AIDS Essay Example

Current Event on HIV/AIDS Essay Example Current Event on HIV/AIDS Paper Current Event on HIV/AIDS Paper Essay Topic: Current The article that I have chosen is: â€Å"WHO advocates circumcision to curb new HIV cases The practice would best serve males in sub-Saharan Africa, researchers say. † By Jia-Rui Chong (Times Staff Writer), Dated March 29, 2007. (Quoted). The article speaks of one of the latest finding related to HIV/AIDS involving male circumcision. The WHO recommends it as a one of its main strategies to help prevent HIV/AIDS spread in Africa. The WHO claims that this new finding and execution of it as a strategy in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS during sexual intercourse in men could save millions of lives in Africa. Male circumcision is widely being performed in the Northern African regions, and is less frequently performed in the Southern and the Eastern African regions. The WHO feels that the if it was more widely performed, it could help to prevent in the transmission of HIV/AIDS and save millions of lives. The Director of the WHO’s HIV/AIDS Department Kevin De Cock, feels this could be utilized as an additional intervention in countries where the prevalence of HIV/IDS was high and where circumcision was appropriate. This could effectively reduce the risk of transmission of HIV/AIDS in heterosexual men. In many parts of Africa, male circumcision is performed to lower extents nowadays, and if these were increased, it would help in reducing the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Initially, when HIV/AIDS was began to spread in Africa, it was observed that men who had undergone circumcision had less frequently transmitted or developed the infection, than those who were not circumcised (BBC-Health. 2007). However, these earlier observations were unconfirmed, and only through recent trials have they been established. The risk of HIV/AIDS spread reducing after conducting male circumcision is well-documented. According to the CDC, the foreskin present on the penis is less keratinized and a greater number of Langerhans cells are present (specific cells that are targeted by the HIV virus). During sexual intercourse, the foreskin is at a greater risk of undergoing damage, and so the risk of transmitting HIV/AIDS increases. The environment existing in the area between the glans penis and the unretracted skin is such that viruses could easily survive. Besides, several individuals having ulcerated STD’s (including syphilis) have greater risk of transmitting and acquiring the disease in case the penis is not circumscribed. A clinical trial conducted in Africa to demonstrate the benefits of male circumcision on HIV/AIDS demonstrated that circumcision not only reduced the risk for transmission of HIV/AIDS but also other ulcerated STD’s. Clinical trials have also demonstrated that the spread of HIV/AIDS decreased from an infected male to a normal female, especially when the viral load was low (CDC. 2007). The WHO feels that male circumcision could help prevent the transmission of about 5. 3 million new cases of HIV infection, and reduce fatalities in about 3 million people over the next 20 years. In the year 2006, about 270, 000 new cases of HIV had developed. The Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, feels that several strategies such as condom use, determining the HIV status of the sex partner, etc, could be used along with male circumcision in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Circumcision was to be introduced free of cost to targeted males by individual nations. Dr. Mark R. Dybul, the US global HIV/AIDS coordinator, said that the US would support male circumcision as a strategy in preventing the transmission of HIV/AIDS. However, the WHO expressed some amount of caution over this new finding, as men would experience a false sense of complete protection. The transmission of HIV/AIDS could not be completely stopped by using male circumcision. The transmission rates reduced by 48 to 60 %, and should not be perceived as 100 % (BBC-Health. 2007). Another study conduced in males in Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, demonstrated that risk of HIV/AIDS transmission reduced by about 60 %. Hence, the WHO advocates that men should continue using other strategies such as condom usage and questioning their sex partner of the HIV/AIDS status. The WHO and the UN had a meeting in Monteaux, Switzerland, to discuss these finding of male circumcision and the manner in which it could be utilized in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Dr. Maria J. Wawer, who works as a Research Associate at the John Hopkins University and who also contributed in the Uganda trial, is very excited about the findings achieved through these Trials. She compares the results obtained through these trials to that of inventing a Vaccine for HIV/AIDS. She feels that the public enthusiasm would be high when a vaccine for HIV was obtained, and hence, the public should be happy about male circumcision. Dr. Maria J. Wawer, also feels that this could be used as a cost-effective strategy in preventing the transmission of HIV/AIDS. During the trial, it costs about 69 US dollars for one male to undergo circumcision. The cost was high during this period, as the additional tests were performed by the researchers and surgeons were utilized to perform the procedure. Dr. Wawer feels that in the future nurses could be trained to conduct the procedure and reduce the costs of male circumcision. The author of this article Jia-Rui Chong has given his email address for any doubts and clarifications. The credentials of the author have not been mentioned, but his position at the LA Times has been mentioned. The article is a recent one, and the findings of this article have been confirmed through the websites of reputed organizations (such as BBC Health and CDC). Reference: The Article Jia-Rui Chong.‘WHO advocates circumcision to curb new HIV cases The practice would best serve males in sub-Saharan Africa, researchers say. † Los Angeles Times 31 Mar. 2007. latimes. com/news/science/la-sci-circumcision29mar29,1,1793948. story? ctrack=1cset=true Others – BBC Health. â€Å"WHO agrees HIV circumcision plan. † BBC NEWS 31 Mar. 2007. http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/health/6502855. stm CDC (2007). â€Å"Male Circumcision and Risk for HIV Transmission: Implications for the United States. † 2007. CDC-HIV/AIDS 31 Mar. 2007. cdc. gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/circumcision. htm

Personal Law Essay on Hate Crimes

Personal Law Essay on Hate Crimes Free Online Research Papers The first amendment of the United States Constitution states that, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.† The only argument to this amendment nowadays is what words are and aren’t classified in these two categories. The new law, under the Historic Hate Crimes Legislation signed by governor George E. Pataki in July of 2000, defines a hate crime being committed when a person intentionally commits a specified offense, such as intimidation, violence, assault, kidnapping, arson murder, or other crimes, against an individual because of his or her race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, age, disability, religion or religious practice or sexual orientation. Also addressed in this legislation are the penalties for committing a hate crime, which can be enhanced now. However, the enhancement law only applies to criminal acts such as selecting a victim to commit a crime towards. It does not apply to cases dealing with speech or actions, otherwise known as â€Å"hate speech†, because they are protected by the first amendment. While someone is guilty if he or she performs one of the specified offenses above, this law also insures that only people who are found truly motivated by hatred will be prosecuted. This is an important part of the law to enforce because if the defendant and the victim are two different races it doesn’t automatically mean the crime was committed through hatred. The prosecutor would be able to find the defendant guilty if they had evidence such as the defendant would have committed the same crime to the next person of the discriminated race, among other things. This information is crucial because an easy way for certain people of a discriminated race to get a quick settlement is by simply filing that a hate crime was committed against them and twisting the story of what really happened. Convictions go as far as the crime committed does. There are no special penalties or punishments for committing hate crimes. In some states there are reform groups such as the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s JOLT (Juvenile Offenders Learning Tolerance) Program. Since a high percentage of hate crimes are committed by teenagers and younger people, this program focuses on intervening with youths that have engaged in bias-motivated misconduct or low-level hate crimes. Programs like JOLT are productive, strategic ways to teach the young people of America the evils of hate crimes before it’s too late. It is proven that teenagers tried as adults and sent to prison have a much higher chance of recommitting their crimes than teenagers who are put in juvenile delinquency centers and programs. Although there aren’t any specific punishments for hate crimes, the government is cracking down and taking them completely serious now; especially with the sentencing of convicted offenders, hoping to send a message to others, who think about committing hate crimes, that they won’t just get a slap on the wrist anymore. Research Papers on Personal Law Essay on Hate CrimesCapital PunishmentUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseThe Effects of Illegal Immigration19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenHip-Hop is ArtRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and