Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Introduction

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
HIV and Young People

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

  • 497 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter provides a broad overview of the key issues regarding HIV and young people in the context of African urban slum life, in particular, conceptual understandings of vulnerability, risk and resilience and the interpersonal role of dignity and humiliation in shaping perception and behaviour.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Vulnerable has been defined as: ‘… open to attack, injury or criticism…’ (The Little Oxford Dictionary 1998, p. 745).

  2. 2.

    Risk has been defined as: ‘…chance of danger, injury, loss…’ (The Little Oxford Dictionary 1998, p. 559).

  3. 3.

    ‘HIV stands for ‘human immunodeficiency virus’. HIV is a virus (of the type called retrovirus) that infects cells of the human immune system (mainly CD4 positive T cells and macrophages—key components of the cellular immune system), and destroys or impairs their function. Infection with this virus results in the progressive deterioration of the immune system, leading to ‘immune deficiency’. The immune system is considered deficient when it can no longer fulfil its role of fighting off infections and diseases. Immunodeficient people are more susceptible to a wide range of infections, most of which are rare among people without immune deficiency. Infections associated with severe immunodeficiency are known as ‘opportunistic infections’, because they take advantage of a weakened immune system…AIDS stands for ‘acquired immunodeficiency syndrome’ and is a surveillance definition based on signs, symptoms, infections, and cancers associated with the deficiency of the immune system that stems from infection with HIV’ (UNAIDS 2008, p. 1).

  4. 4.

    Resilient has been defined as: ‘…recovering from setback’ (The Little Oxford Dictionary 1998, p. 550).

  5. 5.

    ‘Ideal type, in the social sciences, refers to an artificially constructed ‘pure type’ which emphasizes certain traits of a social item which do not necessarily exist anywhere in reality’ (McLeish 1993).

  6. 6.

    Humiliation has been defined as ‘causing someone to feel ashamed and foolish by injuring their dignity and self-respect’ (Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, 2015); and dignity has been defined as ‘the state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect’ (Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, 2015).

  7. 7.

    For young people, age group conceptualizations are: ‘childhood,’ any person under the age of 18 (United Nation Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) 1989), ‘adolescence’ referring to the age group 10–19 years (WHO) and ‘youth’ the 15–24 age group (political instruments of the United Nations); young people, less formally defined, include both adolescents and young adults, the 10–24 age group (Mberu 2012).

  8. 8.

    ‘In epidemiology, prevalence refers to the proportion of a population having an identified condition, such as HIV/AIDS. Through comparing the total number of people with that condition and number of people in that population group the extent of prevalence can be determined; incidence is a measure of the risk of a condition developing in a specific period of time’ (Sifiris and Myhre 2015).

  9. 9.

    In many sub-Saharan African countries, young people represent the majority share of the population pyramid. The term ‘youth bulge’ is often used in the context of ‘social instability’, given the lack of appropriate age-friendly social services and economic opportunities.

  10. 10.

    For this review, unless otherwise specifically stated by a cited source, the words slum and informal settlement are used to refer to all types of suboptimal living conditions.

  11. 11.

    The concept of urban advantage holds that cities are the main setting for progress and that the urban space facilitates the advancement of political ideas and action and provides unlimited benefits for the best level of health, education and public services, like adequate supplies of water and sanitation.

  12. 12.

    For UNISDR (2012), the ‘Ten Essentials for Making Cities Resilient’ are ‘1. Put in place organisation and coordination to understand and reduce disaster risk, based on participation of citizen groups and civil society. Build local alliances. Ensure that all departments understand their role in disaster risk reduction and preparedness. 2. Assign a budget for disaster risk reduction and provide incentives for homeowners, low‐income families, communities, businesses and the public sector to invest in reducing the risks they face. 3. Maintain up‐to‐date data on hazards and vulnerabilities, prepare risk assessments and use these as the basis for urban development plans and decisions. Ensure that this information and the plans for your city’s resilience are readily available to the public and fully discussed with them. 4. Invest in and maintain critical infrastructure that reduces risk, such as flood drainage, adjusted where needed to cope with climate change. 5. Assess the safety of all schools and health facilities and upgrade these as necessary. 6. Apply and enforce realistic, risk‐compliant building regulations and land use planning principles. Identify safe land for low‐income citizens and upgrade informal settlements, wherever feasible. 7. Ensure that education programmes and training on disaster risk reduction are in place in schools and local communities. 8. Protect ecosystems and natural buffers to mitigate floods, storm surges and other hazards to which your city may be vulnerable. Adapt to climate change by building on good risk reduction practices. 9. Install early warning systems and emergency management capacities in your city and hold regular public preparedness drills. 10. After any disaster, ensure that the needs of the affected population are placed at the centre of reconstruction, with support for them and their community organisations to design and help implement responses, including rebuilding homes and livelihoods’.

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia

    Gary Jones

Authors
  1. Gary Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Jones, G. (2016). Introduction. In: HIV and Young People. SpringerBriefs in Public Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26814-9_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26814-9_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-26813-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-26814-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation