Hiv Epidemic Hiv And Hiv - 1781 Words

Since its identification approximately two decades ago, HIV has increasingly spread globally, surpassing expectations (1). The number of people living with HIV worldwide is estimated to be 36 million, with 20 million people having died from the disease, giving a total number of 56 million being infected (1). In 2000 alone, 5.3 million people were infected with HIV and there is potential for further spread. HIV infection rates vary all over the world with the highest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (1). Responding to this epidemic has been a challenge as infection rates have increased worldwide despite tremendous public health efforts by nations (1). The identification of potential interventions to reduce the magnitude of the problem has†¦show more content†¦Depending on the source the definition varies to some extent but here it is defined as â€Å"social networks, the reciprocities that arise from them and the value of these for achieving (mutual) goals† (3). Given this definition, social capital can be further subdivided into structural and cognitive social capital (3). Structural social capital refers to the forms and ways that social organizations and networks cooperate and interact with each other. Cognitive social capital on the other hand, has to do with the norms, values, attitudes and beliefs that come about from the interactions of communities through social organizations and networks (3). Building upon these concepts, it is through the involvement with these social networks that peoples’ health is influenced, specifically sexually related behaviors (3). Research on the effect of social capital on HIV infections is a relatively new area and still in its infancy. Being as such, there are few studies that have looked at this relationship and the data is scant. Much of what is known about the effect of social capital on HIV infection rates stems from studies conducted in developing countries, particularly in Africa (3). There have been several studies that have found a direct relationship between access to social capital, both cognitive and structural, and positive individual health (3). In a cross-sectional study with 3,586 participants done