Read the following passage critically and answer the questions below. U.S. Plans
ID: 5920 • Letter: R
Question
Read the following passage critically and answer the questions below.U.S. Plans New Strategy for HIV/AIDS
The Obama administration plans to unveil a new AIDS strategy Tuesday, aimed at reducing new infections and increasing the number of HIV-positive people getting care.
Details of the program are to be announced at a White House press conference, but the New York Times, citing a leaked draft of the plan, said the administration aims to reduce the annual number of new infections by 25% within five years.
Currently, there are an estimated 56,000 new infections yearly and the number of people living with HIV is more than a million, according to the CDC. That works out to about one new infection every nine and a half minutes.
Still, tens of thousands of HIV-positive people are not receiving any care -- care that would, the report said, prolong their own lives and reduce the spread of the virus to others. The goal should be, the report said, to increase by 2015 the proportion of newly diagnosed patients linked to clinical care within three months of diagnosis to 85% from the current 65%.
In other HIV-oriented administration actions, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that $25 million will be reallocated to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program to reduce the length of waiting lists. More than $800 million has already been allocated to the program this year.
According to the New York Times, the White House report's main additional points are:
• Too few people with the virus know their status. The proportion should increase from 75% to 90% by 2015.
• Federal spending on testing and prevention does not match the need, and the federal government should give more money to states with the highest burden of disease.
• "More attention and resources" should be devoted to gay and bisexual men and to African Americans, who account, respectively, for more than half of new infections each year and for 46% of people living with HIV.
• The HIV transmission rate should be reduced by 30% in five years. Now, about five of every 100 people with HIV transmit the virus to someone in a given year
Question A. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the article above and be sure to comment on incidence and persistence of HIV as a result of the new Obama plan.
Explanation / Answer
This article was good because it provided a lot of facts and statistics about where AIDS in our country is. This article does not talk about the money needed and how they will get this money. It makes the plan seem like a good idea but it doesn't mention the money people will have to sacrifice to instigate the plan. The incidence of AIDS under the Obama Administration will probably stay the same or very slightly decrease. Not much is mention about AIDS prevention but rather about heath care for people with AIDS. They mention the demographics this would appeal to but nothing more about resources for preventing AIDS. The prevalence of AIDS may increase as more awareness is brought towards it as people will be less afraid to seek treatment or to get tested. If these resources are readily available, it will appear more people have it but in actuallity it will just be a more accurate projection of AIDS in the U.S.
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