HIV/AIDS is a Natural Disaster That Only Morality can Balance

Answer

HIV/AIDS is a Natural Disaster That Only Morality can Balance

Human history is dominated by natural calamities and diseases that wiped out bigger proportions of the human population. Diseases such as plague and Influenza have been known to have wiped several people out of the earth’s surface in human history. AIDS is the end stage of HIV infection and is characterized by a severely compromised immune function. The main tragedy surrounding the AIDS pandemic is that the disease has neither a cure nor a vaccine. I selected this topic on AIDS based on the contents of the essay "The Terrifying Normalcy of AIDS" by Stephen Jay Gould. There are myriad scholarly researches performed to ascertain the possible solutions to the AIDS pandemic and to try to demystify the relationship between AIDS and nature. Healthcare organizations have taken the following approaches for the prevention and management of HIV/AIDS: voluntary male circumcision, early testing, and administration of antiretroviral therapy (CDC, 2016). However, AIDS is a normalcy that will balance in the human population naturally, and science is not the best approach for managing the AIDS pandemic.

First, AIDS is just one of the several self-limiting natural calamities that have stricken human populations in history. Leaning, Jennifer, and Debarati Guha-Sapir (2013) opine in their article “Natural disasters, armed conflict, and public health” that armed conflicts and natural disasters have extensive human existence in history causing peaks in morbidity and mortality. This assertion posits that most morbidities and mortalities in human histories are associated with natural calamities; otherwise, the diseases become disasters themselves. Self-limitation is an important concept in the balancing of calamities within ecosystems without any artificial intervention. Apart from the lack of cure and vaccination, the mystery that still remains about the AIDS pandemic is its unknown place and source emergence. There are no official documents indicating the actual origin of AIDS. All the tales we here about the origin of AIDS are speculations that are not based on any scientific evidence. Science is based on facts that can be observed, felt or acknowledged by any sense. However, there are so many details about AIDS that remains unfolded. "Yes, it may make no biologic difference to Homo sapiens in the long run: there will be still plenty of us left, and we can start again." (Gould, 1987). Gould made this remark based on his attitude that AIDS is a natural phenomenon whereby nature is more superior to technology. Therefore, we can deduce that AIDS will balance in nature regardless of the scientific interventions made. We cannot rely on AIDS management and prevention methods that were invented without sufficient knowledge of details about AIDS such as its core origin. I, therefore, challenge the view that science can offer a comprehensive solution to the AIDS pandemic.

Secondly, the exponential rise in the rate of AIDS-related infections and deaths call for additional prompt actions. The consistent rise in the number of individuals infected with HIV/AIDS is a sure proof that the current policies for management of AIDS have failed. Gould (1987) asserts in his writing on "The Terrifying Normalcy of AIDS" that "Platt noticed data for the initial spread of AIDS fell right on an exponential curve." Platt made this observation at a time when the AIDS pandemic was a new concern in the globe. The exponential rise was indicative that the spread AIDS cut across all walks of live. Currently, science has tried to demystify all the possible means of spread for HIV/AIDS. It is remarkably acceptable among the public that HIV/AIDS is spread through unprotected sex, sharing of sharp objects, exchange of body fluids, and mother-to-child transmission during birth or breastfeeding. Scientists have proposed different methods at every stage of HIV/AIDS transmission to prevent the spread of the disease across the world. The preferred methods are usually denoted by the letters A, B, and C whereby; A means abstinence, B means being faithful to only one partner, and C stands for the use of a condom during sex. However, the rates of HIV/AIDS transmission and infections have persistently risen over the past despite all the scientific knowledge concerning AIDS. The world should, therefore, seek for other alternatives such as restoration of morality to mitigate the spread of HIV/AIDS that might not rely much on science.

It is strongly believed that the origin HIV/AIDS pandemic is attributed to erosion in human culture leading to dangerous sexual practices. On the other hand, sanity plays a central role in reinstating morality in the human race. Practices such as prostitution and homosexuality enhance the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, these practices have prevailed in the society despite the vivid knowledge of the ways of HIV/AIDS spread. Gould (1987) admitted that our moral stupidity caused us a tragedy in fighting AIDS by thinking that AIDS only affected Haitians, needle users, and homosexuals. This opinion identifies a gap in the knowledge that scientists depend on for the fight against HIV/AIDS. It is quite certain that scientists have not considered disciplines pertaining morality in the fight for HIV/AIDS. According to the principles of the epidemiology of diseases, spread of an infection becomes exponential when the factors favoring its transmission are consistently prevalent in the environment. The main factor favoring the spread of HIV/AIDS across the globe is the increase in unsafe sex practices. We have to admit that nowadays sexual immorality can be rated to be at its peak. For instance, how often do we hear of sex tourism, sex parties, and brothels? The enhancements in the transport industry have made the world be a "global village" whereby a single person can travel in more than two continents within a day. Borderless travels have encouraged activities such as sex tourism that increases the risk of HIV/AIDS transmission from one geographical region to another. Therefore, in the fight to combat transmission of HIV/AIDS, morality must be restored among the human race before any scientific strategy is implemented.

There are several issues such as industries, the governmental agencies, healthcare proprietors, religion, and politics that are interlinked with the HIV/AIDS existence. Eradication of HIV/AIDS would depend on all these factors, and it is very difficult to synchronize the functioning of all these entities. For instance, the pharmaceutical industries benefit from the manufacture and selling of the antiretroviral drugs while politicians gain the trust of the public when they give assurance of controlling impeding dangers of mortality due to HIV/AIDS infections. In the development of ARVs, the aim of a branch of a foreign pharmaceutical industry is to expand the market of its specialty increase the demand for the drugs that the parent company produces (Scheffer, 2014). We are made to understand from this perspective that many companies benefit from the AIDS pandemic, and therefore, it would be their preference that AIDS remain persistently in the environment. Looked at a wider view, HIV/AIDS leads to poverty and social issues such as care needed by the orphaned children. Federal bodies can form committees catering for the special needs of both the AIDS infected and affected parties. Similarly, politicians can use the policies they develop to assist people at risk of HIV/AIDS as stepping stones for their campaigns and public fame.  In the general sense, several individuals and organizations stand to gain when the spread of HIV/AIDS is kept constant in the environment. Scientific methods of preventing and managing AIDS are dependent on the support of most of these individuals and bodies benefiting from the HIV/AIDS pandemic. For instance, the distribution of condoms requires support from the governmental agencies and all the other stakeholders in the healthcare industry. On the other hand, morality that promotes safe sex practices is dependent on the personal attributes of each and every individual. Therefore, I propose morality as a better alternative for HIV/AIDS prevention. However, most healthcare policymakers and the general population have overlooked the importance of morality in restoring sanity in the society. Furthermore, there is the current existence of societal moral decay attributed to practices such as sex tourism and sex parties aforementioned. I, therefore, strongly support the perspective that as other natural calamities in the human history, only nature will balance AIDS in our ecosystem.

Despite the natural state of the occurrence of HIV/AIDS pandemic, the virulent nature of its spread remains a mystery calling for medical interventions. AIDS is among the worst pandemics in history killing 26 million people since 1981(Kinch, Michael, and Eric, 2014). However, not every member of the society will have adequate knowledge on HIV/AIDS to the acceptable limits to enable him or her challenge the spread of HIV/AIDS infection. In this instance, AIDS should not be considered as a natural phenomenon that will balance in the ecosystem because it is very virulent and can finish a whole human race if left to be balanced by nature. The medical profession has failed to offer permanent solutions to the AIDS pandemic that will ensure its eradication on the surface of the earth. Not all HIV/AIDS medications are effective in all populations. Jespersen, Sanne, et al. (2015) found out that 46% of HIV-infected patients participating in their study developed virological failure. Failure rates and resistance have always been recorded to hike in the current top issues on management of HIV/AIDS. In the wider perspective, the medical interventions have faced challenges making them ineffective for AIDS control. Insufficient uptake of testing, poor adherence to therapy and poor access to antiretroviral therapy are the striking pitfalls for medical treatment of AIDS (Piot, Peter, and Thomas, 2013). Therefore, the advantages of relying on moral values for HIV/AIDS control outweigh the merits of medical treatments that have high failure rates. The healthcare industry should focus on the promotion of morality in the human race to combat HIV/ADS.

I stand to support morality as the only strategy for balancing the HIV/AIDS pandemic. AIDS is a natural phenomenon that should be dealt with like any other natural calamity in the human history. We must learn to accept AIDS as a natural calamity in the human history that requires the input of every member of the society to combat. It is needless to rely on the principles of disease transmission alone to develop strategies for preventing AIDS. Rather, healthcare administrators should involve other disciplines such as religion to restore morality that can help us to step the processes leading to the infection. Furthermore, embracing AIDS as a natural concept can also give us strength to fight it rather than stigmatization of the victims. Therefore, I recommend we should first consider our moral values as a priority in the fight against any disease of global concern.