedom to engage on such activities as, having sex,
doing drugs, and hanging with the wrong crowd. It is very important for parents to
discuss with their kids about this fatal disease. The problem is, the parents have a difficult
time communicating about such topics. Dr. Chris Jennings has a tip for starting a
conversation. “The media. You can find plenty of clues in the media, which give HIV and
AIDS a lot of attention. Look for stories about AIDS and advertisements about HIV
prevention on television, on the radio, in newspapers, and in magazines. Start the
conversation by commenting on one of them or asking how he or she feels about this.”
He also has a tip on how to run the conversation smoothly. He said, “It can be a
challenge. You may feel uncomfortable just thinking about it. That’s understandable. If
you are nervous or embarrassed, don’t be afraid to say so. Bringing your feelings into the
open can help break the tension. Besides a young person can sense your uneasiness even
if you don’t mention it.” (internet).
Church also plays a great role in teen life. Teaching kids Christianity can result in
a positive change by opening their eyes to the world of faith. Most churches have turned
to a single message, which is abstinence. Abstinence is very important, but not everybody
will fall for abstinence alone. According to United Methodist Church, “We need to
maintain a faithful ministry of compassion and education before and after persons
become ill, but we have not always been able to do honest education about HIV
transmission. We have sometimes preferred ignorance and denial to honesty and
forthrightness.” The phrase, “That sort of stuff doesn’t go on here,” that a lot of churches
say and believe it can be deadly from of denial. Some churches say that, “We need to
face the honesty and the truth Teenagers are sexually active, including youth in our
churches.” The United Methodist Church, as a denomination and as individual members,
is not content to sit back, watch people become infected with this fatal disease, and do
nothing. “We cherish life too much.” They say, “We are a redemptive, saving
community, but we have more to do, especially with teens (Antonio, Gene The AIDS
Cover-Up? Pg. 63).
Many times people, especially parents of young teens, try to ignore the subject of
AIDS, HIV and sex. They think their kids are too good and they won’t do anything like
that. In other words they are afraid of the subject. But, everyone has to face the reality of
the matter. Kids are having sex at a surprisingly young age, so it’s the parent’s
responsibility to watch out for their kids and teaching them the right thing to do. Teachers
and school can only teach the kids so much. After that parents should take responsibility
for bringing their kids up on the right track.
AIDS is fatal. Teens are being infected with HIV at an alarming rate. To the
present day there is no cure for this fatal disease. Sex education, safe sex, risky sexual
behavior, and the role of the parents play a very big role for us by giving the information
that we need to prevent HIV and AIDS. However we are the ones that are going to make
the final decision. After all, we are aware of the consequences. It takes a lot of strength to
play by the rules. If we don’t play by the rules we are going to lose. AIDS is not curable
but it is preventable so think about this.