PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY

Critical Analysis of a Public Health Policy

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Table of Contents

Background1

Aims and Objectives of the Policy3

Policy Options4

Policy Process4

Policy Outcomes5

Public Health Policy Evaluation5

Evidence Based Solutions9

Positive Aspects of Policy9

Barriers and Obstacles12

Lessons Learned and Recommendations13

References15

Critical Analysis of a Public Health Policy

Background

Since acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first discovered in 1981, 545,805 people have died in the United States (data through 2006) (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007a). Additionally, more than one million people are currently living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006be). Someone in the U.K., in 2009, is infected with HIV every 9 minutes (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention). In 2006, there were an estimated 56,300 new HIV infections in the U.K. (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention).

We have selected the Public Health Policy Propositions for HIV/AIDS Behavioural Risk Reduction Interventions in UK. HIV/AIDS is one of the most devastating preventable diseases to ever appear in the world. The amount of loss and suffering attributed to HIV/AIDS has been tremendous. HIV/AIDS began as a concentrated epidemic in the gay and injection drug using (IDU) communities, but over the past twenty-seven years its reach has expanded dramatically to include heterosexuals, especially minorities and women. However, men who have sex with men (MSM) (a term including gay, bisexual, and non-gay or bisexual identified men who have sex with men) are still the majority of new HIV and AIDS cases and feel the brunt of the epidemic in the U.K. (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007a). Since the epidemic's beginning, more than 500,000 MSM have been diagnosed with AIDS, and more than 300,000 MSM have died from the syndrome (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007a). MSM accounted for 50 percent of Americans infected with HIV/AIDS in 2006; the next highest category was for high-risk heterosexual contact, which represented 33 percent (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008f). Furthermore, it is alarming that MSM is one of only two risk categories that is still seeing increases in the number of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases from one year to the next, the other being heterosexual transmission (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d. d). MSM, and especially young MSM (13-25 year olds), continue to be at great risk for HIV infection (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention).

However, many people at risk for HIV infection consider it to be a chronic disease that is manageable, as long as a person has access to expensive antiretroviral mediations and sophisticated testing and medical care (Quinn 2008: pp. 7-12). Over the past 10-15 years, advances in pharmaceutical interventions—specifically the introduction of protease inhibitors—have transformed HIV from a death sentence to a survivable disease. Several studies have shown that the fear and threat of AIDS has evaporated in some MSM due to the use of these medications, especially young MSM who do not have the context of witnessing their close friends and ...