The Social Determinants of HIV/AIDS among African-American Women in the Southern States
Introduction
HIV/AIDS is a serious condition that has led to numerous cases of deaths among the people of the United States. The epidemic has a higher prevalence among the African-American population thus presenting a risk factor for the children growing up. HIV condition holds a huge stigma among many people and as a result, it is not easy to discover that people are suffering from this condition. Consequently, many people end up becoming victims due to the fact that, the HIV positive population is unable to speak up and ensure that the condition is not spread among other people in the society. Additionally, careless sexual practices among men and women in the society present a risk to the people of contracting the disease.
The paper looks at HIV/AIDS condition among the African-American women in the southern states. HIV/AIDS prevalence is seen to be high among the African-American women in the southern states more than any other states in the U.S.
Analysis
The HIV condition among the people is facilitated by numerous socio-economic factors. The African-American women in the southern states experience a high prevalence of the epidemic. The Deep South states have had the highest number of HIV cases in the U.S. according to a research conducted. Nine of the states in the south have the highest numbers of people living with HIV which represent the highest rates in the country. Poverty and stigma are notes as the main contributors to the increasing cases of new infections in the states (Reif et al., 2014).
According to center for disease control and prevention, the African-American population in the United States makes one half of the new cases of HIV which shows that, the disease is high among the black population. On the other hand, the largest numbers of infections occur among gays and lesbians (Wiltz, 2016). Statistics from the CDC conducted in 2009 show that 50% of the people who are newly diagnosed with HIV infection have resided in one or more of the southern states. Women from the African-American ethnicity are shown to be the largest number of people presenting new cases of HIV infection. Around 70% of the total women in the south diagnosed with HIV were found to be of African American ethnicity (Reif et al., 2014).
Social Determinants of HIV in the Southern States
The black women in the southern states are among the highly infected people in the country. The southern states in which the prevalence is high include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Los Angeles, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina (Reif et al., 2014). So there are numerous social determinants that contribute to the increasing rates of infections among the African-American women in the southern states. Some of the factors include;
Stigma – Many women are afraid of getting HIV tests from the available healthcare facilities. As a result, there are a number of women who are already infected with the virus but are unaware. The women end up having unprotected sex with HIV negative men who resultantly get infected. It is important for persons to avoid the stigma that comes with the virus. When individuals get tested, they are able to know whether they will infect their partners and the risk they stand of spreading the infection to other people. Persons are thus able to take precautions while having sex and interacting with others reducing the risk factors of getting infected with the disease (Wiltz, 2016).
Poverty – poverty in the society can be termed as a main contributor to HIV among the minority ethnic women in the southern states. Due to poverty, there are numerous cases of crime. People tend to use crime as a way to escape from poverty. Women engage in sex with men to earn a living. Most of the women who engage in sex for money do not use protection due to the demands from their clients. Consequently, they risk getting infected with the virus which in turn takes back the risk to their families. Poverty thus creates a high HIV infection risk for women in the southern states (Reif et al., 2014).
Drug Abuse – The social life among the black population is coupled with the use of hard drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin. All these drugs have serious addictive effects on the people (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2016). The use of drugs presents people with the risk of getting infected with HIV in many ways which include;
First, drugs addicts from the lower social class in the society need to ensure that they keep consuming drugs to ensure that they do not suffer from withdrawal symptoms. However, these addicts lack the money to buy drugs. The black women from the southern states thus engage in sex to ensure that they keep their addition and avoid withdrawal. As a result, these women expose themselves to the risk of HIV infection from the people whom they try to get drugs from and money to buy drugs.
Secondly, HIV infection is easily spread through sharing needles with infected people. Cocaine and heroin users tend to share their injections to ensure that the drug does not go to waste. Sharing of the drug needles leads to increased risk of infection of the disease among the African-American women in the southern states. Poverty is also a major contributor towards this vice of sharing needles for drugs since people are unable to afford drugs and need to share to economize the consumption.
Lastly, drug abuse leads to increased cases of crimes such as rape in the society. In many cases, people tend to act in desperation with their lives presenting others with the risk of infection. Rape cases in the southern states are high as the weak women are forced into sex by men who might be infected with the virus. According to CDC, South Carolina is one of the country’s HIV risk zones due to the cases of drug abuse in the state (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2016).
Lack of Proper Health Education – Health education is an important factor with regards to ensuring that the people are aware of the risk of HIV infection. HIV infections can be stopped through the use of prevention mechanisms such us ensuring that there is condom usage while engaging in sex. However, some people lack proper health education that would provide them with the basics of protecting their health. Learning the basic ways to prevent infections would help reduce new cases of HIV among the African-American women in the southern states (Adimora et al., 2006).
Conclusion and Recommendation
The southern states account for the largest number of HIV prone areas in the United States with statistics from the CDC showing that, there are the highest number of deaths and the highest number of people living with HIV in the southern states of the United States. It is important for prevention mechanisms to be taken forth to ensure that the spread of the epidemic is minimized. The research has shown that the spread of the virus among the African-American women is largely attributed to poverty, stigma, drug abuse and lack of proper health education. These social determinants need to be suppressed which will resultantly suppress the spread of the infection.
References
Adimora, A. A., Schoenbach, V. J., & Doherty, I. A. (2006). HIV and African Americans in the southern United States: sexual networks and social context. Sexually transmitted diseases, 33(7), S39-S45.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (2016). Who Is at Risk for HIV Infection and Which Populations Are Most Affected?:Drugabuse.gov. Retrieved 2 August 2016, from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/hivaids/who-risk-hiv-infection-which-populations-are-most-affected
Reif, S., Pence, B., Hall, I., Hu, X., Whetten, K., & Wilson, E. (2014). HIV Diagnoses, Prevalence and Outcomes in Nine Southern States. Journal Of Community Health, 40(4), 642-651. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10900-014-9979-7
Wiltz, T. (2016). Poverty, anti-gay bias, inadequate health insurance has made Southern states the epicenter of HIV/AIDS. Washington Post. Retrieved 2 August 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/southern-states-are-now-epicenter-of-hivaids-in-the-us/2014/09/22/9ac1525a-39e6-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html
