A Critical Analysis of HIV's Impact on the Health of the UK Population

This report provides a critical analysis of the impact of HIV on the health of the UK population. It begins by describing the biological impact of HIV, including how it attacks CD4+ cells and progresses to AIDS, leading to opportunistic infections and cognitive impairments. The rationale for the study focuses on the policy development process in the UK, examining policy formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation to address the rising trend of HIV. The report then explores the epidemiology of HIV in the UK, including trends in new diagnoses, prevalence, and mortality rates, as well as the implementation of HIV-related policies, addressing issues such as negative cultural influences, stigma, and discrimination. Finally, it evaluates health policies relevant to HIV, referencing the Department of Health's ethical and legal duties, the financial costs of HIV/AIDS, and government policies. The report concludes with a list of references used in the analysis.

Critical Analysis
HIV

1: Impact of HIV on the health of a
defined population
 HIV seeks and destroys CD4+ cells, a type of T lymphocyte (T
cell).
 It damages or destroys the infected CD4+ cell and produces more
virus to infect more CD4+ cells.
 Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the final stage of
HIV. At this stage, the immune system is severely weakened, and
the risk of contracting opportunistic infections is much greater.

Cont..
 People with AIDS may experience a wide range of opportunistic
infections.
 HIV increases the risk of colds, influenza, and pneumonias.
 Salmonella infection is spread through contaminated food or water
and causes diarrhea, abdominal pain, and vomiting.
 HIV/AIDS can cause HIV-associated dementia or AIDS dementia
complex, two conditions that seriously affect cognitive function.
 People with HIV are at increased risk of shingles, which is caused
by herpes zoster, the virus that gives you chickenpox.

2: Rationale for the critical analysis of
HIV
 The rationale for the study is to describe the policy
development process in UK.
 It is to identify how such institutional policies can be
planned, operationalised, monitored and evaluated
with the rising trend of this disease in the UK.
 The findings show that a comprehensive HIV/AIDS
Institutional Policy (HIP) which followed several
stages during policy development can effectively
works.

Cont..
 The basic stages identified were policy formulation,
policy adoption, policy implementation and policy
evaluation.
 The findings shows a comprehensive
implementation plan.

3: Epidemiology
 The trends and epidemiology of HIV increasee in UK
has been evienced from the following points.
 In 2012, 6,360 people (4,560 men and 1,800 women)
were newly diagnosed with HIV in the UK, a slight
increase on 6,220 diagnoses in 2011.
 In 2013, roughly 107,800 people were living with HIV
and 530 people died from AIDS-related illnesses.
 Overall, 14% (390/2,880) had a recent infection (in the
previous six months) at diagnosis in England, Wales and
Northern Ireland.
 There were also 6,800 new HIV infections in the same
year.

Cont..
 A total of 77,610 people (770 children and 76,840 adults) received
HIV care in 2012, a 5% increase on the previous year. This is more
than double the number of people accessing care a decade ago
(35,970). One in four adults living with diagnosed HIV were aged 50
years and over.
 The number of deaths and AIDS diagnoses has steadily declined over
the past decade, with the latter decreasing from 1,020 in 2004 to 320
in 2013.
 In the UK, the prevalence of transmitted HIV drug resistance
(evidence of one or more mutations from the WHO 2009 list of
mutations) remained stable at 8% between 2008 and 2010 and
declined slightly to 6.8% (230/3,450) in 2012 and this proportion
was similar across exposure categories.

4: Issues regarding implementation of
policy associated with HIV
 Negative cultural influences and stigma in UK
 No true progress without stigma reduction
 Increasing discrimination in the nation
 Coordination of HIV programs across the Federal
government and between Federal agencies and state,
territorial, tribal, and local governments.
 Regular communications between governments at
all levels to identify the challenges.

5: Evaluating the health policies
relevant to HIV
 Current UK Department of Health policy states that
all healthcare of individual are under ethical and
legal duties to protect the health and safety of their
patients.
 The cost of increased HIV/AIDS-related mortality to
the government, both in financial terms and through
its adverse effect on the delivery and productivity of
public services.

Cont..
 In England and Wales, progress in the provision of OST
is being threatened by a drive towards abstinence-based
treatment. The potential government policy, 'Putting
Full Recovery First', views the goal of drug treatment as
"independence from any form of chemica.
 The ongoing 'UK Stigma Index 2015' aims to find out
whether people living with HIV in the UK experience
HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and to describe
how this affects their daily lives.

REFERENCES
 Boyle, G., 2004. Male Circumcision and HIV. Epidemiology. 15(5).
pp.646-647.
 Fincham, J., 2011. Health policy and ethics. Pharmaceutical Press.
 Kaklamanou, D. and Armitage, C., 2012. Testing compensatory
health beliefs in a UK population. Psychology & Health. 27(9).
pp.1062-1074.
 Manda, S., Masenyetse, L., Cai, B. and Meyer, R., 2015. Mapping
HIV prevalence using population and antenatal sentinel-based HIV
surveys: a multi-stage approach. Popul Health Metrics. 13(1).
 McEwen, A., Straus, L. and Ussher, M., 2008. Physical inactivity
among a UK Somali population. Journal of Public Health. 30(1).
pp.110-110.

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