Critical Analysis Of Aids and HIV

The information used in the above epidemiology presentation for the disease has been mostly used from the study which is available at the AVERT website which is committed to fighting this disease in the United States by influencing people through statistics and other methods of data collection on the topic of HIV and AIDS.  All the information available here is referenced and carried from the CDC health reports for the mentioned year.  These studies use the standards methods of expressing morbidity and mortality.  Morbidity refers to the appearance of new cases of the disease in a certain population while mortality refers to the number of deaths caused by the disease out of the total population (RICE, 2015). It is very hard to measure the correct mortality rate of AIDS patients. It is mostly due to the nature of the disease as it is very hard to identify if the patient died of AIDS related problems or complications or due to other reasons. The treatment of AIDS is done by powerful drugs with strong side effects and it is therefore not uncommon to see people struggling with medications for this disease (Biggs, 2012, pp. 8-32).

It is also important to take care of timelines whenever compare rates for different population segments. The rates of 2008 for example cannot be compared with the rates of 2010 of another social group. It is therefore imperative in any study and also in this study of AIDS/HIV in the United States to especially compare trends from the same time period. This is the reason why most information viewed here in this assignment is for a few years back because established data is available for these years for all social groups and it can be compared to find both future trends as well as the endangered social groups against this particular disease. The prevalence of HIV is usually found in United States using two methods. The first method is of collecting data in different people and regions and then combining them together to find the estimate of people at risk. There are problems with this method as it is difficult to find out the ethnicity of people as well to find out their true social status as mostly only the place of survey is available for the record. Precision is not available with method and it is difficult to predict the trends for future. The second method uses mathematics and combines the available data with the data of the previous years to find different medical trends and probabilities. This mathematical method is much more useful as it provides relevant data and allows medical researchers to predict the future of the disease by using different available models and theories. The symptoms of HIV appear over a long time frame and therefore comparative methods as well as backdating methods are quite useful in finding the trends related to HIV (Osmond, 2003).

What is the rate of Morbidity and Mortality Due to HIV and AIDS

The problem with HIV is that it is a silent killer and builds up in the body very quietly and it is undetectable through the presentation or onset on visible symptoms. It takes anywhere from 5 to 12 years for AIDS to commence after the acquiring of the HIV virus. Previously most people died within 2 years at the onslaught of AIDS while these days, the treatment with powerful antiretroviral drugs prolong the life of the patient but at a cost of dealing with difficult side effects of these drugs. The patient is treated with drugs that save the body against any diseases which may target an affected individual. Death rates have been reduced but the disease is still very dangerous when it is observed that the virus is never removed from a patient in any case and all the drugs just stop the occurrence of symptoms and do not remove the virus from the body. According to UNAIDS, over 1 million people are living with the virus in the United States. The rate of contracting the disease is higher in black population due to poor economic conditions as we as well due to the practice of homosexuality. A case study in 2008 found that one fifth of people who had sex with men and were male contracted the HIV and almost half of them were unaware that they were HIV positive. This data clearly shows that gay population especially black people are more at risk of contracting the virus (CDC, 2013).

The figures of CDC present that almost 14% people are unaware that they are living with HIV. The number of new infections has remained of a stable level in the country but that level is still very high and needs to be significantly reduced. The numbers of new cases are especially prevalent in certain social groups and they are highly contagious and present in MSM or male who have sex with males’ social group. African Americans are still highly affected by HIV infections. According to the data, over 13,000 people died with AIDS in 2011. It is however not clear if they died due to AIDS related problems or due to other reasons. The infections among the MSM social group increased by 12% in 2008. This group forms only 4% of the population of United States but has a large share of around 78% in the appearance of new HIV patients. White MSM group was the largest in new HIV infections in 2010 but was seconded closely by black MSM group which shows the domination of this social group in both HIV infections as well as in general health problems. Over 300,000 people belonging to MSM have died due to the complications of AIDS since the rise of the epidemic a few decades ago. Drug users are also affected by the virus. Most women who are diagnosed with HIV are involved in heterosexual relationships or drug usage. The disease is more prevalent in the males in United States and women who have HIV are also somehow involved with the MSM social group. There has been a gradual decrease in the appearance of new HIV infections in women in the recent years. Around 184,000 drug users with AIDS have died since the epidemic in the country (CDC, 2014).

The 2011 data shows that 21% of new HIV infections are young people which are more than their average presence in the population which was 17% for the year. This makes young people a vulnerable group for this disease. If a breakdown is presented out of these young people than we get that 72% were involved with MSM while 78% were between 20 to 24 years old. It is believed that 60% of the infected youngsters are not aware that they are infected with this disease. The presence of disease in young individuals is a major cause of concern as it can take the largest part in STDs or Sexually Transmitted Diseases (Prevention, 2014).

The fear of the disease has gone down in the United States since the arrival of new drugs which are able to delay the symptoms of the dreaded disease. This has however given rise to unsafe sex practices such as avoiding the use of condoms in both MSM groups and heterosexuals in the United States. This is a dangerous trend as the life of an HIV infected person is not easy and there are many problems that are associated with the use of antiretroviral drugs that are used to control the symptoms of this disease.

AIDS in United States Of America

We have selected the disease of AIDS in the geographical area of USA for the purpose of this study. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome which happens due to the infection caused by HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is a disease which is very difficult to detect because it has very little symptoms in its early stages and initial symptoms are no more than reflective of symptoms of common cold. The virus has a very long dormant period and this makes the disease already well rooted in a patient when it is discovered with the onslaught of later symptoms which are commonly termed as AIDS (Stolley & Glass, 2009). The virus is transferred through multiple channels through body orifices as well as through blood transfusions. The virus can also transfer to a foetus during pregnancy or child birth. The main way to combat this disease is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. Safe sex practices and the use of screened blood is the key at avoiding the disease. There is currently no vaccination available for the virus nor is a viable cure present for the condition. The medication available for this disease is used for controlling the adverse symptoms of the disease and they only work at delaying the onset of complex symptoms of the disease and therefore only effective if the virus is detected at an early stage in a patient. Antiretroviral treatment is given to the patients of HIV/AIDS but has side effects and it is very expensive (Sharp & Hahn, 2011).

The country of United States is selected because it represents the example of a modern country affected with a disease which can have an effect on the world population in numerous ways and simply cannot be removed by helping the poor countries which generally prevail in infections. The epidemic of AIDS emerged from the social or well developed countries (Sheehan, 2008). AIDS therefore emphasizes on the presence of social problems and even problems in health systems of United States over the last three decades. The case of AIDS shows that how difficult it is to remove or reduce a disease which is based in certain social groups in a society and is related with different living and sexual practices of the people (CDC, 2013).

HIV/AIDS appeared in the USA in 1970s. It was introduced in the country through the entry of an infected immigrant in the country. Homosexual communities at that time were having a rare cancer and later that cancer spread into other social communities as well the United States. The disease however was not specific to gay people rather it was more apparent in them due to unsafe sex practices. The Centres of Disease Control and Prevention or CDC named the condition as AIDS in 1982. Haemophilic patients were also a target of this disease because they suffered from contaminated blood transfusions (CDC, 2013).

There are currently over a million people who are living the in the United States with the disease. It is estimated that 16% of them are not even aware of the disease. Around 600,000 deaths have taken place due to AIDS related problems according to the collected data. USA is the world’s largest fund provider in the global fight against the HIV. It is however facing around 50,000 new AIDS cases each year (CDC, 2014). People in the country still do not have common access to methods of HIV testing and prevention. The new cases ensure that the constant supply of HIV infections take place in a continuous cycle. The country has now declared a comprehensive plan to combat the disease by using a three pronged strategy. The first aim is to reduce new infections, the second is to increase the access of health services to people having HIV and the third aim is to reduce HIV related health problems. 

What is the impact of Fiscal Policy?

It appears that the impact of monetary policy and the exchange rate on agricultural competitiveness has increased in recent years due to an economic context characterized by the conjunction of three factors: the indebtedness of farmers and States, the liberalization of agricultural markets and growing economic conditions.

The application for a bilateral comparison between the United States and the European Union makes it clear that this impact is fluctuating from one year to another, but still significant. Variable exchange rates and interest rates of central banks are two factors more essential than in the past agricultural competitiveness of State.

Competition Policy

The term "competition policy" is used with different meanings in different countries and contexts. In its broadest sense, it includes all measures which affect competition in a market, including trade policy measures, regulatory and fight against anticompetitive practices of private and public companies. Within the narrow meaning, the term refers to the last of these aspects, that is to say, the laws or regimes for anti-competitive behavior of companies.

Reasons should include the relationship between trade and competition in the work program of the WTO,  Concerns about possible adverse effects of anticompetitive practices in business (often called " restrictive business practices ") have been expressed already fifty years ago when the GATT was created.

Increased interest in the debate on competition policy observed in recent years is attributable to many factors, including the following four:

·         It appears more and more that as formal barriers to trade are dismantled by successive rounds of negotiations of commercial importance of restrictions and distortions resulting from business practices;

·         The global economy is increasingly integrated, not only under the influence of liberalization of international trade, but also because of considerable expansion of foreign direct investment. Therefore, anti-competitive practices gain increasingly a cross-border dimension and affect many countries and in some cases the world;

·         There is a proliferation of international rules at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels, to protect the interests of foreign companies operating in the territory of a country. Some countries believe that these rules of organizations should be complemented by a strengthening of international cooperation in the fight against the trade anticompetitive business practices in question;

·         There is a growing convergence of views, tends to blur the old divisions North-South and East-West, the fact that competition law is often the appropriate means to address against the anti-competitive practices, even if there is still much to be done to agree on points of detail.

Pricing and Costing

Costing and pricing steps are closely related to the definition of product prototype. They aim at pricing of product prototype that will be tested. Costing, prior to the step of charging, should allow a better understanding of the cost structure of the institution to ensure that the price proposed will ensure the long term viability of the new product. It is easier to set the price of a new product or an improved product if the cost of existing products is already known. The principle is to rely on the actual costs to estimate the expected costs for a new product (Guadalupe, 2007).

The calculation of cost of goods is to analyze income and expenses in the income statement by product offered, i.e. to allocate costs to products. The allocation of costs to products addresses a fundamental business principle: a company (usually) to maximize its profits by selling its products, and all costs of the company must be connected to this objective, and thus one or more product (s). Therefore, even indirect and even seemingly unrelated products, a cost must always be attributed to one or more product (s). This basic principle is also valid for MFIs, although the goal is to achieve sustainability and not to maximize profits.

In order to position the company and its competitors in a given market is realized in two directions: the environment, in terms of attractiveness of the sector (opportunities and threats), and the company in terms of intrinsic potential (strengths and weaknesses). It can inform strategic choices, confirm or disprove. It sometimes involves a redefinition of business processes of the company.

The changing environment often explains the strategy (concept of competitive pressure from the environment). Thus, the diagnosis for all the elements that influence the company (defensive aspect of the strategy) on which it can act (offensive aspect of the strategy). It is to identify market factors (forces present) and non-market factors (regulation, for example).

What Does Decision Making Has To Do Within Organizations?

Decision making:

Decision making is an important responsibility of the board. It must make significant decisions, keeping the vision, mission and strategies of the organization in mind. However, it is advisable to delegate the power to make non-governance type decisions to the management.

Oversee organization’s activity

Boards must oversee the working of the organization but do not try to intervene in management activities. The oversight role makes the board responsible for whatever happens in the healthcare organization.

Apart from these above-mentioned roles, board has various other responsibilities. These responsibilities include:

·         Monitor the management of the organization

·         Oversee quality and finance issues

·         Set ethical standards and values and

·         Select a CEO and monitor his / her performance etc.

Among all the mentioned responsibilities, selecting a CEO and monitor his performance is most important because CEO is the person who runs and manages the day to day management and affairs of the organization.

The mission and vision of every organization is dependent on its culture, and the people whom it has to deal with. Thus, it does seem appropriate that every community and vicinity should have their own Health Care Organization with specific mission statement. The board should use every strategy available to measure and evaluate its performance, whether it is a balanced scorecard or ten measures formula. The primary goal of this performance evaluation is to govern the health care organization more effectively and thus every tool is used to achieve this goal.

Allocation of Resources

Considered in its generality, the problem of the allocation of resources in a society according to their needs seems immense. Among the resources provided by nature, there are a number which are consumed as such: water quenches our thirst, the ground we occupy etc. But there are many other goods that we consume, and which are not directly provided by nature in a suitable form. In our country, temperature of the climate is not sufficient to keep us alive, we must "produce" the driving force heat with wood, coal or fuel oil.  

In economics, the usual way to characterize an optimal situation is to use the concept of Pareto optimality. The market is a mechanism for allocating resources effectively because if markets are complete and agents' preferences are monotonic, the equilibrium leads is Pareto optimal (First theorem of welfare economics). Markets must be "complete" for the theorem to be valid. All assets in the economy entering the utility functions of agents should be traded. This condition excludes the existence of externalities and public goods.

There are pure public goods including lighthouses, fireworks, national defense. Other assets are "partially public." This is particularly the case of knowledge. That candidates for examination at the same time using a method of solving a system of equations should not, in principle, affect the quality of copies made. Market failure is a term used to describe situations where the conditions for the market lead to an efficient allocation of resources are raped so characterized. The findings of the efficiency of general equilibrium theory are no longer valid in these cases. 

What is the purpose of an organization and role of its stakeholders?

An organization is a group of individuals grouped in a controlled structure having a communication system to facilitate the flow of information, in order to meet needs and achieve specific objectives. The basic purpose of organization is that the organized and controlled group’s efforts are directed towards a common goal. The group effort can be achieved by coordination. Authority and responsibility relationship help to achieve coordination (Mowday, 1993).

The existence, growth and modernity of organizations can be explained through different theories and school of thoughts. While several theories have been advanced in an effort to explain the structure, functioning and management of organization, to date, none is considered as complete; or is accepted as final. Each theory has some limitations, and the field of management theory is still in the process of evolving (Longenecker, 1994).

Stakeholders

In the input – output model of organizations, the organization only take care of the desires and wishes of four parties which provide input to the organization, i.e. investors, employees, suppliers and customers.  On the contrary, stakeholder theory discusses that there are other groups which have stake in the organization (Phillips & Edward, 2003). These include governmental bodies, trade associations, trade unions, political groups, prospective employees, prospective customers etc. public and the competitors of the organizations are also consider as the stakeholder.

According to the new stakeholder theory that is now practiced in contemporary organizational mainstream the number and quantity of stakeholders that constitute the organizational framework of a non-profit organization can either be classified as external or internal. External stakeholders of the organization primarily comprise of people and general public belonging to a certain community or area that are either directly or indirectly influenced or affected by the working or the functioning of the organization (Post, 2002).The administration and executives of an organization usually formulate or try to formulate a strategy which satisfy all the stakeholders because they have overlapping goals and interests (Counte, 1995).

Responsibilities and Strategies

Effective and efficient governance of a an organization is a team effort which can be accomplished with the help and support of all the stakeholders. Governance is the primary focus of any organization because it is the governance which decides the fate of the organization; whether it is a good organization or bad. Governance of an organization is considered effective if it possesses the following traits and characteristics

·         It must be simple

·         Efficient

·         Allows and respect conflicts of ideas

·         It must be focused

·         Integrated and synergetic

·         Provide efficient and good results

·         Preserve community assets and

·         Provide good rewards

In order to achieve the goal of effective governance, the role of board revolves around three basic responsibilities: 

1.      Policy establishment

2.      Strategic and significant decision making and

3.      Oversee organization’s activity

Policy making:

Policies set the goals and define strategies to achieve these goals. A well-written and well-managed policy makes the target achievement much easier. It is the duty of the board that, for efficient and effective governance, does not try to implement policies. Board’s responsibility is to set the policy and leave the implementation to the management of the organization because board’s time is more valuable; it meets for only 24 hours in a year, so they have to utilize their time on more important issues. It is also the duty of the board to review the past policies and refine these policies, if necessary.