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HIV as an Urban Epidemic

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HIV and Young People

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Public Health ((BRIEFSPUBLIC))

Abstract

HIV remains a major threat to life and livelihood and increasingly in urban contexts. This chapter presents the case of AIDS, globally, and the nature of vulnerability, risk and resilience against HIV in the urban spaces of Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa and describes the key populations most affected and infected by the virus.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘The Global Plan, 2012, is a multi-agency initiative established to work towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive. The Global Plan prioritized 22 countries where 90 per cent of pregnant women living with HIV resided. Twenty-one of these countries are in sub Saharan Africa, of which Kenya is one’ (UNAIDS 2014a).

  2. 2.

    The countries of eastern and southern Africa are Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eretria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia (UNAIDS 2010b).

  3. 3.

    The setting up of a National AIDS Commission and HIV strategic plan and tracking system is aligned to the ‘Three Ones’ principles applicable in all country-level HIV/AIDS response:

     One agreed HIV/AIDS Action Framework that provides the basis for coordinating the work

     of all partners; One National AIDS Coordinating Authority, with a broad based multi-sector mandate; and One agreed country-level Monitoring and Evaluation System (UNAIDS 2004).

  4. 4.

    ‘Zero new HIV infections; zero discrimination; and zero AIDS-related deaths’ (UNAIDS 2011).

  5. 5.

    Transactional sex is discreet from formal sex work (MacPherson et al. 2012).

  6. 6.

    ‘Brown sugar’, a lower grade of heroin, has been replaced by ‘white crest’ as did user habits shift from inhalation of the vapour from the former to the injecting of the latter (Beckerleg et al. 2006).

  7. 7.

    A concentrated HIV epidemic is when the rate of HIV is less than 1 per cent in the general population but more than 5 per cent in at least one high-risk subpopulation, such as MSM, IDUs, SW or their clients. A generalised HIV epidemic is when HIV prevalence rate exceeds 1 per cent in the general population (Denning 2014).

  8. 8.

    According to the HIV treatment guidelines by the World Health Organization, ART is to be offered to all HIV-positive people at CD4 counts below 500 cells/mm, the previous WHO recommendation, set in 2010, was to offer treatment at a CD4 count of 350 or below (WHO 2013).

  9. 9.

    Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is short-term antiretroviral treatment to reduce the likelihood of HIV infection after potential exposure either occupationally or through sexual intercourse (WHO 2013).

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    Gary Jones

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Jones, G. (2016). HIV as an Urban Epidemic. In: HIV and Young People. SpringerBriefs in Public Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26814-9_3

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