Kaycee Hightower
4th period
AP Capstone
The politics of HIV/AIDS Disease is all around us and when an epidemic hits, it’s not exactly something that everyone can ignore, however when that epidemic turns into a pandemic, many Americans often times pay less attention to the disease in our own country, and more attention to what we are doing in other countries to stop the infection from migrating further. There are currently thirty five million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS and only 1.1 million of those cases are in the United States.(avert.org) With millions of people becoming newly infected each year, many have hoped that with new technological advances, and advances in treatments in medicine, the disease could be contained and maybe someday, cured. However, these hopes have ceased and the realization that this disease has more of an impact than many originally imagined, has ensued. People who originally put this disease on the back burner and saw it as only a small issue affecting a small amount of people, are now expressing their concerns not only for their wellbeing, but for the wellbeing of the country as a whole. These concerns, as well as the concerns for citizens of other countries, have forced many political decisions to be made including the use of foreign aid, and this disease will only continue to have political and economic impacts on the United States both nationally and internationally. From early on, national governments often denied the existence of HIV/AIDS, disregarded the potential harm it has, and sometimes moved slowly to offer health services to people who were infected and living with the HIV/AIDS disease.(unrisd.org) In the 1980s and the 1990s there were many national reforms made to health care systems which caused many families and individuals to spend their incomes and life savings just to pay for the cost of treating their HIV/AIDS infection.(unrisd.org) The result of this has been a dramatic shift in spending as well as the impoverishment of large segments of the populations of many different countries which has caused many long-term economic losses to these nations, including the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control, “Poverty can limit access to health care, HIV testing, and medications that can lower levels of HIV in the blood and help prevent transmission risk. In addition, those who cannot afford the basics in life may end up in circumstances that increase their HIV risk.” With many people who are infected with the disease in poverty, they can’t always afford the life-long treatment that is needed for them to simply survive as well as the treatment they need to protect themselves and others from spreading the disease, and often times infected people simply don’t want to get treated. There are over 100 federal resources that a person can use if they do not get private insurance and cannot afford to pay for treatment. (aids.gov) However, the Center for Disease control states that in the United States alone, nearly one third of the people who are infected with HIV/AIDS are either not getting treatment, or are diagnosed years after they have actually contracted the disease. The high cost of these treatments as well as many other factors can not only ultimately cause more infected persons, but also increase the chances of these said persons to fall below the poverty line if they were not yet under to begin with. And the number of people who are going untreated for the disease can possibly increase that number even more. With the poverty rate in many underdeveloped countries as well as the poverty rate in the United States on the rise, the spread of the disease and the lack of treatment people can afford are permanently affecting the economic state of our country and many others. When it comes to any global issue, the United States seems to always one of the first countries to step up and take initiative in helping other countries who seem to be struggling. According to PEPFAR or the United States President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief, the United States sends foreign aid to almost 35 countries around the world only for the soul purpose of helping the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This is including countries in Sub-Saharan Africa which accounts for more than 70 percent of the world’s HIV/AIDS cases. “Global spending dedicated to HIV/AIDS came in at $8.2 billion in 2011.”(americanprogress.org) and the fact that many developing countries were able to take some financial leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS is definitely nothing short of remarkable in fact, a Global Fund for the fight against HIV/AIDS was created in 2001 by the United Nations (un.org) for the purpose of those countries to come together, however, much of the money that was spent on this global fight, was put in place by the United States. For the year of 2015, the federal budget request for HIV/AIDS reached $30.4 billion (avert.org) this budget is for both domestic and international disease. However, many Americans still believe that the United States need to do more. This is mostly because, according to WorldPublicOpinion.org, the majority of Americans support U.S aid to address the problem of HIV/AIDS in Africa and an even greater majority considers the crisis quite serious and believes that it will affect Americans. However, there is always the other side of the spectrum that believes that giving this foreign aid could potentially be a threat to foreign security. World Public Opinion also stated that about fifty percent of the public feels the US should do more than it has to help, and other majorities believe that Africans, pharmaceutical companies and the United Nations should do more to help. The gradual increase of victims of HIV/AIDS has not only affected the world socially, it has affected the world economically and politically as well. Every American has their own view on how the disease should be treated and they have their own view on how disease should be fought, however some of those views often seem to contradict one another. The United States Government has made many advancements and attempts both politically and financially to combat HIV/AIDS, and with the rate we’ve seen, there can only be more investment to come. The main goal of those who are in the global fight, is to treat the people who are living while infected with the disease while also stopping the migration and spread of the disease throughout the world. With more political action, maybe the spread can end which will in turn end the economic strife that HIV/AIDS causes in nations around the world.

Works Cited
"HIV and AIDS in the USA." Averting HIV and AIDS. 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 6 Nov. 2014. .
"Politics and Political Economy of HIV/AIDS." United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. 1 Sept. 2005. Web. 6 Nov. 2014. .
Dunning, Casey. "The Turning Point in Spending for Combating HIV/AIDS." Center For American Progress. 8 Aug. 2014. Web. 7 Nov. 2014. .
"Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS." AIDS.gov. 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 6 Nov. 2014. .
"Global Issues:AIDS." The United Nations. It's Your World. 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 7 Nov. 2014. .
"Foreign Aid for HIV/AIDS in Africa." World Public Opinion. 1 Sept. 2013. Web. 6 Nov. 2014. .