Immune System Diseases Commons^™

Hiv-Positive Inmates Released From Nevada’S Prisons In 2001: Results From Matching Health Division And Corrections’ Databases, Paul G. Devereux, Kristen Clements-Nolle, Sharon Clodfelter, Jessey Bargmann-Losche, Miguel Feroro, Wei Yang

Nevada Journal of Public Health

It is estimated that about one quarter of all HIV-infected individuals in the United States are released from a correctional facility each year. To better understand the needs of inmates with HIV exiting the prison system, a partnership with the Nevada State Health Division (NSHD), the Nevada Department of Corrections (DOC), and the University of Nevada, Reno School of Public Health was formed to examine this population using information contained in existing databases. An analysis of DOC data matched with the data from the HIV/AIDS Reporting System (HARS) maintained by the NSHD identified 2,802 HIV-negative inmates (2,451 males and 350 …

Unruly Corporeality: Aids, Immigration And The Imagined Australian Body, Zoë Anderson

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Particular bodies within the Australian nation can be seen to threaten to disrupt and destabilize dominant notions of cultural citizenship. Understood through intricate intersections of ethnicity, gender and sexuality, 'Australianness' - and its correlation to the geographical nation - is constantly monitored. Crucial here is the manner in which boundaries of whiteness, and 'true Australianess', are reconstituted, fuelling avoidance of the ambiguities of national belonging and ensuring the enduring pathologisation of the 'un'Australian. In particular, discursive associations between HIV/AIDS and the 'foreign' as perceived contaminates to the nation operate to reinforce these understandings. Here, the threat of disease both informs, …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Shane Bevell, David Ashley, Cate Weeks, Jennifer Lawson

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Reducing Aids-Related Stigma And Discrimination In Indian Hospitals, Vaishali Sharma Mahendra, Laelia Gilborn, Bitra George, Luke Samson, Rupa Mudoi, Sarita Jadav, Indrani Gupta, Shalini Bharat, Celine Daly

HIV and AIDS

People living with HIV/AIDS in India, as elsewhere, face stigma and discrimination in a variety of contexts. Research in India has shown that stigma and discrimination against HIV-positive people and those perceived to be infected are common in hospitals and act as barriers to seeking and receiving critical treatment and care services. Recognizing the need to move beyond documentation of the problem, three New Delhi hospitals; SHARAN, an Indian NGO; and the Horizons program, with support from the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), carried out an operations research project to develop and test responses to hospital-based stigma and discrimination against …

Promoting More Gender-Equitable Norms And Behaviors Among Young Men As An Hiv/Aids Prevention Strategy, Julie Pulerwitz, Gary Barker, Marcio Segundo, Marcos Nascimento

HIV and AIDS

The Population Council and the Promundo Institute studied the effectiveness of interventions in Brazil designed to change the attitudes of young men in relation to gender norms and reducing the risk of contracting HIV/STIs. One conclusion of the study was the recognition of the importance of engaging young people (men and women) in the issue of gender relations and the risks of HIV contamination. The results of the study indicate that addressing inequitable gender norms, particularly those that define masculinity, can be an important element of HIV prevention strategies. These findings suggest that group education interventions can successfully influence young …

Abc Messages For Hiv Prevention In Kenya: Clarity And Confusion, Barriers And Facilitators, Julie Pulerwitz, Tiffany Lillie, Louis Apicella, Ann P. Mccauley, Tobey C. Nelson, Simon Ochieng, Peter Mwarogo, Karusa Kiragu, Edward Kunyanga

HIV and AIDS

The Horizons Program and FHI/IMPACT developed a collaborative research study to explore how adults and youth in Kenya define and perceive the ABC (abstinence/being faithful/consistent condom use) terms and behaviors. Additional objectives of the study were to identify attitudes and norms around the ABC behaviors that influence perceptions of them, and the role of important actors in transmitting messages about them. Findings highlight potential challenges in promoting each of the ABC behaviors, as well as some positive elements that can be built upon when developing programs. HIV prevention programs that incorporate ABC messages—both in Kenya and elsewhere—should consider a number …

Examining Adherence And Sexual Behavior Among Patients On Antiretroviral Therapy In India, Avina Sarna, Indrani Gupta, Sanjay Pujari, A.K. Sengar, Rajiv Garg, Ellen Weiss

HIV and AIDS

With increased availability of ART, HIV-positive individuals are living healthier lives and continuing or resuming sexual activity. However, optimism related to ART’s success in slowing disease progression, reducing viral load, and improving health status may lead to more risky sexual practices and a possible increase in transmission of infections. To determining the sexual behavior of HIV-positive persons on ART, the Horizons program, in collaboration with research partners in Delhi and Pune, conducted a study to assess current levels of adherence to ART among a sample of people living with HIV/AIDS, identify the factors that influence their adherence to treatment, and …

Orphans And Vulnerable Youth In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe: An Exploratory Study Of Psychosocial Well-Being And Psychosocial Support, Laelia Gilborn, Louis Apicella, Jonathan Brakarsh, Linda Dube, Kyle Jemison, Mark Kluckow, Tricia Smith, Leslie M. Snider

HIV and AIDS

This Population Council Horizons report presents findings from an exploratory study by the Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative and Catholic Relief Services’ Support to Replicable, Innovative Village/Community-level Efforts Program of vulnerable youth living in and around Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It describes their demographic characteristics, exposure to stress and trauma, and psychosocial well-being. The report also highlights the relationships between psychosocial well-being outcomes and exposure to stress and trauma, and the differences in psychosocial well-being between males and females, orphaned and nonorphaned youth, and younger and older adolescents. The report concludes with program and research implications.

Exploring Current Practices In Pediatric Arv Rollout And Integration With Early Childhood Programs In South Africa: A Rapid Situation Analysis, Desiree Michaels, Brian Eley, Lewis Ndhlovu, Naomi Rutenberg

HIV and AIDS

This Horizons program report describes the status of pediatric HIV treatment in selected sites in South Africa, identifies gaps in service delivery, and proposes recommendations for strengthening services and expanding children’s access to treatment. The study provides much needed information on critical issues of pediatric HIV care, especially regarding health service and contextual issues surrounding the expansion of access to treatment for HIV-infected children, and key factors that facilitate sustainability of treatment by young children. The aims of the study were to identify successful program strategies in pediatric HIV treatment in South Africa and to determine priority knowledge gaps to …

Religious And Denominational Problems In Nevada, Noel Tiano

Social Health of Nevada Reports

Ever since the earliest civilizations, humans have sought to make sense of their relationship with other beings, the universe, and the unknown through religious beliefs and practices. Shamans and healers interpreted phenomena for their followers, nuns cared for the sick and dying, ministers spearheaded anti-slavery movements, and religious activists joined campaigns for prison reform, worked for charitable organizations, and promoted novel educational institutions. Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama and other world leaders with strong religious convictions have shown us what love in action means

Inside Unlv, Shane Bevell

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Suicide Trends And Prevention In Nevada, Matt Wray

Social Health of Nevada Reports

Suicide has been around for as long as human society and it continues to challenge our collective wisdom. Consider this data provided by the National Institute of Medicine:

• Each year about one million people commit suicide worldwide.
• Every year some 30,000 Americans end their lives by suicide, and approximately 650,000 people receive emergency treatment after attempting suicide.
• Every 41 seconds someone in the U.S. attempts suicide; every 16.7 minutes, someone completes suicide; and every day over 85 people die by suicide.
• Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S. and the third leading cause of death among …

Problem Gambling And Treatment In Nevada, Bo Bernhard

Social Health of Nevada Reports

For many years, it was moral experts, rather than medical and academic ones, who told us who gambled “too much.” Speaking from pulpits rather than podiums, church leaders informed us that gambling was uniquely subversive of the American way of life, for its something-for-nothing promise threatened to undermine the popular ethic of honest toil and gradual accumulation of goods. Samuel Hopkins, in an 1835 sermon on “The Evils of Gambling,” captured this sensibility: “Let the gambler know that he is watched, and marked; and that . . . he is loathed. Let the man who dares to furnish a resort …

Teen Sexuality And Pregnancy In Nevada, Marta Meana, Lea Thaler

Social Health of Nevada Reports

The United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the fully industrialized world. While the rates have been declining in the last 15 years, it remains a source of concern that

• 34% of teenage girls in the U.S. are becoming pregnant at least once before the age of 20.
• The teen pregnancy in the U.S. rate is ten times that of Japan, four times those of France and Germany, and nearly twice that of Great Britain.

Diseases Prevalence And Behavioral Choices In Nevada, Mary Guinan, Chad L. Cross, Lawrence Sands

Social Health of Nevada Reports

Determining the health of a state population is a complex task. It involves knowing at least the prevalence of various diseases and conditions as well as the leading causes of death and disability compared to a national mean or median. The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Since health is affected by numerous social, economic, environmental, and cultural factors, these factors must also be considered when examining the health status of a population. All attempts to rank states in health are limited …

Health Care Access And Insurance Availability In Nevada, Charles B. Moseley, Michelle Sotero

Social Health of Nevada Reports

According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM),

• Approximately 18,000 Americans die prematurely every year, solely because they lack health insurance coverage (Institute of Medicine, 2004).
• The IOM estimates that the aggregate cost of increased morbidity and mortality due to un-insurance in the U.S. is between $65 billion and $130 billion per year.
• Costs to the health care system can be measured conservatively in terms of the value of uncompensated care provided to the uninsured, estimated at almost $35 billion in 2001, of which $24 billion was provided by hospitals.

Access to medical care is not a constitutional right in the …

Inside Unlv, Erin O'Donnell, Carol C. Harter, Cate Weeks, Nancy Syzdek

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Reducing The Transmission Of Hiv And Sexually Transmitted Infections In A Mining Community: Findings From The Carletonville Mothusimpilo Intervention Project: 1998 To 2001, Lewis Ndhlovu, Catherine Searle, Johannes Van Dam, Yodwa Mzaidume, Bareng Rasego, Solly Moema

HIV and AIDS

The Horizons program, in collaboration with the Center for Scientific and Industrial Research, the South African Institute for Medical Research, and the London School of Economics, conducted an intervention study in the mining town of Carletonville, South Africa to examine the social determinants of the HIV epidemic, and to assess the impact of a targeted program of HIV and STI prevention and service delivery. The project did not reduce STI prevalence or HIV prevalence, as changing sexual behavior is far more complex than educating individuals about HIV. The report recommends interventions to support behavioral change education, STI treatment, the role …

Programming For Hiv Prevention In South African Schools: A Report On Program Implementation, Priscilla Reddy, Shegs James, Ann P. Mccauley

HIV and AIDS

An evaluation study conducted in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, provides important insights into whether learners who participated in a fact-based, interactive course had more knowledge about HIV risks, prevention, and care practices; more positive attitudes toward prevention practices and people living with HIV and AIDS; and a higher prevalence of reported safe behaviors than comparable learners who did not participate in the course. Results show that the Life Skills Grade 9 Curriculum had a positive impact of students’ knowledge of HIV/AIDS, attitudes about abstinence, and intention to use condoms. There was, however, no evidence of increased adoption of such protective …

Understanding The Hiv/Sti Risks And Prevention Needs Of Men Who Have Sex With Men In Nairobi, Kenya, Washington Onyango-Ouma, Harriet Birungi, Scott Geibel

HIV and AIDS

Despite increasing awareness of the role men who have sex with men (MSM) can play in the dynamics of HIV transmission in Africa, research on MSM in Kenya has been limited. In response to this gap, researchers from the Institute of African Studies at the University of Nairobi and the Horizons and FRONTIERS programs of the Population Council undertook a study of MSM in Nairobi. The overall goals of the study were to understand the extent to which MSM are at risk of HIV and other STIs, identify the factors associated with risk behaviors, and identify MSM sexual health needs …

'The Aids Is Coming And There Is Nowhere To Run...': Culture, Gender, And The Politics Of Kisongo Maasai Women And Girls' Vulnerability To Hiv/Aids (Immune Deficiency, Tanzania), V. Corey Wright

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis outlines the research findings and implications for practice generated from the, “A Gender Issue: Reducing the Vulnerability of Kisongo Maasai Girls to HIV/AIDS” project, which was a participatory action research (PAR) study in collaboration with the Kisongo Maasai in Northern Tanzania. The objectives of the study were to explore the factors that may contribute to girls’ vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, and develop a culturally-specific framework that may contribute to effective design and administration of program and policy-level interventions. The findings of this study illustrate the ‘politics of health’ that determine girls’ vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. It presents a cultural analysis …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Carol C. Harter, Cate Weeks, Cayrn Key

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Inside Unlv, Cate Weeks, Carol C. Harter, Diane Russell, Holly Ivy De Vore

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Inside Unlv, Holly Ivy De Vore, Carol C. Harter, Stuart Mann

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Review Of Field Experiences: Integration Of Family Planning And Pmtct Services, Naomi Rutenberg, Carolyn Baek

HIV and AIDS

The Population Council and its research partners have been addressing several key questions about prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) services and how well they function in field settings. The World Health Organization asked the Population Council to provide a review of field experiences regarding the integration of family planning and PMTCT services. This report provides conclusions and recommendations as input into a WHO/UNFPA-sponsored consultative meeting on "The linkages between reproductive health and HIV/AIDS: Family planning and prevention of mother-to-child transmission."

Once Upon A Virus: Aids Legends And Vernacular Risk Perception, Diane E. Goldstein

All USU Press Publications

Once Upon a Virus explores how contemporary, or "urban," legends are indicators of culturally complex attitudes toward health and illness. Tracing the rich tradition of AIDS legends in relation to current scholarship on belief, Diane Goldstein shows how such stories not only articulate widespread perceptions of risk, health care, and health policy, they also influence official and scientific approaches to the disease and its management. Notions that appear in narratives of who gets AIDS, how and why, are indicators of broad issues involving health beliefs, concerns, and needs.

Maximizing Resources To Meet Client Needs: Evaluation Of A Comprehensive Hiv/Aids Care And Support Model In India, Yrg Care, Horizons Program, International Hiv/Aids Alliance

HIV and AIDS

To examine the benefits and feasibility of service delivery, the Horizons program and the International HIV/AIDS Alliance undertook a multifaceted operations research study of YRG CARE, a nongovernmental organization which offers services to PLHA in southern India. Data from this study suggest that comprehensive care and support services have had a positive impact on perceived quality of life, serostatus disclosure, number of illness episodes, and household expenditures for those patients who participated in the study. The results of this component of the study support the value of scaling-up the YRG CARE service model to other NGOs in India to expand …

Expanding The Care Continuum For Hiv/Aids: Bringing Carers Into Focus, Jessica Ogden, Simel Esim, Caren Grown

HIV and AIDS

This review by the International Center for Research on Women explores the specific issues that cluster around the provision of care in the context of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. With the support of the Population Council’s Horizons program, this review applies the care economy lens to two key sectors, health and social protection, and finds that while important strides are being made, much more needs to be known and done to enable individuals, families, and households to survive in a world shaken by AIDS. The report documents the challenges faced by family care providers, who are primarily women and unlinked …

Expanding Care And Support In South India: Scaling Up Yrg Care's Patient-Centered Approach, Yrg Care, Horizons Program, International Hiv/Aids Alliance

HIV and AIDS

This study examines the experiences of YRG CARE, a Chennai-based NGO, which provides an integrated continuum of prevention, care, and support services for PLHA in South India. In this Horizons report, the authors examine the process of scaling up YRG CARE’s patient-centered approach and how this led to the enhanced provision of care and support services at four selected sites. Networking and collaboration among providers at all sites were essential parts of the strategy. At the end of project workshop, scale-up participants and YRG CARE affirmed their intention to continue collaboration in order to build on the successes of the …

Succession Planning In Uganda: Early Outreach For Aids-Affected Children And Their Families, Horizons Program, Makerere University Department Of Sociology, Plan Uganda

HIV and AIDS

This publication reports on an intervention study that evaluated the effectiveness of a succession planning (SP) program in Uganda. Unlike most other programs for AIDS-affected children, succession planning reaches children and their families while their HIV-positive parents are still living and in a position to plan for their children’s long-term well-being. Research carried out by the Department of Sociology at Makerere University (Kampala) and the Population Council Horizons program suggests that succession planning is a promising approach: despite AIDS-related stigma and cultural resistance to acknowledging illness and death, qualitative research indicates that the approach met with a high degree of …