Essay on History of the HIV/AIDS

I have been having challenges unravelling the mystery behind the nature of the HIV/AIDS and how it came to be. The emergence of HIV/AIDS came as a shocker to many. Both the learned in the field of health sciences and the general entire population was scared of the disease. The first discovery of the infection was amongst the gay individuals in the city of Los Angeles. This is the first official report to be published about an infection that is now known as the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

This official report about the newly identified infection formerly thought to be pneumonia appeared several months afore the first ever appraised article about the same (Curran, 2017). The stipulated timeliness of the first ever peer-reviewed article can be tracked and credited to one Dr. Michael Gottlieb from the University of California located in Los Angeles, in the School of Medicine. Also, without forgetting the invaluable contribution of the very able astute clinical skills and public health sensitization and Cedars-Sinai Hospital, who worked diligently with Dr. Shandera Wayne, of the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer and together with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Management (Curran, 2017).

However, during the summer of in the summer of 1982, life-threatening characteristics of the virus was reported. These signs were mainly seen with 34 Haitian migrants to the United States of America. These Haitians were implicated to be gays. They have migrated to the U.S in the past two years (Curran, 2017). It is worth noting that these patterns did indicate a distinct pattern of illness that is considered to be an epidemic. Ultimately, the transmission was explained to be caused by the heterosexuals in the society. The reporting and publishing of the speculations were considered to be accurate and those authors believed it was a matter of urgency to be administered by the public health agencies.

Enormity of the virus

This disease is without a doubt a problem of global concern. From my research, I am able to deduce this. By the year 1984, there were already many reports described the occurrence of AIDS in DRC Congo. Dr. Peter Piot a member of Tropical Medicine located in Belgium, was sent to pay a quick visit to the disease-stricken country to be able to substantiate the presence of the virus. He made a joint visit, in company with colleagues, to Kinshasa to confirm the preliminary reports. A positive report was made available by them after their investigations. It can be seen that the virus has got the power to spread very far and wide within a short period of time.

In the year 1985, Centre for Disease Control initiated and held in the first-ever international conference in Atlanta in order to talk about the emerging disease known to be AIDS. It was chaired by Dr. Gary an honorable of the Centre for Disease Control, was attended by more than 2,000 delegates. In the conference, Dr. Mann conveyed the first ever exposition about AIDS within Africa at the meeting stating that the occurrence of the emergence of AIDS in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo was approximately 15 to 30 times advanced than in the US.

I have come across various articles that talk about the early days when the Centre for Disease Control reaction to the global HIV epidemic has been enhanced and very made extensive. One such instance is in the early 1980s, where the workforce was mandated to, or volunteer from, many different parts of the health care society. Initially, it is documented that the Centre for Disease Control funding gave support to local and state health care departments for prevention and surveillance of undertakings, like the voluntary HIV testing and counselling. In addition to these original CDC consorts, hundreds of \ national and local community-based governmental and non-governmental organizations worldwide were enlisted in the prevention efforts. Centre for Disease Control provided support for school-based HIV education programs.

Impact of HIV/AIDS to the victims

During my extensive study on the impact of the virus on both the victims and the affected parties, I found this to be having very dire consequences. Those having the disease live very poor lives, especially those that cannot afford quality health facilities. A report by the World Health Organization did state that individuals of low-income level have a high mortality rate. Those individuals who can afford quality health services were proved to lead near-normal lives.

These people can be able to attend the routine check-ups on the opportunistic diseases that may take advantage of their compromised immune systems. The infected poor are also proved to have high levels of stigma concerns.People interacting with the infected also suffer a lot. When it comes to the provision of quality medical services. Finding by the World Health Organizations reveal that formerly middle-class families deteriorate once a family member is diagnosed with the deadly disease. The family will spend a lot of finances just to ensure one of their own is able to access medical services from reputable healthcare organizations.

Conclusion

From my clear and sufficient deliberations, I hope the audience is now able to get to know the history and the detailed information about what exactly HIV/AIDS is. I have dealt with the enormity of the virus in detail, stating how it is fast spread. I have been able to demonstrate the impact of the disease on both the victims and the infected parties alike. As Since its inception to the spread of the disease globally, it has been a point of discussion by the World Health Organization. Thank you.

References

Curran, J. (2017). AIDS: the Early Years and CDC's Response. Cdc.gov, from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6004a11.htm

Donnellan, C. (1994). HIV & AIDS. Cambridge: Independence Educational Publishers.

Leone, B. (1994). Free speech. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press.

Williams, J. (1999). HIV & AIDS. London: Terrence Higgins Trust.