Blog #6

Antiqua Thurston

There is a great need to prevent HIV/AIDS in Africa because there is such a large population with this disease.  Many of the Africans that live in the southern region of Africa didn't take the new vaginal gel and medicine properly so it didn't work as planned.  In the year 2010 a study found that a gel including tenofovir an antiretroviral drug would possibly prevent women from spreading HIV.  It was given to women to use before and after sexual intercourse.  There is a current research study that is working to test this vaginal gel on five thousand women in Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe.  Along with the gel researchers were testing two other pills and found out that more than half of the women weren't taking their medication.  In the year 2009 the U. N. Program on HIV/AIDS estimated that thirty- four percent of people in the world live with HIV are in the ten of the Southern African countries.  Southern and eastern Africa is the major parts of Africa that are heavily affected with HIV.  The group that is most susceptible to the disease is unmarried, single women that are under the age of twenty- five years old.  Researchers also realized that the reason the study wasn't a success as seen in other studies is because the women did not firmly stick to taking the medications properly.  This is definitely a global issue because HIV/AIDS is an issue that is trying to be solved all over the world.  In every country there are a percentage of individuals with this disease whether large or small.  The goal for researchers is to create a product that will prevent the transmission of AIDS all while making it affordable and convenient.  With a global issue of this kind the product needs to be easy access for individuals especially the ones that live in low income areas and have lower socioeconomic statuses. 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/257161.php  3/8/13 1:22