McNeil,
Donald G. “New HIV Cases Falling In Some Poor Nations, but Treatment Still
Lags.” The New York Times. 20
November, 2012. 21 November, 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/21/world/new-hiv-cases-falling-in-some-poor-nations-but-treatment-still-lags.html?ref=science>
“New HIV Cases Falling in Some Poor
Nations, but Treatment Lags” is a New
York Times science article dedicated to the statistics of HIV cases. According
to its author, Donald McNeil, the total number of HIV cases is many poor and
middle-income countries have dropped by fifty percent in the last decade,
including in places such as Africa, where AIDs and HIV epidemics are
widespread. The amount of new infections has also decreased, by twenty-two
percent since 2001. This good news is the result of the achievements of
treatment groups that targeted not only babies, who had a high infection rate,
but gay men, prostitutes, and drug addicts. These people are looked down upon
in many societies, where they cannot receive treatment because of who they are.
In places like the Middle East, gay men may not even confess to having
symptoms, because that would cause them to reveal their sexuality in a place
where homosexuality is illegal. However, despite these encouraging
developments, the fight against AIDs and HIV has yet to proceed to a point
where the two diseases will be permanently in decline. One of the largest
issues is money, because, while $16.8 billion was spent on treatment last year,
the amount of money needed to effectively continue with such work is $24
billion a year. Another problem is that many people, especially children, are
not getting the medicine they need to fight the disease. Every country will
need to choose the tool best suited to it for fighting its own epidemic, be it
one type of medicine or another.
HIV and AIDs are both worldwide
problems, so any developments in the battle to prevent and cure them are
important no matter where one lives. The statistics mentioned in the article
provide hope that, someday, HIV and AIDs can be cured, but they also inform us
that this day could very well be far off. The number of deaths caused by AIDs
is falling but not everyone is receiving treatment. I chose this article so
that I could stay informed upon the topic and because I know people who work
for charities devoted to helping prevent HIV and AIDs. Educating ourselves, as
well as others, about these problems can also help alleviate them, as more
people will know what is going on around them.
While this article was interesting,
it was hard to follow because of the large amount of statistics that it cited.
Mr. McNeil should have used fewer statistics, by only using those that were
most important. Also, the article has little flow, as it jumps around from
topic to topic. It briefly mentions treating gay men, prostitutes, and drug
addicts in the second paragraph and only comes back to this topic in the
fourteenth paragraph. The article could have been written in a more coherent,
precise way that presented the developments in AIDs and HIV treatment, the
positive news, and the problems that have yet to be solved. In conclusion, this
article is important to our society and, while it is optimistic, it shows that
we have a long way to go before HIV and AIDs epidemics are under control.
I thought Gina did a thorough job in reviewing “New HIV Cases Falling in Some Poor Nations, but Treatment Lags”. Gina did a great job of backing up her review with well-chosen statistics that made her opinion on the matter that much more credible. She also made sure not only to use appropriate statistics, but also interpreted the statistics giving the reader a better understanding of what they meant. Gina did a great job of emphasizing a key point of the article, that although cases of HIV are falling in some nations, treatment is still not at the point it needs to be. In order for HIV to be more effectively combated, it is necessary to distribute the appropriate medicine to fight the disease. I also thought that Gina made a great point when she brought up the fact that gay men, prostitutes, and drug addicts were included in the treatment groups that experienced much lower infection rates. This was important to note because without this point, some may have assumed that lower infection rates can be attributed partially to cases of HIV that were not reported by the aforementioned types of people because of fear of social consequences.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would have liked to see out of Gina’s review is a potential solution to the problem of lagging treatment progress. It would have been interesting to learn about the ways in which institutions around the world are combating HIV and AIDS. I also think Gina could have given some of the reasons that are attributed to the drop in infection rates in these poor nations, as it would have been interesting to learn about methods that are making an impact in fighting the disease.
One thing I learned in this article is that in the Middle East, many are afraid to report cases of HIV because of the social repercussions of being a homosexual or a prostitute. I found this to be startling and incredibly alarming because the effect of unreported cases of HIV could be staggering if people are not receiving treatment.
The review of “New HIV Cases Falling in Some Poor Nations, but Treatment Lags” was organized and well-written. The reviewer did a good job of mentioning the countries that have had less cases of HIV reported in the past decades. She mentioned the statistics of these countries and stated that in places like Africa, cases of HIV reported were half of what they were ten years ago. Another good point the reviewer mentions is that the treatment that is used, is primarily directed to babies and is not used on those who are gay, prostitutes, and drug addicts. It is mentioned that treatment is being directed to patients unfairly and is based on occupation or preference rather than need.
ReplyDeleteAlthough some statistics were mentioned, I think that the reviewer could have added some facts like 2.5 million people became infected last year, while only 1.4 million received treatment. This is important because it shows that a large amount of people infected did not get the needed treatment. Another thing that could have been mentioned was how the ways to prevent HIV/AIDS has changed and improved over the years. Before, abstinence and condoms were the only things to try and prevent the infection, while now, things like circumcision are used to cut the infection risk.
One thing I found interesting about this article was the alarming number of people infected with HIV. I always new that HIV/AIDS was a serious problem, but I didn’t realize how many people all over the world were actually infected with the disease.
I think that Gina’s review of “New H.I.V. Cases Falling in Some Poor Nations, but Treatment Still Lags” did a good job of summarizing the main points of the article. For an article that was so filled with various statistics, she did a nice job of culling down the information to what the statistics meant, leaving out the majority of the numbers. I also think it was good that she emphasized the largest issue, money, as that is one of the more important figures from the article. In addition, I like that she indicated that the statistics in the article provided hope that one day, a cure could be achieved for HIV and AIDs, which was one of the brighter aspects of the article.
ReplyDeleteWhile I like that she eliminated the confusing statistics that were present in the original article, I think Gina could have presented one simple example to emphasize a point. For example, she could have included that 72 percent of children needing pediatric antiretrovirals do not get them. That, for me, was a powerful number because it indicated just how problematic HIV and AIDs are. Also, I think that the sentences, “This good news is the result of the achievements of treatment groups that targeted not only babies…but gay men, prostitutes, and drug addicts. These people are looked down upon in many societies…” could have been misleading to someone who had not read the article as they indicated that babies were amongst the people looked down upon in society.
It’s good to know that there is progress being made towards a cure towards AIDs and HIV. You hear a lot about charities and fundraisers for the diseases, but I know that I, personally, have wondered if the research was going anywhere. It is good to know that progress has been made and it is interesting to learn about how that progress has been made (specifically, focusing treatment on high-risk groups).
I thought Gina’s review of “New HIV Cases Falling in Some Poor Nations, but Treatment Lags” was presented very well. I thought the review summed up the article very clearly. The review included all of the information needed to understand what the article was about without making it hard to follow. The review explained exactly what Donald McNeil’s findings are about the statistics of HIV. Another part of the review I appreciated was the part in which Gina shared her opinions on HIV and AIDs and how people need to continue working to eradicate the world of HIV and AIDs. I also liked how Gina stated her opinion of the article and how it was hard to follow since too much data was jammed in.
ReplyDeleteI thought the review could have mentioned more about the certain statistics that Donald McNeil mentioned. By including this it would show readers what exactly the important statistics are. Also, the review could have included proposed ways to prevent HIV and AIDs since this would have been very interesting to read.
Overall I was surprised to learn that HIV and AIDs are still widespread all over the world. I also learned that some cannot report their diseases because it would lead to discord among members of the community. It is still good to know that progress is being made though.