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Background: Communicable diseases such as AIDS/HIV, dengue fever, and malaria have a great burden and subsequent economic loss in the Asian region. The purpose of this article is to review the widespread burden of communicable diseases and related health-care burden for the patient in Asia and the Pacific.Areas Covered: In Central Asia, the number of new AIDS cases increased by 29%. It is more endemic in the poor population with variations in the cost of illness. Dengue is prevalent in more than 100 countries, including the Asia-Pacific region. In Southeast Asia, the annual economic burden of dengue fever was between $ 610 and $ 1,384 million, with a per capita cost of $ 1.06 to $ 2.41. Globally, 2.9 billion people are at risk of developing malaria, 90% of whom are residents of the Asia and Pacific region. The annual per capita cost of malaria control ranged from $ 0.11 to $ 39.06 and for elimination from $ 0.18 to $ 27.Expert Opinion: The cost of AIDS, dengue, and malaria varies from country to country due to different health-care systems. The literature review has shown that the cost of dengue disease and malaria is poorly documented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 a new infections agent took the world by surprise. Governments, medical systems, communities, and individuals soon would become familiar with many new terms and many new prevention measurements to avoid infection. To this day, it is unknown what would be the final consequences and impact in populations in the world, how those came to be a "new normal" in our daily lives. Also, it is unknown the number of victims, and economical after-effects result from the new pandemic. This article aims to establish a para parallel in relation to the early days of HIV/AIDS in the world. Keeping in mind the slow governmental, and even irresponsible response in different countries, both cases (HIV/AIDS-COVID-19), present a dimension that shows intermediately from HIV/AIDS organizations response to help communities. The article argues that is precise because we have learned as marginalized communities that reacted at the beginning of the AIDS early days, that HIV/AIDS educators adapted very fast interventions, programs, and counseling to alleviate societal effect pandemic against COVID-19 new infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the relationship between the Irish gay press and the AIDS crisis during the 1980s. This article aims to fill this gap by presenting the findings of a study dealing with the AIDS epidemic in Ireland and how it was confronted through the alternative media platform of OUT magazine. Using issues of OUT, it argues that alternative media in Ireland were pivotal in generating vital public health information for the gay community, particularly when the mainstream press and Irish government were not providing the necessary resources. This article also highlights the activist potential of alternative media such as OUT, as it engaged with public bodies in an attempt to hold them accountable for their response, or lack thereof, to the epidemic. The Irish gay press is thus an important example of how alternative media are critical when mainstream society ignores a particular group's public health needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, migrants with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have become a serious problem in the field of AIDS prevention. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of interventions for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection prevention for migrants in China and to identify factors associated with intervention efficacy. A computerized literature search of the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan Fang, and PubMed databases was conducted to collect related articles published in China. Only self-control intervention studies or studies containing sections regarding self-control interventions wherein the method of intervention was health education were included. Rev Manager 5.3 software was used to analyze the intervention effects in terms of knowledge, attitude, and behavior indexes. Relative to pre-intervention, the HIV interventions showed statistically significant efficacy in terms of sexual transmission of HIV, condom use for HIV prevention, change in attitude towards HIV/AIDS patients, incidence of commercial sex behavior, and recent condoms use during sex (P < .01). Moreover, the baseline rate of migrants, intervention time, peer education, region, and education background were factors influencing the efficacy of the intervention. Significant improvement in terms of knowledge of sexual transmission of HIV and attitudes and behaviors among migrants was observed; however, based on the findings of previous studies, the interventions should be customized for different people from different districts in China. Further research is needed to evaluate subgroups of migrants in China according to their baseline characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender inequalities in sexual behavior are explored from the perspective of the theory of gender and power. This study focused on the effect of sex partner type (steady versus casual), drug use, and condom use self-efficacy regarding consistent condom use (CCU) among a community-based sample of adults. The sample included 1,357 African American men and women (M age 37.0, SD 13.1 years; 44% women, 66% men) from 61 disadvantaged census block groups in Atlanta, GA as part of a study of individual and neighborhood characteristics and HIV risk-taking. Having a steady partner decreased the odds of CCU, while higher condom use self-efficacy increased the odds of CCU. Among non-drug users, having a drugusing partner was associated with decreased odds of condom use for women only. Women with drug-using partners, especially a steady partner, were least likely to report CCU. Therefore, interventions intended to empower CCU among women need to expand beyond acknowledging the reduced control that women who use drugs demonstrate to also consider those who have drug-using sexual partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the proposal for an international intellectual property (IP) rights protection was included as an item in the agenda for negotiation in the Uruguay Round of World Trade Organization negotiations, it was strongly opposed by developing countries including Brazil, India, Argentina and others. The developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs) from Africa, realising the difficulties the Agreement would put them in, had vigorously campaigned against the inclusion of IP rights protection within the multilateral trading system. One of the chief areas of concern for the developing countries and LDCs was the difficulty of accessing affordable medicines under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) regime. While the resistance was gradually eroded and eventually neutralised during the long drawn Uruguay Round of Negotiations, the developing countries and the LDCs gained a few concessions in the post-TRIPS era in the form of Doha Declaration, which in their opinion would have given them the opportunity to invoke the emergency provisions of the Agreement in times of need to access essential medicines for their citizens. This was not to be the case, as the ground realities were difficult to manoeuvre and there were more impediments to invoking the flexibilities than originally perceived. This article will suggest that the best option available for sub-Saharan Africa is seeking an outright amendment of the TRIPS Agreement, as working within the parameters of the Agreement to achieve the goal of access to affordable medicines is not a viable option. It will also be argued that unless it acts urgently to seek the amendment it may be too late, as it could find itself left behind by both developing countries from other continents and patent-holding developed countries alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers are considered to be one of the most important influences in the lives of students. Teachers' assessments of students may be a primary source of information on children's mental and behavioral health; however, this topic has received little attention in research. We examined this issue through linking teachers' ratings of students and mental and behavioral outcomes of children affected by HIV. The hypothesis is that teacher ratings will be predictive of specific child mental and behavioral health outcomes. A quantitative cross-sectional design with self-administered paper-and-pencil instruments was used. The sample included 1221 children (aged 6–18, grades 1–11) affected by HIV including 755 orphans who lost one or both parents to AIDS and 466 vulnerable children living with HIV-infected parents in a central province of China. The corresponding teacher sample included 185 participants. Each child completed an assessment inventory of demographic information and mental and behavioral health measures. Teachers completed a questionnaire about children's school performance. SEM analyses revealed a good model fit according to all fit indices: comparative fit index = 0.93, root mean square error of approximation = 0.07, and standardized root mean square residual = 0.04. Structural equation modeling revealed that problem ratings by teachers were positively associated with child loneliness and behavioral problems, social competence ratings by teachers were negatively related to child depression, and personal growth and social interaction ratings by teachers were negatively related to child loneliness, depression, and trauma. The current study represents a unique contribution to the field in that it recognizes that teachers can be a valuable source of information on children's psychological health. Results from this study have implications for health prevention and intervention for children and families suffering from HIV/AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observational studies have found that women tend to have lower adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) than men do, though no meta-analysis has yet investigated this trend. The aims of the current meta-analysis are to determine if and to what degree the percentage of men versus women maintaining ≥90% adherence to prescribed HAART differs, and if the external variables moderating adherence differs by gender. Eight electronic databases were searched to locate all relevant studies available by May 2011. Fifty-six observational studies were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. A random effect model was assumed for the global percentage estimation and to explain the heterogeneity. Across these studies, the difference between men and women in the proportion of individuals with ≥90% adherence to HAART was marginally significant (p<0.1; 67% and 62%, respectively). A greater proportion of men maintaining ≥90% adherence to HAART was more likely in studies with higher proportions of men who have sex with men (MSM), lower proportions of male alcohol users or lower proportions of men in a methadone program. In women, higher rates of adherence were found in studies conducted in Africa, Asia, and South America, when the sample included more widows or when the sample had a lower basal CD4 count. That both the percentage of adherent individuals and the variables associated with such adherence differ between men and women are suggestive of the need for improving gender-tailored interventions for adherence to HAART. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: To evaluate morphology of the optic nerve head and visual field in AIDS patients without retinitis. Methods: One randomly selected eye from 246 patients with AIDS without retinitis was evaluated from prospective multicenter Longitudinal Studies of Ocular Complications of AIDS. Stereo fundus photographs of OHN and serial VF data over 5-years were analyzed. Main outcomes included vertical cup-to-disc ratio (CDR), mean deviation, and pattern standard deviation scores on VF testing. Results: The median CDR was 0.39 at enrollment and 0.40 at 5-year follow-up. An unadjusted linear regression model revealed a mean change in CDR of 0.004 after 5-years (P = 0.04). After adjustment for practice effect, there were no statistically significant changes in VF performance observed during the 5 years of follow-up. Conclusions: We detected clinically minimal, but statistically significant changes in ONH morphology and no change in VF performance among eyes of patients with AIDS and without retinitis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of future certainty (the perceptions an individual has about how positive and certain their future is) on adolescents' and young adults' sexual knowledge and sexual attitudes. This longitudinal study measured sexual knowledge and attitudes one year after an initial measure of future certainty. Ethnic differences among these relationships were also examined for Hispanic, African American and white adolescents in an attempt to explain some of the variability in sexual risk for these ethnic groups. A total of 2900 male and 3081 female youth were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), and were measured on four aspects of future certainty: life certainty (e.g., life expectancy), health certainty (i.e., sexually transmitted infection risk), marriage certainty, and college certainty. Results using analysis of variance showed that white youth were less at-risk of perceiving negative and uncertain futures than their peers. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses also showed that the future certainty variables predicted sexual knowledge and permissive sexual attitudes one year later, after controlling for individual and family characteristics. However, the direction of the relationship was dependent on the type of future certainty, and not all relationships held for all three ethnic groups. The study provides important information for intervention research targeting youth who are at-risk for engaging in high risk sexual behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of Pentecostalism, its worldwide spread and its transformation of itself, in many places, into a religion of social engagement is described and analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the relationship between technologies, socialities and inequities based on case material from a recent study about the first generation of people living with ART - Antiretroviral Therapy - in Uganda. The authors discuss how the diagnostic technologies of HIV tests, 'CD4 counts', and weight measuring produce results and numbers that are appropriated by people living with HIV to reflect upon their lives, bodies and relationships and hence influence their socialities and subjectivities. It is argued that because treatment programmes and especially their associated technologies vary greatly in Uganda, the programmes themselves introduce inequity in the already unequal landscape of HIV patients. In debates about biomedical technology and about HIV/AIDS it has been suggested that new kinds of socialities emerge, which have been conceptualised as 'therapeutic citizenship' and 'bio-sociality'. In the study on which the present article is based, clientship, friendship and kinship are kinds of sociality that play a much larger part in informants' lives than do 'therapeutic citizenship' and 'bio-sociality'. The authors attribute these findings, not only to the Ugandan setting, but to the method of doing extended case studies, which were not institution and programme based, but family and home based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This autoethnographic report uses performative writing to explore significations of HIV as they relate to the study of thin, gay men. Specifically, I investigate how my own HIV-related fears speak to and against marginalizing discourses that frame cultural understandings of HIV, gay men, and body types. The essay concludes with a discussion that explains how performative interventions and narrative blueprints can be used to challenge misrepresentations of gay men in relation to HIV and AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the burgeoning Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) crisis in the black community in the United States, particularly black women. A cognitive-behavioral skills-building HIV prevention intervention tailored to the realities of blacks in South Africa is presented as a model that may be modified and adapted for HIV prevention among blacks in the United States. This model of HIV prevention must view blacks as a heterogeneous group that includes African immigrants, and cognitive-behavioral skills-building HIV prevention interventions tailored to the realities of black women are needed for the prevention of heterosexually transmitted HIV infection. The implementation of HIV interventions within accessible sexually transmitted diseases (STD) testing and treatment programs will provide the combined clinical-behavioral approach that is missing in HIV prevention interventions among blacks in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

By weaving together immigration and AIDS epidemiological patterns, the impact of tightening immigration policy, and masked sexual behaviors, the authors express concern for a lack of communication with, and lack of health care access for, Latinos in the Western Gulf Coast. To combat this deficit, health care and social workers need to be aware of different social, cultural, and behavioral contexts in Latino populations. Policy makers should support efforts to provide health care workers with skills through appropriate language and cultural sensitivity workshops. HIV prevention strategies specific to Latinos are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two therapeutic interventions developed by Michael White and David Epston that address issues of loss, grief and one's own death, reincorporation of the lost relationship and personal legacy, are explored in this paper. A case study is presented that provides a personal account of how these interventions were perceived by a gay man living with AIDS. These narrative based interventions were described as assisting him to recognize the meaning and contribution of his life to others as well as to recognize and honor the meaning that had been given to his life through knowing others. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]