Blog #12

This will be the last time that I ever blog because although the experience was good with blogging for this class, I just don’t like to chat online. I have really left this class more knowledgeable on this disease and I never thought that I would be leaving this class with such more intellectual depth on this topic. I thought that I would learn a few thing here and there and that only few facts would stick. I found that to be wrong because of all the work that had to be put in for this class. I have never written so much in life for one class, ever! It was worth it nonetheless because this subject is very important in preventing me from contracting a disease and learning how to spread this information to others. I don’t think that I’ll ever have to write this much for a class again but if I could choose what class I would write this amount for it would be this one. I really enjoyed watching all those videos for one of our assignment because those were the moments that really impacted me intellectually and emotionally on this class. The Silverlake video got me the most because the way the video was made was so personal and touching as to see two individuals who loved each other and living with AIDS and ended so sadly with one dying at the end.

Did you know?....
At the Passaic County Jail in New Jersey, two former immigration detainees being held were said to be denied adequate HIV/AIDS treatment during their prison terms (The Body, 2005). A Jamaican man who had spent five years in prison at three different facilities said that he often encountered lapses in his drug regimen because of long delays in the transfer of his medical records (The Body, 2005). A New York University legal clinic that took up the case said that the jail had initially refused to let the man take his pills at 12-hour intervals and that he had become resistant to many HIV/AIDS medications (The Body, 2005). Another man that had also been in the same shoes as the other individual said from December 2003 to April 2004 he missed nearly three weeks of treatment because of delays getting his medical record from Rikers Island prison in New York City and delays in receiving medical examinations at Passaic (The Body, 2005). He also said guards ignored his requests to see a doctor and would openly talk about his HIV status (The Body, 2005). Accoring to the Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale, he say’s that he had not heard of this case but that these are “two people you're talking to me about, two people out of 1,700; I think I'm doing pretty good” (The Body, 2005). He also said that that guards have the right to know who is HIV-positive to protect themselves (The Body, 2005). In July of 2005, Speziale told auditors conducting the review to leave and said he would stop housing detainees (The Body, 2005).

The Body. (2005). Retrieved by November 25, 2009, from http://www.thebody.com/content/art9467.html.

Blog #12

This is the last time that I will be blogging for this class or at all in general. I had never blogged before entering this class. For the most part I like blogging because I was allowed to say what was on my mind about the class, the assignments, and my emotions towards them. Although I like the experience of blogging for the first time, I will honestly say that I will never do it again unless I have too. I don’t like just sitting in front of a computer and just typing about stuff, it just isn’t me. I really enjoyed our simulations from earlier in the semester about the Thrush and PCP and even recently with the m&m simulation. Although we wrote a lot in this class I learned a lot of things that I did not know. I just got out of the men’s panel not too long ago and I liked listening to the guests about how they handled having the disease, what they believe in about the disease and how optimistic they are with fighting it. I can’t believe of all the struggles that they have gone through just to stay alive. I greatly enjoyed listening to them speak and it was a pleasure to having them speak amongst those who were there when they didn’t have to. I liked the fact that I took this class and I don’t have any regrets taking it because this is a subject that everybody should learn about, including me, and we need to be as educated as possible about this issue because millions die every year because of this ongoing plague.

Did You Know?........
According to Palm Beach County commissioners, there was a plan in 2003 to make a state law that would enforce every county for jail inmates to undergo an HIV test in the state of Florida. With this plan, prisoners would be tested regardless of whether they had been convicted of any crimes (The Body, 2003). Commissioner Addie Greene, believes that a mandatory HIV testing of inmates would help decrease the prevalence of HIV in jails particularly among minority groups but others see the idea of it just costing too much (The Body, 2003). Ruth Gottlieb, chair of the Palm Beach County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union claims that “mandatory HIV testing is wrong.” She also questioned Greene's goal of increasing minority testing because only a small percentage of the minority community is being tested (The Body, 2003). Glenn Krabec, an immediate past chair of the county HIV Care Council, said that mandatory testing of people convicted of crimes probably would be a good idea, but testing of everyone before conviction would not because those who are convicted for their crimes could be transferred elsewhere, which would not help contain the disease because there would be new inmates coming in that could be already infected and therefore making this whole idea irrelevant. This is why HCC Program Director Gerald Adams said he was "absolutely" in favor of testing everyone who enters the jail (The Body, 2003). A few commissioners briefly acknowledged such concerns but commissioners have still unanimously approved of Greene's idea in asking the Legislature to pass a mandatory jail testing law (The Body, 2003).

The Body. (2003). Retrieved by November,18, 2009, from http://www.thebody.com/content/whatis/art6811.html

Blog #11

We only have three weeks left in school and I must say that I’m very happy to hear that. I desperately want this semester to end because I’ve been exhausted of writing so much not only for this class but for my other classes as well. I’ve really liked that fact that for the past few weeks we haven’t had any writing assignment except for the M&M project. I don’t know what it is but when I write a lot and then take a long break like for this class I for some reason feel like I get writers block. Changing topic, in this weeks question of the week I found that those plans or ideas from Cuba and the province of Papua were extremely dumb and unfair to the people with the disease. How could you just implant a chip in someone and just keep track of their every move just because of their condition. I understand that there are people with HIV who do things that they shouldn’t but it doesn’t mean that everybody with HIV are doing the same. You can’t just put certain individuals in camps and just separate them from society because most of them just want to live their lives the fullest.

Did you know???
After two decades, the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) officials ended a ban of prisoners with HIV from participating in the state's work release program just recently in August of this year (The Body, 2009). The American Civil Liberties Union fought for the lifting of this ban because they felt that it was an “arbitrary and discriminatory denial” of not allowing prisoners to participate in a program that is important for them in making their reintegration back into society. Work release programs increase the odds of prisoners making it back into society by having to sustain a paying job, gaining jobs skills and experiences and begin paying off court fees and even finding permanent jobs (The Body, 2009). However, there continues to be discrimination of prisoners with HIV in Alabama. They are “excluded from faith-based honor dorms, prison dining halls, residential substance abuse and re-entry programs and work crews” (The Body, 2009). They are also have limited access to sports fields, recreational opportunities and most prison jobs (The Body, 2009).

The Body. (2002). Retrieved by November, 4, 2009, from http://www.thebody.com/content/whatis/art53211.html

Blog #10

Wow, this is the 9th blog that I’ve written but yet it feels like I’ve written more! This blogging experience has been new to me this semester and I’ve surprisingly liked it. This week we’re supposed to be working on the M&M project and I must say that it is tough to be swallowing m&ms on a daily basis. It’s hard enough to remember to take this make believe pills in the quantity that we have to but swallowing them can sometimes be difficult. Sometimes they get stuck in my throat two-thirds the way down and I’ll eat a piece of bread to push it down. Although I like chocolate and love m&ms, I cannot just chew on them because this project is supposed to be a simulation of what people with real HIV go through in having to take medications on a daily basis for the rest of their lives. I am so blessed to be healthy and be living a happy life. People take it for granted that we are healthy or that things are going our way. We could have easily been born with this disease without any chance of preventing it. We should always be grateful for our blessings because our lives could be a lot worse. Right now as I’m listening to classical music while writing this blog, I just wish that the world was free from evil thoughts, killings, deaths, diseases and instead full of love happiness, humbleness and good hearted people. When I listen to this kind of music it just puts me in that mind frame because the music is so soothing, peaceful, and loving.

Did you know?,,,
In Indiana prisons in 2002, occurrences of HIV cases among inmates were in the process of leveling off although the incidence was 10 times higher than those in the regular population (The Body, 2002). At the time, there were 215 people in Indiana prisons with HIV but roughly 1 percent, or 21,507 people, was HIV-positive according to the Department of Correction officials (The Body, 2002). The rate number of HIV-positive prisoners had slowed down compared to the rate of the overall prison population (The Body, 2002). The percentage of HIV-positive inmates in Indiana had reached below the national average of 2.1 percent and Prison and health experts attribute the trend to “increased awareness of the disease and improved treatment” (The Body, 2002).

The Body. (2002). Retrieved by November, 4, 2009, from http://www.thebody.com/content/art30930.html#hiv_inmates

Blog #8

In this week’s blog, I’d like to say that I enjoyed my time off last Friday and I felt free not having anything restricting me from enjoying my day. Three weeks has passed by since I was tested for HIV and on November 3rd I will be getting my results in which I am looking forward to. I am not scared one bit because I am confident that it will come out negative. This week we were given our QOTW #9 and I kind of had to think about this question for a little before immediately answering it. I feel that the parents of the child who got bit should be informed of my child’s condition because it is the right thing to do. How would you feel if were the parents of the other child and you weren’t told that the child who bit your child was HIV positive? The consequences though of telling these parents are that they might want to retaliate towards my child’s actions and press for a lawsuit or spread the news around to other parents.
This semester is coming to an end and I’d have greatly appreciated all the things that I have learned from this class, especially watching the movies, and I will always value them. I can just remember when this semester first started and had to those first two assignments on thrush and PCP and remembered thinking that this class would be interesting. I never thought this class would challenge me in so many ways but I am happy it did because I’ve learned so much and has made me a better student.

Did you know?.......
According to a survey released Chicago detainees from Children and teens in the U.S. juvenile system are reported of high rates of behaviors that put them at risk of HIV/AIDS (The Body, 2003). Mostly all reported that they had at one point put themselves at high risk of getting HIV through unprotected sex and getting tattoos with potentially dirty needles (The Body, 2003). Dr. Linda A. Teplin, a legal health expert at Northwestern University, says that these students “may be too busy skipping school to learn about HIV, and they don't have much parental support in their lives” and that their best chance of being educated is in prison (The Body, 2003). To help fix this problem, she suggests that corrections officials to do more to prevent the spread of HIV but the specifics as to what they could do was not specified though it could be assumed that educating these juveniles would be the best solution (The Body, 2003).

The Body. (May, 30, 2003). Retrieved October 28, 2009, from http://www.thebody.com/content/whatis/art27932.html

Blog #7

In this weeks blog, I’d like to first start of by saying that I am very happy that we don’t have an assignment or module due this week because I really need the break and I am sure everyone else does too. I’ve gotten to the point where I am use to doing these big assignments every week and I don’t feel lazy doing them. I know in the past, like years ago, if I would have been given these long assignments I would have put them off to the last minute and would have not done such a god job like I’ve been doing with the assignments in this class. I’ve been pleased with the scores I’ve been getting because I’ve put in a lot of hard work to achieve the best grade in this class. I also am striving to do my best in this class out of respect to all those who suffer from HIV or AIDS in that I am not BSing these assignments just to get through with the course. I want to give myself that satisfaction and to let all those who are ill with this disease that I tried to learn as much as I could in this class and that I take this illness very serious and I don’t want to take anything for granted. Many who are ill in the world didn’t contract the illness through the standard sexually transmitted or using drugs way but somehow in an unfortunate way contracted it from somewhere that is unknown. I could have contracted this illness maybe by accident when I was younger when getting a shot and the needle may not have been new. I have enjoyed the assignments of reading a book, watching movies, and getting tested for HIV because it showed me in depth of how people live with the disease, how they handle it, and the real process that goes on with getting tested for HIV. The feeling I like the most with getting tested is that for that moment and the weeks followed with waiting for the results to comeback is that a majority of those infected in the world had to go through the same process that I did with getting tested. In addition, we can all relate with how it felt like to wait those weeks or time period to get the results back even though many had way more greater concern with their test than I did. I essentially put myself in their issue and felt what they felt with this whole process which allows me to fully understand the feeling that they go through when waiting for their test results.

Did you know?......
Federal data released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, have found that AIDS-related death rates in jails, state prisons have dropped significantly (The Body, 2005). In 1988, jail mortality rate from AIDS-related illnesses were 20 dead for every 100,000 inmates and in 2002, the mortality rate were 8 dead for every 100,000 inmates as well (The Body, 2005). This shows that the mortality rate has decreased by 12 inmates between fourteen years, which is a big decrease (The Body, 2005). In state prisons from 1995 to 2000, the mortality rate in state prisons has as well enormously decreased from AIDS-related illnesses (The Body 2005). Within that time period (5 years), their has been a decrease of inmate mortality rate of about 75 inmates that is 100 deaths for every 100,000 inmates in 1995 and 15 deaths for every 100,000 inmates in 2000 (The Body, 2005). Officials attributes to this sharp drop from improved medical equipment and advocacy groups being more aggressive in filing lawsuits to improve conditions in jails and state prisons (The Body, 2005.

The Body. (August, 22, 2005). Retrieved by October 21, 2009, from http://www.thebody.com/content/whatis/art9490.html

Blog 6

This past week I got my first HIV test and I must say it was exactly how I thought it would be. I knew that I would have to go in the clinic and fill out this confidential report regarding my sex life and whether if I’ve been tested before. I felt confident, though, that my test would turn out negative. Before I got tested using Orasure, I was asked very personal questions in regards to my sex life that I felt uncomfortable answering them. I’m sure you all know what I am talking about so I don’t have to give examples in the types of questions I was asked. However, the experience was very good and I like the fact that I went to get tested because I can learn from these experiences and understand how it would feel like for someone who is not as fortunate as me in not being fully confident that they are not infected. When I was tested, I had to put this stick swab thing in my mouth and had to rub my inner cheek a few times and then let it rest there for two minutes. The swab had a funny taste but at least there were lollipops next to me that I could have to get rid of the taste. When I get my results back I will share them with you so that you guys know how my health is.

Did you know?.....
According the district Department of Health in Washington D.C., data released in 2007 showed that female inmates in jails in Washington D.C. have been detected in having high number cases of having HIV (The Body, 2007). This data was released as “part of a summary of its six-month campaign encouraging district residents to be tested for HIV” (The Body, 2007). In a campaign made by the District of health officials and HIV/AIDS advocates, people in the Washington D.C. district were told to get tested and 400,000 people from men, women, and children ranging from ages 14-84 were encouraged to do so (The Body, 2007). According to statistics presented at the Mayor's Task Force on HIV/AIDS, not based on the results that were found from the participants for the campaign but rather those living in the district, 25,000 or more 4% of the population were found to in possibly have HIV (The Body, 2007).

In Canada, “common law has long recognized that health-care professionals owe a duty of confidentiality to their patients, subject to some exceptions” (Confidentiality, 2000). In some provinces, confidentiality is imposed by statue and it is considered a professional misconduct for a health professional to give out personal information about a patient to another person without receiving that patient’s consent except if its “as required or allowed by law (Confidentiality, 2000). However, professional bodies, legislatures and courts have recognized the fact there could be exception when trying to protect the third parties (Confidentiality, 2000). For example, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) do consider it to be unethical to allow physicians’ to disclose to a spouse or sexual partner about their patients condition if the patient is willingly holding back information that could put them at risk (Confidentiality, 2000). Such disclosure may be justified when all the following conditions are met: the partner is at risk of infection with HIV and has no other reasonable means of knowing of the risk; the patient has refused to inform their sexual partner; the patient has refused an offer of assistance by the physician to do so on the patient’s behalf; and the physician has informed the patient of the physician’s intention to disclose the information to the partner (Confidentiality, 2000). However, before disclosing any information, the physician should encourage the patient to either disclose or stop any unsafe behaviors and counseling should be given if all this fails (Confidentiality, 2000). In all other jurisdictions except for Yukon and Prince Edward Island (where physicians are permitted to disclose confidential information for the same reasons given above), “the physician must be guided by existing legislation regarding medical confidentiality and by any common law regarding confidentiality (and permitted or obligatory breaches of confidentiality)” (Confidentiality, 2000).

Confidentiality. (2000). Retrieved on October 14, 2009, from http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Confidentiality.pdf
The Body. (August, 2, 2007). Retrieved on October 14, 2009, from http://www.thebody.com/content/whatis/art42565.html