System Map: HIV among African American Community

HIV among African American Community Submitting the Final System Map
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Health Issue
The U.S. has made great strides in fighting and overcoming the effects of HIV/AIDS. However, there are still factions of the country’s population that are still feeling the impact of the infection. In African American communities, the rate of infection with HIV remains to be quite high. According to Richard Wolitski (2018), the total number of HIV infections is 1.1 million. Of this total, African Americans account for 43% or 470,000. Wolitski further indicates that 74,100 individuals have been infected with HIV and are unaware of the infection. Therefore, these people continue to spread the virus to others in the community. In 2019, the CDC (2022) indicated that of the new HIV diagnoses in the U.S., African Americans represented 42% or 15,305 of the total number. The report further indicates that most of those affected were men, especially male-to-male sexual contact. However, the CDC report also indicates that progress has been made to help reduce HIV diagnoses among African Americans, with the numbers decreasing steadily from 2015 to 2019.
The narrative below is developed against the background information on the abovementioned issue. African Americans are greatly incurring the heaviest impact of HIV/AIDS. The elements addressed in this narrative include health behaviors, health education, social determinants of health, policy, funding, and community health infrastructure. The system map above indicates the relationships between these elements and their components, with their relationships depicted in blue, red, and black lines.
Health Behaviors
Health behaviors related to HIV are some issues that expose individuals to HIV infection. These behaviors predispose these individuals to HIV and make it increasingly easy to acquire the infection. Some of the behaviors among African Americans highlighted in the system map include alcohol intake, risky sexual activities, sharing syringes, and avoiding using condoms. The CDC (2022) reports that among African Americans, 7% of individuals with HIV are known to have sex without any transmission prevention measures or strategies. Further, the CDC reports that 7% of individuals in the African American community living without HIV happen to have sex without any HIV prevention measures. Concerning syringes, the CDC reports that the percentage of African Americans without HIV who happen to share a syringe with other people stands at 23% (2022). The avoidance of using condoms is also another health behavior that the CDC reports exposes a majority of African Americans to HIV infection.
Health Education
Health education is a key factor that can help reduce HIV infections. However, as it stands, there is still a major problem within the African American community. The CDC (2022) reports that HIV education among the African American community is low. First, few individuals within the community are aware of their status and are receiving the care they need. Secondly, few know how best to lead healthier lives. For example, the knowledge of viral load and how it lowers the risk of transmitting HIV is a crucial element many are unaware of. Further, those without HIV als...