The article "South Africa to treat all HIV-positive babies" was written by Donna Bryson on Tuesday December 1, 2009 for the "Seattle Times" newspaper. The article touches base on an international problem of HIV/AIDS and if the South Africa goes through with the planned treatments for those with HIV then hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved. South African President Jacob Zuma has described a plan for South Africa which will treat all HIV-infected pregnant women and babies earlier in order to increase child survival rate; which has worsened since 1990, partially due to HIV/AIDS. Zuma plans to give these pregnant women preventative drugs earlier and while breast-feeding. He also plans on giving treatment to all HIV positive babies under the age of 1, regardless of their CD4 count. Finally, patients infected with both tuberculosis and HIV will be able to receive treatment if their CD4 count is 350 or lower, compared now to a CD4 count of 200, patients will be getting treatment sooner. In his speech, Zuma said that these plans are intended to begin in April of 2010.
Throughout the article the author is supportive of both Zuma and his plan to help save the lives of many HIV/AIDS infected patients. For example, Bryson writes "President Jacob Zuma - once ridiculed for saying a shower could prevent AIDS - was cheered as he outlined the measures on World AIDS Day." This shows that he is supportive and has a positive attitude towards Zuma and his plan because he agrees with those who cheered on Zuma throughout his speech. The author of this article is Donna Bryson who has written articles in many well-known newspapers across the globe. Bryson does in fact provide a lot of factual information. There is use of quotes from Zuma's speech, quotes from witnesses [ Setjhaba Ranthako and daughter] who were there when Zuma gave his speech and also numbers for those infected with HIV/AIDS in South Africa are provided. The sources in this article are President Jacob Zuma, Setjhaba Ranthako, Michel Sidibe and Mark Heywood. Overall, this article was extremely informative.
Something heavily mentioned in this article that has also been discussed in class is prevention. In order to avoid an infectious disease prevention is necessary. Also, something else that I have learned is that HIV/AIDS is a very serious, deadly disease that should not be taken lightly. To protect oneself from getting HIV/AIDS one must be smart about the decisions they make. All in all, I thought this was an excellent article. I believe that the plan set in place by Zuma is a very good one and I also believe that this article touches upon all points made in Zuma's speech. Also, it reiterates the fact that one must be smart about HIV/AIDS.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This was a very interesting article and I agree with all of the things Jessica said. I think that it is an excellent plan for Zuma to put in place and I agree that the article helps the reader understand that such a troublesome disease needs to be prevented. The only question that I had about this plan was about the funding. I know it is very expensive to make vaccines and antibiotics and any other medical treatment so I was just wondering how they were planning on financing this. I do think that it is an excellent sign that the government is taking into account the well-being of the people and that they are actually taking steps towards fixing a problem. Also it is good to see that they are keeping track of the amount of people who are getting HIV/AIDS and they see that it is increasing and that could ultimately be detrimental to the country.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was very good but I have a few questions. When you said that they would give treatment to babies under 1 no matter their CD4 count, wouldn't that just be wasteing drugs that could better serve siomeone else. If their CD4 cont doesn't qualify them for treatment shouldn't it go to someone who does qualify, inorder to save the most lives possible. I was also wondering when we would expect to start seeing results from this change. Overall I thought it was very informative and intresting.
ReplyDeleteThis article was great for information on what South Africa is doing to combat the HIV/AIDs problem since it's so big there. I'm glad that leaders are taking strong steps to a solution. I too am wondering how the government plans on paying for it all. I am also curious at to citizen's feelings about it since they will be affected the most.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that this was a very interesting and relevant article. I think it is wonderful that Zuma is taking action in order to fight the HIV/AIDs problem that is going on in the world. Like others have already said I wonder how expensive it is to do this program. Also, are any other countries doing the same thing as South Africa decided to do. I think that it is crucial that many countries concider this same plan because it is absolutely necessary to solve this awful disease. This article is also very relevant to our class because it discussed the safety precautions necessary towards fighting the HIV/AIDs problem.
ReplyDeleteI liked this article a lot because I feel that awareness of HIV needs to be raised because I don't think that most people don't understand the severity of the HIV virus and how destructive it can be. I think Zuma's plan to help pregnant women is great so that they can try to curb the problem before it can expand and prevent the death of countless innocent children. I love that Zuma plans on giving treatment to all HIV positive babies under the age of 1, regardless of their CD4 count. This is a great way to give hope for the future.
ReplyDeleteThis article was good in the fact it shows progress on how Africa is dealing with its HIV/TB problems and ways they are trying to prevent/raising awareness. Giving treatment to infants under 1 is crucial to the survival of many children and is clearly paying off.All in all Zuma plans sound decent, but if he doesn't follow through with them it will be pointless. HIV is a very serious issue and should receive all the help it can get.
ReplyDeleteI felt that this article had a very good sense to the problems with HIV/AIDS today, and how they are trying to be resolved in South Africa. Zuma gives hope to those newborn babies with HIV positive, and a step closer to declining the rate of those with HIV/AIDS later on.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a very good article to choose to show the awareness of HIV/AIDS. It displays the effort that South Africa is putting in to prevent this disease from spreading further more. Supplying treatment to new born babies HIV positive, is a very effective way to help them live longer and to possibly prevent it from being passed on to others. The plans that Zuma has come up with are very helpful to South Africa and will hopefully be carried through with.
ReplyDeleteI think this article is great at showing how severe HIV/AIDS is in South Africa because sometimes people overlook it. It is great that Zuma is trying to help people by supplying them with more treatment. But how are they going to pay for all the treatment? Also are the citizens happy with this plan or did they want other things to help with the problem? It seems that the author is very educated and is writing the article from the view of many people.
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was good in showing what is going on with HIV/AIDS in South Africa, especially since it is one of the hardest hit places. I think Zuma is heading in the right direction for prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. I was also wondering how money was going to fit into this because it has to be expensive for all of this work. I am glad that Zuma is paying attention to infants so that they have a better chance of survival. It sounds like this plan will do many good things for people being affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
ReplyDeleteGood pick Jess. It grabbed my attention right away. It's comforting to know that there are intelligent leaders out there. One thing however was i didnt know what a CD4 count was. I think it was a refreshing matter to read about because it wasn't just talking about the severity of AIDS but what is physically being done to prevent it. AIDS in Africa is easily overlooked in the US and it makes me happy to know that Zuma is acknowledging such a problem.
ReplyDeleteI like this article because we always hear about the huge problem of AIDS around the world but sometimes we don't take the time to actually think about how it affects people's lives. I also liked how this article really focused on Africa and it is nice to know that Zuma is really looking out for the well being of the people and is not just accepting that is it a problem and moving on with other governmental issues.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Jess's blog about the article was pretty informative in itself by just summarizing what was said in the article. Obviously HIV/AIDS is a very well known disease and we are always informed to protect ourselves from it through commercials and the media but it's obviously more severe and deadly in South Africa. It's really upsetting that people especially kids are dying so frequently of AIDS and its good to hear that they're taking action to try to better the child survival rate.
ReplyDelete