Social-Level Factors that Affect HIVAID
Introduction
Social epidemiology can be defined the allocation of health outcomes attached to their social determinants. Its build on various epidemiology gap that entangles the agent, host and the environment that focuses on the functions that social factors of determinants play in the transmission of HIV/AIDs (Wu, Rou & Cui, 2004). This three determinants are features that the society considers as the ones that affect health. One of the early studies undertaken by Fee and Krieger on HIV/AIDs concentrated on individual characteristics as well as behaviour in determining the risks that are associated with the disease. This study or approach was known as biomedical individualism; this is considered as the only platform of risk aspect as considered in epidemiology. However, when it comes to social epidemiology it concentrates on all the social factors or conditions that are considered primary causes of HIV/AIDs. Therefore, this paper will analyse how social factors lead to the epidemiology of the AIDs around the world. Because social factors are profound in understanding uniform and non-uniform factors that come forth because of the how HIV/AIDs transpires through the transmission of the results.
Social-Level Factors that Affect HIV/AIDs
This paper will identify several categories among the social features or factors of great significance to the epidemiology of all the social conditions that translate to HIV/AIDs as a disease. These include: social networks, cultural context, social capital, and neighbourhood effects (Dean & Fenton, 2010). Each of the above categories uses methodological approaches as well as conceptual understanding to determine the effects of these factors on the vulnerability of population of HIV/AIDS.
Cultural Perspective or Context
According to Edward Tylor culture is considered as all the capabilities such as belief, knowledge, law, morals customs as well as other norms that human beings exhibit; considered as one of the key participants in the social setting. Based on epidemiology and anthropologic approaches, there are various integration methods that could be used to determine all the factors that add up to a social environment and affects HIV/AIDs in Africa. One of the ways that researchers from Africa and around the world have been exploring how social environment can affect HIV/AIDs epidemiology is via the use of varied research methods. This is an integration of both qualitative and quantitative research methods. This methods have been used especially to investigate the hidden stigmatizing social and behavioural factors that affect HIV/AIDs epidemics in Africa. One the ways that this ways that this can be seen is collecting of data from variety existing epidemiology data, laboratory data amid others sources if information pertaining to HIV/AIDs epidemic in Africa. Understanding the culture of the people or the society is a key facet to acknowledgement of information and general highlights about the data that could be used to determine the causes that attribute to the spread of HIV/AIDs in Africa. For example, understanding the ways of the people, their beliefs and customs concerning HIV/AIDs is a way to reduce the spread of this epidemic in Africa. Therefore, social epidemiology, is not a way of understanding how HIV/AIDs manifests itself in Africa, but also helps in determining the causes of the spread based on individual and societal attitude and behaviour towards HIV/AIDs.
Social Networks
Investigation of HIV/AIDs using social networks starts with mapping of all the relationships between the existing AIDs cases. There is an ideal relationship between social epidemiology and HIV/AIDs based on social networks analysis (Boerma & Weir, 2005). Social networks is important because it is a measure of position and quality. It is stated that social networks can affect HIV/AIDs indirectly and directly, including social participation and engagement, social support, access to informational resources and social influence (Karim & Karim, 2010). The conformation of an individual’s social network is a key facet that contributes to ones risk of contracting AIDs. Previous epidemiology research had been conducted with the assumption of random contacts between all the people. However, this approach does not consider the assumption that it does not take the account of norms of sexual contact and develop skewed understanding of the real risk of individuals contracting HIV/AIDs. It is now clear that individual risk towards HIV/AIDs is not a solely consequence of personal risk behaviour but rather a function that comprises of sexual network that causes HIV/AIDs. Factors that affect the intensity of HIV/AIDs epidemic in Africa within a specified social network include:
Density: this states the number of people within the network that have had sexual contact with each other. It is considered that within a dense social network, there is higher chances that many people would have contacted HIV/AIDs.
High-Risk Behaviours: the high the number of members in network have been in contact with HIV/AIDs high risk victims, the high the chance of the overall members of the social network contracting HIV/AIDs.
“Sorting” – This term depicts the inclination of individuals with comparative qualities, for example, race or age to connect with each other and not with those outside the group. Sorting could be a defensive variable for some informal communities – if the parts of an okay system make just sexual contacts inside that system, their danger stays low. Then again, sorting inside a high-hazard system prompts a much higher danger of disease for its members. Infection could be brought into an in the past generally safe sexual system through various practices (Karim & Karim, 2010). “Blending” is the point at which somebody has sexual contact with somebody outside their system. In the event that the outcast has a STI, then the danger of the system climbs. (One illustration of dissortative blending is when young people have intercourse with more seasoned men, who are substantially more inclined to be tainted than youngsters). “Spanning” is the point at which two current informal communities are joined through parts having sexual contact with each other. This can increase the danger for one or both systems. “Simultaneous organizations” include having more than one customary sexual accomplice at once, which can put prior accomplices at danger and help higher system thickness. Simultaneous associations can radically build the danger inside a system by shortening the separation between an infected individual and a lot of people non-tainted persons.
Numerous Africans are densely populated, exceedingly tainted informal organizations, which implies that when picking a sexual accomplice, they are more prone to come into contact with an infected accomplice. This is the reason an individual African has higher chances of being infected than an individual white individual with the same or risk behaviours.
Neighbourhood Effect
Neighbourhoods assert to the scaffold purpose of interpersonal associations and strengthen spatial territories, a connection between Karim & Karim (2010) has asserted the social indicators that determines the spread of HIV/AIDs. Early movement against the portion of neighbourhood interesting feel in ailment manual was begun by a reflection in University of Nairobi, in which investigators start that HIV/Aids was dreadfully focused geographically in focus secret neighbourhoods. Both genuine and illF-use instruments may pronounce how neighbourhood-level components appearance affiliation HIV/ AIDS plans. Real frameworks are those that development the suspicion of an alone propelling into acquaintance with someone who is HIV positive, case in point, through undercover moral story and the diverting interruption of depreciated peoples. Circuitous components incorporate those that build populace weakness to HIV/AIDS, for example, high levels of poverty, unfavourable unemployment rates. A portion of all the components determined to correspond to irresistible malady, including destitution and salary, private segregation and neighbourhood nature’s environment. Ebb and breeze explore in neighbourhood and coliseum delayed consequences for wellbeing underlines the centrality of emotional fulfilled oath of accord to examine the entertaining and epidemiologic instruments through which neighbourhood effects may work.
It is considered that private assertion of race is replacing neighbourhood levels that brings about the higher levels of HIV/AIDs disparities. It is also clear that racial discrimination amid other things are such as ethical differences are part of the social factors that bring disparities in the spread of HIV/AIDs in Africa.
For example, Timaeus et al., (2001) start that measures of undercover break were capturing append HIV/Aids for blacks about put African at included stark emergency of ailment. Roaming effects of racial/ethnic side by side are associated with low levels of neighbourhood political fundamental and with reduced action issues for those dynamic in poor neighbourhoods. While side by side may exhortation humane racial/ indigenous disease contrasts, we apperceive of no studies systematic neighbourhood racial/ethnic side by side in alliance to HIV/ AIDS that acknowledge been represented.
The strong feeling of neighbourhoods has moreover been broke down in alliance to charming infection. Senior member & Fenton (2010) examined HIV/Aids stake and neighbourhood strong feel in Tunisia, Tunis, by using a book of strong scraped spot to explore Padian (2011). “Broken windows” assumption. Based on the above theory, it is clear that there are various issues that have led to high outcomes of HIV/AIDs prevalence in Africa; the number of people contracting the disease is increasing day after day yet methods or strategies to alleviate the problem is on the increase.
Conclusion
It is evident that there is a clear social relationship between social epidemiology and HIV/AIDs infection in Africa. Via social determinants discussed in the paper, it can be generalized that social determinants affects the manifestation and outcomes of AIDs in Africa. However, much emphasis is placed on social effects of the manifestation amid other details.
References
Boerma, J. T., & Weir, S. S. (2005). Integrating demographic and epidemiological approaches to research on HIV/AIDS: the proximate-determinants framework. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 191(Supplement 1), S61-S67.
Dean, H. D., & Fenton, K. A. (2010). Addressing social determinants of health in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, and tuberculosis. Public Health Reports, 125(Suppl 4), 1.
Dorrington, R., Bourne, D., Bradshaw, D., Laubscher, R., & Timæus, I. M. (2001). The impact of HIV/AIDS on adult mortality in South Africa.
Karim, S. A., & Karim, Q. A. (Eds.). (2010). HIV/Aids in South Africa. Cambridge University Press.
Schwartländer, B., Stover, J., Hallett, T., Atun, R., Avila, C., Gouws, E., … & Padian, N. (2011). Towards an improved investment approach for an effective response to HIV/AIDS. The Lancet, 377(9782), 2031-2041.
Whiteside, A. (2002). Poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa. Third world quarterly,23(2), 313-332.
World Health Organization. (2010). World health statistics 2010. World Health Organization.
Wu, Z., Rou, K., & Cui, H. (2004). The HIV/AIDS epidemic in China: history, current strategies and future challenges. AIDS Education and Prevention,16(Supplement A), 7-17.
