STO.

DOMINGO CAPAS NATIONAL HIGHSCHOOL (EXTENSION)

Sto. Domingo 1 Capas Tarlac

HIV: Factors that affects its

Control, Prevention, and
Treatment
Submitted by:

Gomez, Rhizwan Dale M.

Submitted to:

Sir Robert Manucum

Inquiries, Investigation, and Immersion

Table of Contents

1
I. Introduction…………………………………………………………3

II. Body…………………………………………………………………4
(Review of Related Literature)

III. Conclusion……………………………………………………….... 9
(Learning)
(Findings)

Introduction

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Human Immunodeficiency Viruses or HIV are two species lentivirus

which mean it is any group of retroviruses producing illnesses

characterized by a delay in the onset of symptoms after infection that

infect Humans. Overtime, they cause acquired immunodeficiency

syndrome, a condition which progressive failure of the immune system

allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive.

In the present day, HIV may be regarded as one of the most serious

health issues all over the world. This Virus attacks the person immune

system and weakens it against severe chronic and terminal diseases. The

appropriate and time sensitive treatment of HIV prevents its

transmission to other individuals. And it goes in then saying not every

communities are equally vulnerable to HIV infection. There are multiple

factors that influence the disease’s control, prevention, and treatment.

The main purpose of this research is to find the HIV factors that affects

the control, prevention and treatment.

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 Body
(Review of Related Literature)

HIV can be transmitted only through specific activities, such as sex or

injection drug use. HIV can be transmitted only in certain body fluids

from a person who has HIV, Blood, semen, pre-seminal fluids, rectal

fluids, vaginal fluids, Breast milk. And there are so many ways on how

to control and prevent HIV, Do not inject drugs, Limit your number of

sexual partners, Chose less risky sexual behaviors because HIV is

mainly spread by having anal or vaginal sex, use condoms every time

you have sex, and get tested for HIV. And there’s a treatment for HIV

called antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART involves taking a combination

of HIV medicines (called an HIV treatment regimen) every day. But

ART cannot cure HIV, HIV medicines help people with HIV live longer,

healthier lives.

Lucy Chimoyi ,Jeremiah Chikovore,Eustasius Musenge,Tonderai

Mabuto,Candice. M. Chetty-Makkan,Reuben Munyai,Tshegang

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Nchachi,Salome Charalambous,Geoffrey Setswe. (2022) stated on their

literature that despite advances made in HIV prevention and treatment

interventions in South Africa, barriers to their utilization continue to

exist. Understanding perspectives from patients and providers of

healthcare can shed light on the necessary strategies to enhance uptake

of HIV services. Based on HIV prevalence estimates from a national

survey, male condom use coverage and antiretroviral treatment (ART)

initiation rates from routinely collected clinical data for 2012, we

selected facilities from geographical areas with varying HIV prevalence

and uptake of HIV services. . Behavioral factors facilitating uptake of

HIV services included awareness of the protective value of condoms,

and the benefits of ART in suppressing viral load and preventing

mother-to-child HIV transmission which was evident across

geographical areas. Barriers in high prevalence areas included

suboptimal condom use, fears of a positive HIV result, and anticipated

HIV-related stigma while seeking healthcare services. Across the

geographical areas, personal factors included ability to correctly use

available services enhanced by knowledge acquired during counselling

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sessions and community-based health promotion activities. Further,

social support from family reinforced engagement in care.

And according to Tarique Variava and Jennifer Watermeyer (2022)

literature that Despite the global realization that increasing access to

antiretroviral treatment promotes significant bio-medical gains amongst

adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV), the psychosocial impact of HIV

on the health and well-being of ALHIV has been overlooked. Objective:

To identify, synthesize, and discuss the psychosocial factors that affect

ALHIV who are accessing HIV treatment services in South Africa. The

factors are the following: (1) Adolescent Psychosocial Development,

Several psychosocial factors affected the physiological, social,

behavioral, and cognitive development of ALHIV. Delayed pubertal

onset (i.e., menarche and underdeveloped breasts amongst females and

short statures amongst males) were reoccurring physiological factors

affecting ALHIV. (2) Quality of Life, The social, academic, mental

health and physical functioning of ALHIV were known to impact their

QoL. ALHIV were at a heightened risk for defaulting on their HIV

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treatment because their social pursuits (i.e., the desire to fit in) were in

contradiction to HIV protective behaviors (i.e., ART adherence and

abstinence or safe sex). In addition, the experience of internalizing and

externalizing behaviors negatively affected the mental health of ALHIV.

(3) Experience of Adversity, Two types of adversities, ‘stressors within

the family environment’ and ‘the experience of violence’, had a negative

net impact on ALHIV. Stressors within the family environment (i.e., the

loss of primary caregivers because of death or divorce, residing with

alternative caregivers, the mental health and QoL amongst caregivers

and other co-inhabitants, and socio-economic insecurities) negatively

affected health outcomes amongst ALHIV. (4) Social Support

ALHIV had inconsistent access to social support structures within their

home, school, and healthcare contexts. Nevertheless, those who had

access to social support relied on HIV support groups, caregivers, family

members, and friends. (5) HIV Stigma, The experience of HIV stigma, a

multidimensional construct encompassing: anticipated stigma,

internalized stigma and enacted stigma, was common amongst ALHIV .

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Anticipated stigma is determinant of internalized stigma and was present

in the form of ALHIV fearing rejection and discrimination. Moreover,

the experience of internalized stigma prompted ALHIV to feel like

outcasts. (6) HIV Status Disclosure, Although ALHIV were aware of

their HIV status, many were dissatisfied with how they came to find out

about their HIV-positive diagnosis. Despite ALHIV choosing to disclose

their HIV status to others, the dynamics of HIV status disclosure were of

a complex nature as it was either ‘selective’ or ‘unintended. ART

Adherence, ART use among ALHIV varied, with many adhering to their

treatment regimens according to self-report indicators. The sole

facilitator of ART adherence was the availability of social support from

caregivers and friends or intimate others.

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 Conclusion

(Learning and Findings)

This following factors have positive and negative effects on control,

prevention, and treatment of HIV in the world. Positive in a way many

HIV positive patients knows how to not spread the virus and yet

negatively in a way they disclose their illness and more. This factors had

a big impact in control, prevention and treatment in HIV. learnings and

findings on the factors that affecting the control, prevention, and

treatment of HIV research are the following:

1.Potential negative sequelae from utilizing HIV prevention or

treatment services, This was mostly observed in areas where uptake of

HIV services was low. Due to anticipated stigma, HCWs revealed that

patients avoided disclosure of HIV status by providing incorrect

addresses. This led to challenges when tracing and following-up of

patients who defaulted on treatment especially in high HIV prevalence

and low uptake areas. Further, anticipated and enacted stigma was

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particularly reported by female patients. This barrier prevented optimum

engagement in care. Other barriers included long queues and prolonged

waiting times in facilities which impacted patients’ livelihoods. Lastly,

side effects from treatment were mentioned across the geographical

areas. Most participants reported experiencing side effects from ART at

the beginning of treatment but were encouraged to continue taking their

treatment by HCWs.

2. Well-informed about available HIV prevention or treatment

services, across the geographical areas had the necessary knowledge and

skills for HIV prevention or treatment from counselling sessions in

healthcare facilities, health promotion activities and campaigns in

communities. All described condoms as the commonly accessible HIV

prevention method either freely from healthcare facilities or pharmacies

and shops in the communities. Participants understood the importance of

PrEP in HIV prevention and appeared to see it as having superior levels

of safety in protecting against HIV than condoms.. Patients seeking

PrEP services from clinics explained in detail the HIV testing and pre-
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and post-counselling sessions. There appeared to be lack of adequate

knowledge on universal test and treat (UTT) among the patients. Across

all geographical areas, HIV-negative patients showed limited

understanding of UTT and its benefit to reduce the risk of onward

transmission by supressing viral load whereas some HIV-positive

participants misunderstood the benefits of UTT in promoting disclosure.

3. Ability to correctly use the available HIV prevention or treatment

services, Aligned to the self-efficacy construct, this theme focused on

patient ability to utilize HIV prevention or treatment services, the

barriers and the strategies that would be adopted to overcome identified

barriers. Consistent use of condoms to protect oneself and partners from

infection or re-infection was commonly mentioned.

4. Social or environmental dynamics and conditions supporting

utilization of HIV prevention or treatment services, Social support

was associated with the successful engagement in HIV care. Family

members, particularly parents and siblings emerged as a key source of

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support, for HIV-positive participants. However, due to fear of

disclosure, treatment was interrupted when away from home.

5. Benefits from adopting HIV prevention or treatment services,

anticipated positive outcomes associated with HIV treatment. The

anticipation of improved health outcomes emerged across different

geographical areas, particularly, in reference to viral load suppression.

Other positive health outcomes included good pregnancy outcomes for

HIV-positive mothers, general good health including weight gain for

those living with HIV, and remaining HIV-negative or not transmitting

HIV to sexual partners.

Reference

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