Review of health news article

New AIDS resistant virus: Is the worst yet to come? Recently, the San Francisco Chronicle published d “ Study Warns of Drug-Resistant Strains”. Indeed, the media has begun creating a moral panic by telling the public that studies were made by reputable institutions such as UCSF. On the second line of the article, the paper tried to redeem the provocation it has made by stating that health officials do not see any health crisis. Which is which?
The world has suffered much from AIDS not just from the death toll and the epidemic but more from the stigma it has created on people afflicted by the disease. This article is very relevant to our course for many reasons. One, it is not enough that we gain sound knowledge of diseases and finding ways to cure them; moreover, we must see how these diseases afflict the mindset of society. Although media has its own noble intentions to inform the public, it must not declare ahead before public health officials have properly disseminated such information. Dr. Colfax was valid in his argument that protocols should not change in treating people with AIDS. It can be inferred from his statement that medical professionals have different attitudes in treatment especially when resistance has developed. For one, training for doctors and other health professionals are not yet adequately prepared by the government for this kind of scenario. Assuming it becomes a mini-epidemic, government officials would start blaming those responsible for this issue while patients suffer in the midst of the controversy.
In short, the government’s health agency should immediately prepare programs that can arrest the growing problem. Training and funding must be given importance so that the situation would not go out of hand. Although training and research does not seem much of a concern to America, we cannot deny the financial burden this problem can add to the growing health insurance concerns. Indeed, the AIDS problem has become complicated.
The article also noted that this kind of situation is a challenge for developing countries which is an obvious statement. However, we must realize that many migrants from developing countries have also settled in this country. In fact, San Francisco has a high rate of migrant population which makes their problem our problem too.
Lastly, I am hopeful that advances in the field of research would be able to arrest this problem. The only unfortunate thing is the affordability of these new drugs so that poor people with drug-resistant strain of AIDS would be able to access medication immediately. Cure is not a matter of availability anymore, it is also a matter of having resources.
References:
Allday , E. Study warns of drug-resistant HIV strains. San Francisco Chronicle. 15 Jan 2010. Retrieved from http://www. sfgate. com/cgi-bin/article. cgi? f=/c/a/2010/01/14/ BA5H1B HUSM. DTL &type= health#ixzz0ew4jZw20 on Feb 7, 2010.