Horizontal Health Equity Refers To the Balance in the Provision

Question: Horizontal Health Equity Refers To the Balance in How the Provision? Answer: Introducation: HIV refers to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and it can lead to disease known as AIDS (Acquired Human Immuno Deficiency Syndrome). It attacks the immune system of the body and is very difficult to get rid of it in a complete manner .It has been reported that 1000 Australian people are diagnosed with HIV every year and people are diagnosed at a later stage ,after the virus has caused illness in them. Australia is able to eliminate AIDS but not HIV infection among the individuals. It is estimated that Australia will be able to become HIV free by the year 2020. It has also been reported that there is a growth of around 13 % in the patients infected by HIV every year in the country. It was also reported in 2015 that there was 25,313 individuals affected with HIV in Australia(Dodson, Batterham, McDonald, Osborne, 2016). Researchers have planned various healthcare strategies to stop HIV from infecting individuals especially key populations which involves men who have sex with men, peopl e living in prisons and other closed settings, people who inject drugs in themselves, sex workers and transgender people. They should be provided with proper prevention and treatment facilities to prevent HIV from infecting them, as it is their basic right. Social determinants of health , primary health care, and health well being of populations and communities at risk of exposure to HIV are directly interlinked to one another. Social determinants of HIV include social discrimination of the infected individuals,gender biasness ,low socioeconomic status and experiences in childhood such as sexual abuse or children who have faced emotional issues are seen to have infected with HIV during adulthood. Primary health care for HIV includes lack of information regarding safe sex due to low socioeconomic status and financial crisis, lack of proper counseling and treatment especially to women due to gendr biasness (Coleman, Tate, Gaddist, White, 2016).It is important to provide to medical fa cilities to individuals infected with HIV without any discrimination to lower down the rate of HIV patients on a global level. This essay includes prevalence of HIV among key populations, health equity, disproportionate risks, guideline and the strategies including preventive healthcare interventions and community interventions to overcome HIV in such populations. Equity in primary health care refers to the various reasons that result in different qualities of healthcare in different populations residing in regions. This differentiation is done on the basis of caste, creed, sex, and financial status of the populations. It involves a lack of proper medical facilities such as lack of medicines to the people and is completely injustice to them. Health inequity leads to decrease in life expectancy of the individuals and increase in mortality rate(Thomas Humphreys, 2015)) Lack of proper healthcare facilities leads to depression, anger, sadness and low self-esteem in individuals. Health equity is of two types, horizontal health equity and vertical health equity. Horizontal health equity refers to the balance in the provision of medical treatment facilities under the same conditions to people who are single, or in groups. Vertical equity is based on the fact that people who have differences on the basis of caste, religion, sex should be provided different healthcare facilities according to their requirement. Health equity is important in primary health care because every individual has the right to avail proper medical facilities irrespective of their differences like caste and financial status. This will help them in improving their health condition and keep them contented(Leeuw, 2015). A large proportion of women also lag behind as compared to men to avail primary health care. The main reason behind this is that women lack economic and social power. Declaration of Alma Ata of 1978 played an important role in providing primary health care to all the individuals in the twentieth century. According to this declaration, primary health care plays an important role in attaining the objective of the proper health care facilities for all the individuals. There is a major difference in the provision of medical facilities among the developing and the developed countries and this is not acceptable as it is the basic right of every individual to avail proper medical facilities. There should be a proper methodology and various strategies should be followed to reduce this gap. Various scientific and technological methods should be developed that can be accessed by the patients and their family members living in rural areas at a reasonable cost(Brown Stepanova, 2016). The objective of primary health care for all the individuals was accepted by all the countries who are members of World Health Organization (WHO) after this declaration was made . Initially, it was accepted by the developing countries and by other country after five years. There are various disproportionate risks involved in HIV for key populations because they have least access to prevention and care and very few treatment methods for the treatment of HIV. In the year 2015, it was reported that there were around 45% of new HIV infections including these key populations like men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, transgender people, people who live in prisons and confined areas and sex workers. Labeling these key populations, discrimination and criminalization are the main reasons they do not get proper treatment facilities. Government is planning various measures and strategies to reduce the percentage of this deadly disease in key population to 75 % by the year 2020(World Health Organization., 2014). There are various guidelines on the prevention of HIV by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce the infections caused by this disease in various countries. It involves increase in the provision of testing of HIV, proper care treatment facilities to specific populations like sex workers, transgenders, men who have sex with men, people who live in prison and people who inject drugs to themselves(World Health Organisation , 2015). These groups are not provided proper medical treatment facilities to prevent HIV and have to face various laws and policies that are biased as compared to the normal population. According to WHO, men who have sex with men should take antiretroviral medicines to prevent HIV infection which is also known as pre-exposure prophylaxis(Worl Health Organisation, 2016). This can reduce the HIV infections up to 25% on a global level. People who live in prisons or closed areas should be provided proper nutrition and hygienic environment to prevent HIV infection. They should be given proper medical and dental checkups and should be provided proper protection from various hazards. People who inject drugs in their body should be given clean syringes and needles at low cost to prevent the infection. They should be given proper counseling and medical testing facilities for HIV. They should also be provided antiretroviral therapy to prevent themselves from HIV. Adolescents should be given HIV Vaccination to prevent the HIV disease from infecting them. Pre- Exposure Prophylaxis should be made available to these key populations as they have a high risk of getting HIV infection, which involves intake a pill daily(World Health Organisation , 2015). These key populations should be given proper access to treatment, prevention and care. Various healthcare programs should be organized to deal with their health issues to achieve health equity for patients suffering from HIV. It is the human right of every AIDS patient to receive proper counseling about the preventive measures and the treatment tests(Diagnosing HIV, 2015).Equity and Rights should be balanced for all the patients affected by HIV. Proper policies, and laws are required to protect the individual rights of such patients. According to the case study as nonprofit organization developed an HIV model of community nursing care in 1986 and there was not any other model of nursing ,various nursing interventions in Australia involve working with various healthcare providers to make sure that the patients suffering from HIV receive proper care .It also involves monitoring of various sign of infections in the patients because of HIV and encourage them to have a proper balanced diet to increase the nutritional content. They should provide soft cushions to the patients to prevent the discomfort. They should also keep in check whether the stool of the patient suffering from HIV is consistent or not and should keep in check if the patient is suffering from abdominal cramps or pain(Bennett, Bertagnolio, Gilks, 2008). They should be cooperative and sympathetic towards the HIV patients. They should also provide patient centered care and have proper communication with the patients. Nurses and various healthcare profe ssionals should help the patients in their daily activities and allow their family members to speak in a simple language to them. Preventive health care interventions for HIV include proper use of condoms by these key populations to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV up to 94 %. They should also be counseled to use silicone or water based lubricants that would prevent the condoms from slipping and getting broken. Individuals who inject drugs in themselves, condom programming should be made essential to them and lubricant distribution programs should be introduced and closed settings to prevent the harmful effects of HIV(Group, 2003). Community interventions play an important role improving their health condition in the key populations and various other patients include proper counseling of patient affected by HIV and providing them psychosocial support to boost their confidence and improve their self-esteem. They and their family members should be given proper information about the disease, its symptoms, treatment plan and preventive measures to avoid any confusion and to tackle the disease(Weiler, 2013). For example, sex workers have a little information about the risk factors associated and they should not be discriminated from others in the provision of better healthcare services as they are more prone to this disease. Adolescents should be trained about the practice of having safe sex by the use of condoms and lubricants by organizing sexuality training programs in schools and colleges. People who inject drugs in their body should be provided training on the safe use of injections to avoid future complications(Figueroa, Johnson, Baggaley, 2015). Community interventions play an important role in guiding these key populations and providing effective services to deal with deadly diseases like HIV. It also helps in developing various strategies to provide better healthcare facilities to such patients. These strategies include providing education about the disease, application of various service and literacy programs and other programmes and policies for the betterment of healthcare services. It can be concluded that HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is an incurable disease, which leads to AIDS. It spreads through the body fluids present in our body and should be treated to prevent the virus from infecting further. It can be prevented by having safe sex or abstinence. Safe sex refers to the use condoms especially latex condoms and key populations should visit the healthcare professional for regular examination and to make sure that he or she has contracted the disease. They should follow proper treatment methods and take various preventive measures to avoid the infection from HIV. Patients should use sterilized needles should not use shared needles with each other for the incorporation of the drug in the body(Piot, Bartos, Ghys, Schwartlnder, 2001). People who belong to key populations such as men who have sex with men, people living in prisons and other closed settings, people who inject drugs in themselves, sex workers and transgender people should keep a check on the ir health to keep themselves safe from this lethal disease. They should be provided with proper counseling, guidance and information about the prevention and treatment facilities to prevent HIV from infecting them. It is the basic individual right of every human being to receive proper healthcare facilities irrespective of caste, creed religion and social status. References Bennett, Bertagnolio, Gilks, S. . (2008). The World Health Organization's global strategy for prevention and assessment of HIV drug resistance. Antiviral therapy, 13, 1. Brown, Stepanova, F. . (2016). 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