Aids & Sex educationA

Aids & Sex education

AIDS is a disorder in which the immune system loses its effectiveness, leaving the body defenseless against bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic, cancerous and other diseases. The danger from AIDS comes from the infections that begin when the immune system no longer functions effectively. The intervention for dealing with AIDS which I have chosen to describe is the Retrovir brand Zidovudine (AZT or ZDV). Retrovir belongs to a class of anti-HIV drugs called Nucleoside Reverse Transcription Inhibitors (NRTIs). Zidovudine is not a cure for HIV/AIDS; it acts to inhibit the reproduction of HIV in the body. The HIV virus can still be transmitted to others during therapy with this medication. This intervention is consistent with the ‘disease’ view of dealing with health because Zidovudine deals with the symptoms of HIV once it has been diagnosed. The disease view is contrasted with the individual determinants view of health whereupon health is seen as resulting from many factors, and by altering one of these factors (see Part B), a person’s risk of contracting the HIV virus is decreased.Once prescribed to Zidovudine the basic requirement of the patient is that they take one 300mg tablet twice a day. This is

Often the stricter the environment the student has been brought up in, the more rebellious they are. Evidence suggests that adolescents who drink heavily or use marijuana are much less likely to use condoms than adolescents who are not heavy drinkers or marijuana users. Uptake rates may be lower amongst schools in which the majority of the students belong to a culture which does not favour the use of condoms either because of personal preference or because of cultural beliefs. For instance, at a private Catholic school the uptake rate of condoms may be lower either because of the feelings of guilt that using condoms causes for the students, or simply because students have chosen to abstain from sex. It is important to note that socio-economic status does not pick up all the factors in relation to use of condoms. PART BThe policy of making free condoms accessible to high school students as a preventative treatment against HIV/AIDS addresses the problem from the individual determinants view. Once students have taken the condoms it is not known if they will use them properly or even use them at all. Under the "�disease"tm view of health, treatment for HIV/AIDS begins once the patient has contracted the virus. These decisions may also go the other way - the uptake rate may be higher among students from strict religious backgrounds due to the tendency of teenagers to rebel against the values of their schools and parents (in this case, by having sex out of marriage) in an effort to discover their own identity. The number of people taking Zidovudine is restricted to those that have been diagnosed with HIV. As there is a greater proportion of Maori and Pacific Islanders living in low socio-economic areas in New Zealand, e. Using condoms falls under the more expansive view of health because condoms are a method of combating HIV/AIDS that is available to everybody, not just those who have or are at high risk for HIV/AIDS. Therefore in order for this policy to be effective it must be accompanied with sufficient education on the use of condoms. Possible problems with this policy occur because the responsibility for this intervention falls on the students. In Part A the intervention is a tablet that is easy to take and it is expected that the patient will take it in order to inhibit the spread of HIV infection, however under the individual determinants view the intervention becomes more complex