NR 602 Women with HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a devastating disease that has been influenced by issues concerning social justice and health equity secondary to its interaction with the high-risk populations (Bertrand, Chan, Howe, Comella, Marak, & Bandy, 2016). These high-risk populations include intravenous (IV) drug users, gays, bisexuals, and minority racial and ethnic groups (Bertrand et al., 2016). HIV was discovered in 1981 in the United States in injection drug users and gay men who were diagnosed with an uncommon type of pneumonia caused by pneumocystis carinii, now known as pneumocystis jirovecii (Bertrand et al., 2016). If left untreated, HIV leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and eventually death (Bertrand et al., 2016). HIV/AIDS has become a pandemic since its emergence in 1981 and it continues to have a major impact on morbidity and mortality worldwide (Bertrand et al., 2016). HIV/AIDS has seeped into all populations and anyone affected has experienced societal marginalization, discrimination, and isolation that have contributed to the inequality of HIV (Bertrand et al., 2016). As mentioned above, HIV was originally believed to affect men from high-risk populations; however, HIV does not discriminate and has shown to affect women equally.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the background of marginalized women with HIV including the current incidence/prevalence of statistics at the national, local, and state levels. The following sections will discuss the socioeconomic aspects this group faces, social justice and its relationship to health care and disparities, the ethical issues of this group, and a brief plan of how this marginalized group will be addressed at a local practice with three action plans to measure the outcomes of actions.

Background of the Marginalized Women with HIV

Over the years, women’s risk of becoming HIV positive has increased rapidly yet for some reason there is little research on the effects of HIV on women. The reason for this rapid increase is believed to be from a number of reasons, mostly similar to the reasons stated in the introduction. However, there are a couple of reasons that are specific to women, they include biologic vulnerabilities and male sexual dominance (Paudel & Baral, 2015). Biologically speaking, women are more susceptible to infection than men because their exposed mucosal area is larger, leaving more surface area to be infected (Paudel & Baral, 2015). In addition, a man’s semen holds a higher concentration and volume of the virus versus cervical secretions, making it easier for a male to pass it to a female (Paudel & Baral, 2015). In regards to sexual dominance, some women have little control when it comes to their sexual relationship; therefore they are left vulnerable to unsafe sex and increased chances of infection (Darlington & Hutson, 2015; Paudel & Baral, 2015). Additionally, women are typically at an increased risk for rape and molestation, again, leaving them more vulnerable to infection (Darlington & Hutson, 2015; Paudel & Baral, 2015).