The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in San Juan cannot be ignored due to the dangers it poses to the public, the alarming rate at which new people are getting affected and the number of death being reported on a daily basis (CDC, 2011). Thus, this health promotion initiative proposal which its main objectives is to create public awareness on HIV/AIDS, getting people to go for testing and establishment of health facilities is essential to curb the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in San Juan. As of 2012, it is estimated that 19,067 people in San Juan were diagnosed to be living with HIV/AIDS (AIDSVu, 2015). In 2013, it is reported that there were 743 new HIV infections while in US, it was 47,352 (AIDSVu, 2015). On the other hand, according to CDC, 1.2 million people in the United State, are confirmed to be affected and living with HIV. This is from the persons of age 13 years and above (CDC, 2015). Similar to San Juan, in United State the main cause of infections are injections drug users and heterosexual intercourse. This proposal focuses on a population of 395,326 people in San Juan (Suburban Stats, 2015). There are has no significant demographic differences compared to United State, for example the population below five years of age is 5.6% to 6.0%, but there is a great difference in income levels where an average person in San Juan earns US$ 21,611 and United State is US$ 53,046 (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2014). Thus, from the statistics, it is important to implement this program as soon as possible to prevent the escalation of the HIV diagnosis beyond control.
SWOT ANALYSIS
For an effective management of any program and leading it to achieve its objectives, it is important to carry out an assessment of its internal and external environments to identify factors which have significant effects on its operations and which have the potential of preventing or supporting the project in realizing its goals (Hill, 2015). It is appropriate to check how the project will perform in future once it is launched and how to can be sustained throughout its lifetime. One of the tools which can be used to assess the viability of a project is SWOT analysis. Thus, SWOT looks at the internal strength which can help at initiative overcome difficulties it is facing, and also, the weakness which can affect the success of the project. The external environment can offer the initiative opportunities such resources, political support and healthy social assistance. It can also be a threat such as hostile political environment, natural disaster, and strict regulations. Thus, it is vital to identify these factors to ensure a program achieve its purpose. Additionally, this will help the project to be competitive with other similar project and help it minimize potential adverse risk which could affect the program in future (Hill, 2015). As such, SWOT analysis is a critical tool which can be used to assess the credibility, worthiness, and viability of the initiative. This tool checks the strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats exposed to the initiative throughout its lifespan (Hill, 2015).
Strength
The program will depend hugely on health practitioners in creating HIV/AIDS awareness in all corners of San Juan. HIV/AIDS is a health problem which health practitioners are well familiar with and informed on how to address the epidemic adequately. Therefore, this will act as strength to the initiative since there is no need to train new facilitators who will educate the public about HIV/AIDS. The level of education and literacy level in San Juan is high since High school graduates are above 74.1 %, however, this is lower compared to United State which is 86.0% (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2014). Therefore, health practitioners and volunteers will not experience difficulties in educating the public. Additionally, the initiative will not be affected by problems associated with low literacy level. Organizations such as the CDC have carried extensive research and provide adequate data on what factors contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS such as heterosexual contact and injection drug use (CDC, 2011). Thus, this forms the foundation where this project can start addressing the epidemic. The geographical and population of San Juan is not big compared to United State, hence, it would cost less and take few days to cover the whole city.
Weakness
The biggest weakness exposed to the initiative is cultural and religious beliefs. Catholic faithful does not encourage the use of condoms during intercourse. Health practitioners of catholic faith will experience difficulties in advising the public to use condoms. The initiative may lack adequate testing kits and, on the other hand, the public may not have trust on the testing kits. Since Puerto Rico is a poor country compared to the United States, the initiative may lack advance technologies and lab equipment to test and offer treatment to HIV/AIDS patients. The income per household in San Juan is lower than United State as mention above in the introduction.
Opportunity
There are already existing organizations which are engaged in HIV/AIDS awareness initiatives such as CDC, hence, this initiative will not appear strange or face resistance. There are also health facilities which test and give counseling to public concerning HIV/AIDS, hence, these already existing institution can act as temporary stations for the initiative before constructions of permanent stations and rehabilitation facilities for this program. The San Juan is a peaceful city and there no reports of political unrest. The political unrest, wars and strikes have the potential of disrupting the activities of the programs. Thus, due to non-existence of these adverse events, this offers an opportunity for the initiative to carry out its activities without difficulties or incur any financial loss.
Threat
The initiative may lack funds, resources and donations to start the rehabilitation center and health facilities to provide adequate care to HIV/AIDS patients. Donor and Humanitarian organizational such as WHO and Red cross may decline to offer support and resources to the program hence due to lack of this, the initiative may not take off. Due to poverty prevalence in San Juan, the government may not have enough funds to finance the program, build new facilities, pay health workers and provide syringes to drugs users. Bad weather and other natural disasters such as earthquake may hamper the activities of the initiative. The funds which were located for the project may be diverted to address and offer humanitarian help to the victims who have been affected by the disaster. The culture and religious believe may offer resistance to the initiative. Catholics faithful may not support the activities of the initiative since they are against condom use. Thus, they move to court to seek court orders to prevent the implementation of the program.
Social and economic determinants
The immediate environments where people live have a significant impact on individuals and communities wellbeing. The quality of life and health status of individuals is determined by the circumstances and the actual status of the environment (WHO, 2015). It is appropriate to acknowledge that it is hardly possible for any individual to have full control of these determinants which include, physical, economical and social environment coupled with individuals characteristics. As such economic factors have great influence in determining access to better health care whereas factors like low education are linked to poverty, low paying jobs, poor diet, high-stress levels, poor health state and low self-esteem which can lead to depression (WHO, 2015). Poverty can lead to increase in prostitution and sharing of syringes (CDC, 2011). Social support and cultural beliefs have a notable effect on person’s perception on health and general wellbeing. Genetic makeup and inheritance play a significant role in determining individual’s vulnerability to certain illnesses and coping skills to life stressors (WHO, 2015). The physical environment such as clean water, air and safe and healthy working place contribute immensely to good health (WHO, 2015).
Direct and indirect financial consequences
For this initiative to be successful, it requires adequate funding and resources to carry its operations effectively (Dixon et al., 2013). Activities like public health promotion, HIV testing, adverts, and posters require funds and resources such as vehicles, public address systems and papers for them to be successful. Employees, who will be carrying out various activities of the initiative, need salaries and other bonuses to cater for their personal needs. Adequate salaries will act as motivation for the workers of the initiative. Thus, there is need to allocate enough funds to cater for wages and salaries. There are also cost associated with transports, building health facilities, testing kits, drugs, adverts, posters and public address systems. If the management team cannot secure these resources, donations and funds the project cannot be implemented adequately (Dixon et al., 2013). Thus, there is need to lobby the government, donors and well-wishers to support the program through provisions of essential equipment and funds to run the operations of the program.
References
AIDSVu. (2015). San Juan - Caguas - Guaynabo MSA - AIDSVu. Retrieved from http://aidsvu.org/state/puerto-rico/san-juan/
CDC. (2011). Puerto Rico Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/prevention_demonstrations_echpp_pr_plan1.pdf
CDC. (2015). Statistics Overview | Statistics Center | HIV/AIDS | CDC. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/overview/
Dixon, J., Scura, L., Carpenter, R., & Sherman, P. (2013). Economic analysis of environmental impacts. Routledge.
Hill, B. (2015). Why Perform a SWOT Analysis? | Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/perform-swot-analysis-5050.html
Suburban Stats. (2015). San Juan, Puerto Rico Population 2014, 2015. Retrieved from https://suburbanstats.org/population/puerto-rico/how-many-people-live-in-san-juan
U.S. Department of Commerce. (2014). Income in Puerto Rico Holds Steady After Recession. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2014/cb14-17.html
WHO. (2015). WHO | The determinants of health. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/hia/evidence/doh/en/
