The Ethical Implications of Organ Transplantation

Abdalla Essoughi
Tripoli, Libya

There is a lot of debate about how organ transplantation is useful for people who need to have a new functioning organ. This is because people should know the benefits of organ transplantation. Some researchers have put together many methods that will serve all transplant surgeons. However, the risk rate of these surgeries is getting higher and it makes people feel scared. Therefore, some older people think of the organ transplantation seriously as an ethical issue. They should persuade children who are suffering from organ failure to go through the organ donation process. The first priority with Organ Donation should be given to those children in order to provide them a long life.

One concern with organ donation is whether they are going to people who deserve them.  We need to find suitable recipients. People who are healthy should receive priority in which the waiting list is available. For example, if someone is drinking a lot of alcohol should be completely away from the waiting list of the organ donation. This is because they really wanted to harm the organs they possess. For this reason, these people who are alcoholic do not have a logical vision upon this ethical issue (Emara, 2008).

Another example of people who should be given a priority on the waiting list of organ donors are soldiers. Soldiers are as much important as any human being. When we think about why soldiers deserve an immediate care, we should think about what they do for us every day. We are enjoying the freedom not many people have around the world. This is because soldiers put their lives on the line in battle grounds, they go to wars and their lives are always in a high risk. We can never thank soldiers enough for what they do. Giving them a priority as organ recipients is the least thing we can do for them as a thank you. As children can’t wait long enough for an organ transplant to survive, soldiers on the other hand sometime get injured and experience extreme hardships that put their lives in dangerous conditions. Many cases of injured soldiers require an immediate surgery. Therefore, providing organs to them would save their lives. It can be similar to the immediate care patients receive in hospital’s emergency rooms.  

Children for instance, should receive priority when hearts or livers are available. The first priority should be given to them. Their young lives should be protected and considered as important as others. The waiting list for heart and liver transplantation is very long and sometimes it can take more than one or two years for a person to receive the needed organs. For example, this is a lot of time for a heart failure condition, in two years a person could die easily by a heart failure. This is why children who have not lived a long life should have top priority on the waiting list. During the waiting time, usually doctors keep children under special care so they are in their best health conditions for the transplant when the time arrives (Reilly, 1987).

I believe that one of the main ethical issues many people face at the time being is the organ donations whether or not these people donate their body organs. Most people have a tough time deciding on whether they should donate their internal organs after they have passed away or not. To think about the parts of their bodies like heart, liver, or kidney being removed from them is sometimes scary, but those organs can help to save other’s lives (Caplan, 2004). I believe that governments should have the effective role and should encourage people to face this ethical issue that might end up the life march of the innocents.

To sum up, it can be clearly seen from these medical facts that the intention of the organ transplantation is to give back life to people who can die in any moment from an organ failure. The results from the surgeries sometimes can be complicated but most of the time they are successful. The more people understand what the organ transplantation is, the more people will consider donating their organs to save lives.

References

1) Caplan, A. (2004). Organs.com: New Commercially Brokered Organ Transfers Raise Questions.

2) Hastings Center Report, 34(6), 8.Retrieved from

http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.skyline.ucdenver.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

sid=d4349a10-3af6-47b8-98c6-22817b797c95%40sessionmgr115&vid=7&hid=125

3) Emara, M., Ragheb, A., Hassan, A., & Shoker, A. (2008). Evidence for a need to mandate kidney transplant living donor registries. Clinical Transplantation, 22(5), 525-531.

doi:10.1111/j.1399-0012.2008.00861.x. Retrieved from

http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.skyline.ucdenver.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

sid=d4349a10-3af6-47b8-98c6-22817b797c95%40sessionmgr115&vid=4&hid=125

4) Reilly, P. J. (1987). What You Should Know About Organ Donation.

Nursing, 17(3), 24C. Retrieved from http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.skyline.ucdenver.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=d4349a10-3af6-47b8-98c6-22817b797c95%40sessionmgr115&vid=10&hid=125

The Causes of AIDS and the Social Consequences

Mohammed Algozi
Al-Qunfedah, Al-Goz, Saudi Arabia

The spread of the dangerous diseases threatens people’s health and lives in the world. AIDS is one of the most dangerous and deadly disease in current time. Therefore, the World Health Organization called all the health organizations to fight this disease and to maintain the humans’ health. If we highlighted on this disease we find that this disease considered the most deadly and the most prevalent diseases worldwide especially in Africa. Two-thirds of the total number of people infected with AIDS is in Africa. Mr. Chairman and Members (2000), claim that people who have AIDS in the world are about 34 million.

Africa has the largest share of the disease by two-thirds of the total number and 1 million of them are children. A question which has been asked frequently is why the AIDS considers more prevalent disease in Africa without other countries. The answer of this question depends on several aspects, which are poverty, low level of education and health these are the main reasons that lead to its spread. Also, some of the causes of AIDS and its social consequences will be mentioned and discussed later in this article.

AIDS usually spreads between people through three different ways; one of them is the sexual contact if this contact is unsafe. People there (in Africa) seem don’t have the necessary knowledge about how they can perform a safe sexual connection. That makes people to perform sexual contact without using a condom which considers unsafe connection which increases the risk of getting AIDS. One of the most reasons of that is the lack of education especially the knowledge about how AIDS spread in Africa.

This poor education is because of the poverty that African suffered from. Also, the spread of poverty there does not help the society to overcome the AIDS because they don’t have enough number from schools and teachers or even of the guides and mentors because they can’t give them money on their working to educate and guide people there.

Another cause is that contaminated blood spreads frequently in Africa because of the lack of health requirements. The lack of financial resources (the poverty) and the lack of care health don’t help government to provide or find or build hospitals, health center and even any safe place to preserve the blood in safe way. Consequently this issue leads to use the non-sterile tools between the patients who have the virus and who haven’t such as needles.

According to AVERT, each day in Africa there are 250 to 500 people newly infected with HIV because of the unsafe blood transfusions such as the reuse of needles and syringes. Also, people use unhealthy and unsafe habits as the personal things and sharp tools such as nail’s scissors between the one who has the virus and the others which contributed in the spread of AIDS because they don’t have surveillance to prevent the use the materials again. Consequently, AIDS prevail more between people in Africa. Because of this, The World Health Organization recommends agencies responsible to take preventive measures to limit the spread of AIDS between people Africans.

The last causes which spread AIDS are jumping from the mother to her fetus this lead to psychological issues which influence the fetus later. When a person has this disease, he/she would feel afraid and lack confident, which can influence their lives. The feeling of rejection from the friends and the relatives because of having this disease will lead to hating the society. As a result, by the time the child grow up he/she may has a kind of psychological problems, so he/she may hate people and tries to revenge from every member in the society: thus, he/she may tries to transfer the disease to a larger segment of people as they could and this is a possible reaction from the patient as a result of the immoral dealing from people toward the infected person.

On the other hand, the HIV infected may withdraw themselves from people and live alone. Therefore, this feeling probably will make the HIV infected think about suicide. Lastly, this does not absolve the mother from the responsibility of causing this disease to her child even if she doesn't know about her infection by this disease.

There are some society’s consequences which have major effect on people who have this disease. One of them is the stigma. For example, people who have AIDS always feel reprimand’ look from another people because people believe that injured gained AIDS through positions not good such as drugs, homosexuality and unsafe relationships.

Also, HIV infected may lose their jobs and their rights to medical care and treatment due to the illness and the fear of dealing with a person who has AIDS. Most people have fear of contagion which causes case of social disharmony between people. Another problem is the social isolation and ostracism, rejection, and discrimination against the infected person.

As result, they may lose their friends, families, and possibly their lives partners, which lead to the lack of the sources of social support that is needed after their injury more than ever. Therefore, people who have AIDS are often afraid to tell the other and losing them and get the medical care or they tell no one and live without any medical care. According to BMC Public Health (2014), a research mentions that a lot of people who live in Africa that have AIDS suffer from stigma.  

The study indicates that people who have HIV annoyed from some of the bad dealing from their colleagues and their managers at work because they have AIDS. The study also claims that women suffer from stigma more than men.

I think that the best way for the international community to overcome this disease is to collaborate more with humanitarian organizations. Through community awareness and educate, especially people who are living with Aids. Therefore, the society must direct the person who doesn’t realize the dangers of this disease to the right path and work on changing their behaviors. For example, I believe that there should be a monthly meeting with the high school students in Africa that is presented by doctors and psychologists to increase the awareness of the disease and the precautions that should be taken either in the sexual relations or in their daily contact with the infected people.

Undoubtedly, people who have AIDS need to be dealt in special way because they live in a bad psychological state; thus, we must accept them and make them feel welcome and at the same time taking precaution. Also, all the international community must support these people and they have to build hospitals, health center and give them health needs, which will help them to overcome this disease. Money is not enough, but nurses and doctors should be offered to treat these patients and supervised them which are some of human rights.

In conclusion, the appearance of AIDS in Africa is not a new issue but the effects of this disease on the world called us to highlight on it. There are some reasons which lead to spread of this fatal disease in Africa which are the poverty and the lack of education and healthcare system. Thus, the WHO recommends the attention for virus HIV which threatens the lives of many people around the world and especially in Africa. I hope that scientists and doctors will find a drug for this disease in the near future, because it is destroying the lives of millions.

References

1) dos Santos, M. L., Kruger, P., Mellors, S. E., Wolvaardt, G., & van der Ryst, E. (2014).         An exploratory survey measuring stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa: the people living with HIV  stigma index.   BMC Public Health, 14(1), 1-24. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-80

2) Nelson, B. F. (2000). Global Health: The U.S. and U.N. Response to the AIDS Crisis in            Africa: T-NSIAD-00-99. GAO Reports, 1 UNICEF ' Immunization: Injection safety'

3) WHO (2006, 27th June) 'Making Safe Blood Available in Africa' 3.

http://www.avert.org/hiv-blood-safety.htm

The Effects of the Brain Death Diseases

There are many causes that lead to clinical death, which are accident injuries and brain tumor. I remember my sister when she had a tumor. At the first, they eradicated her uterus and after five months the tumor came back. My sister had chemotherapy for one year. Before one month of her death, she had a brain death and that is how tumors lead to brain death. Another example, if someone had a disaster like accident, it will lead to clinical death.

A lot of terrifying accidents cause severe injuries in some organs in the human bodies such as the brain, the heart and etc. if one of these organs got affected of severe injuries, they will not function properly and when this happens the organs will be disordered and so the person will inter in a brain death condition. One of these causes is when the heart beats in irregular rhythm. In this case, the blood circulation begins to pump a little blood and that makes heartbeat less than normal. In the beginning of clinical death, human loses consciousness for a few seconds and also the brain stops for 20 to 40 seconds. In this case, the brain will lose its function and the brain death will happen. So, certainly, there is a positive side, and there are negative effects to deal with at the same time in this disease.

One of the effects of clinical death is the patients look dead but at in the same time they are alive. They can’t even move from their beds to walk into the bathrooms. These people are also near to death because they need someone to feed them because they can’t feed themselves. Patients live by the medical devices and once the doctor disconnect the medical devices, the patients immediately will die.

Mohammed Al Qassim
Tarut, Saudi Arabia

According to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the patients don’t sense anything around them including the pain. If the patient’s family or friends visit them, they will not know or sense who’s exist inside the room. The patients look like they’re breathing because of the ventilator machine and their skin still warm to the touch. The only difference  between them and normal people is that they breathe via machine and brain dead person cannot maintain their body temperature, so the body is still kept warm. When my sister entered in brain death condition, it was a difficult station for me because she was like a mother for me and saying her in this station is something completely beyond difficult. I couldn’t even do anything for her accept prying and holding her hands perhaps came a miracle moment and felt my warm hand.

Another effect to consider for brain death is the emotional aspect for family. They feel like they are losing their beloved ones and they can’t help them to recover. Moreover, a patient’s family will be thinking about their patients all the time because they don’t know if they’re going to be recovered or not. They always sit at the hospital taking care of their patient and waiting for the doctor and nurses. Their families will be busy searching for information about clinical death looking for the best hospitals abroad for their patient’s case. They will also be tired mentally and physically whether thinking or going back and forth to the hospital to see their patient. It is hard for the family to wait for a miracle because they will be waiting for long time and they don’t even know if this miracle will happen or not. Miracles are difficult to happen in the real life.  

One benefit when these patients are allowed to die is the availability of their organs. According to Jennifer Heisler, a surgery expert, the most popular type of donation is organ donation after brain death. The patient becomes eligible for donation when they are declared brain dead. Also, when the patient is taken to the surgery room, their heart is still beating and breathing by the ventilator supporter and only their brain is not functioning but the rest of their organs are functioning properly. Donations after brain death allow transplants of many different organs such as the heart, kidneys, lungs and etc. This type of donation allows a family member or friend to donate an organ to people who need it.     

I believe that patient’s families should consider euthanasia not only as a human right, but also as medical treatment because it gives patients the chance to die peacefully. Euthanasia is a human right for every single person who suffers from a disease which leads to clinical death. It is a freedom choice and everybody in this life has the right to do whatever they want and this is applied on euthanasia too. It is a way of helping or freeing patients from their hard and hopeless condition. No one would ask for death unless they were so desperate, and no cure to relieve them but death. Even in some cases, patients are kept alive on life support without the patient’s choice because the patients are completely incapable of doing or saying what they want. Patients suffer a lot during their disease journey and so they deserve to die peacefully after a long journey of torture and treatments.    

To sum up, brain death is a very difficult issue because therapists didn’t find solution for brain death. This disease affects patient’s family and put them in difficult station of fear of losing the spirit of those they love.         

References

1) SHEWMON, D. (2009). Brain Death: Can It Be Resuscitated?. Hastings Center Report, 39(2), 18-24

2) Dhanwate, A. (2014). Brainstem death: A comprehensive review in Indian perspective. Indian Journal Of Critical Care Medicine, 18(9), 596-605. doi:10.4103/0972-5229.140151

3) Tawil, I., Brown, L. H., Comfort, D., Crandall, C. S., West, S. D., Rolistin, A. D., & ... Marinaro, J.

(2014). Family Presence During Brain Death Evaluation: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Critical Care Medicine, 42(4), 934-942. doi:10.1097CCM.0000000000000102

Analyzing the Consequences of Fertility Drugs

Raga Elmazain
Libya

Fertility drugs are used to treat many conditions that cause infertility. The most common fertility drugs are Clomiphene and FSH which are known as “Ovulation Agents.” According to Fertility Reproductive Medicine (2014), Clomiphene works as a stimulator that releases the needed hormones to cause ovulation. These drugs in general, and Clomiphene therapy specifically, are prescribed for the first five consecutive days of the cycle. This therapy may take three to six monthly cycles to determine the right dose to stimulate ovulation.

Scientifically, no doctor can deny that Clomiphene has achieved successful results among thousands of women. However, this drug has resulted in numerous medical complications such as multiple gestation, a risk of future cancer, and an increased chance of miscarriage.Multiple Gestation

One of the first negative results that Clomiphene causes is an increase of multiple gestation, which can lead to multiple births. Women who take Clomiphene will have the risk of giving birth to more than one baby. Recent studies have proved that this medicine can make women ovulate more eggs and as a result, having multiple babies is likely to happen. Consequently, the babies will not be born healthy because of their small size and weight which can lead them to have the typical range of disabilities for premature babies.

This is one of the consequences that force society to ponder whether it is legal for doctors to implant more than one or two embryos in a woman womb. As a matter of fact, this question has been asked by a large number of people and many bioethicists have discussed this issue rigorously because it is against all humanity standards. According to Andrews (2009),”women ‘s bodies are not large enough to hold a litter” (para 9). In addition, no doctor has the right to decide how many children a woman has, especially if the children face the risk of being born unhealthy.

A Risk of Future Cancer

The second dire effect of using fertility drugs is that they increase women’s chances of getting ovarian cancer later in life. Recent research suggests that these risky consequences will affect women who have taken many doses of these drugs. According to Gadducci, A., Guerrier M and Genazzani, A. (2013). “In 1992, the cumulative analysis of 12 US case- control studies revealed that women who received ovulation – inducing drugs had approximately three-fold higher incidence of invasive ovarian carcinoma”( p. 30).

Subsequently, the risk is greater because doctors do not follow a specific guideline for treatment or even use a regulated prescription of medicine. Therefore, the long-term use of this drug is enough to affect hormones and causes cancer. This serious effect raised many questions by bioethicists about the widespread of fertility drugs and their horrible consequences. Currently, there are neither any laws limiting the medical distribution of such drugs nor any repercussions against those doctors who endanger patients’ lives.

Risk of Miscarriage

The third negative result which is associated with Clomiphene is that a large number of miscarriage cases. Fertility Reproductive Medicine (2014), reported that 20-25% of miscarriage had been caused by Clomiphene which is higher than the normal rate of miscarriage (15%). . many scientists have agreed that fertility drugs  are the first cause of  a greater number of women miscarriage because these pills prevent fertilized eggs from developing normally.

For this reason, many women have suffered healthy and psychologically circumstances. with no question any woman who try this horrible experience will had physical problems such as damage in her follicles which can prevent her from getting pregnant again as well as living in depression because she has lost her baby and her dream of being a mother. Many writers and bioethicists wrote and discussed issues about the illegal decisions that doctors provide for their patients although, they are aware of these drugs risks. Some of the bioethicists stated that fertility doctors do not care for patient’s health. Caplan (2009), calls “a wallet biopsy” to see only if patients can pay the bill.

No doubt, Fertility drugs are available to treat many cases of infertility and achieved a large number of success. However, the consequences of these drugs are dire but doctors still prescribe such horrible pills without even informing patients that they may get ovarian cancer or they are likely to lose their babies due to these pills which affect the hormone and prevent it from developing normally. In fact some doctors think that since patient want to become a mother, so they believe their goal is to make this dream comes true and they do not care for any other consequences.

I believe those doctors must be precise and careful by giving these drugs for urgent infertility cases only and they should explain to patients the negative effects of these drugs so patient can decide whether she takes these pills or not. Furthermore, the government must apply strict laws that ban taking too many fertility drugs.

As discussed, fertility drugs, while helpful in some instances can lead to many dire consequences. Among those are multiple babies, a risk of cancer and risk of miscarriage.

After all these considerations I believe that these consequences can be reduced or even eliminated if doctors follow a guideline or organized plan for prescribing such drugs in addition, the government ‘s role can be effective by applying unbreakable laws towards anyone who sells or buy fertility drugs without signed prescription.   

References

1) Fertility & Reproductive Medicine. (2014). Fertility pill. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mainlinefertility.com/educational-information/fertility-pills/

2) Gadducci, A., Guerriero, M., Genazzani A. (2013). Fertility drug use and risk of ovarian tumors: A debated clinical challenge. Gynecological Endocrinology, 29(1), 30-35. Doi:10.3109/09513590.2012.705382

3) Goodman. E. (2009). The ethical failures of fertility treatment. Boston Globe. Retrieved fromhttp://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/02/06/the_ethical_failures_of_fertility_treatment/

Examining Diabetes

Saleh Alzayid
Qatif, Saudi Arabia

Imagine being stuck in labyrinth filled with wild animals and there is only one way to get off there, but you must sacrifice some of your own! This labyrinth was an example of diabetes disease and wild animal was the following diseases which coming with in short term. So, what is diabetes? Many people who are curious about medical problems want to have good knowledge about it.

Diabetes is an illness where the pancreas loses its balance and is not able to make enough insulin for blood. It is classified such as complex disease which has many different forms such as type 1 and type 2. You might have concern about some facts about this kind of disease which spiriting up around the world in a scary way. Indeed, there are many negatives to consider, including mental health, heart disease and other physical problems.

There are many mental health problems, which are called psychiatric disorders, people can have as a result of diabetes. For example, it alters peoples’ moods. When blood glucoses are high for an extended period of time they may feel more thirsty and have headache. As a result of these issues patent’s mind sent single signal to that part making circle connection between them ending of change the person behavior.

According to BDI (n.d.)”Depression is like a black hole. It can take the joy out of life, drain your energy and motivation, and cause you to feel hopeless and worthless. Even worse, depression can make the tasks required to manage diabetes seem much more difficult and, therefore, may seriously hurt your long-term health”.(Behavioral Diabetes Institute, newsletter).

However, behavior changes, which lead to violent as an usual, might effect person social life and his family. Another mental health concern is that it causes depression. Diabetes reduces or destroys facilities of being in good mood because patients have to look after themselves daily. Also, our lives are full with challenges. For example, food advertisement that spiriting everywhere, therefore, people with diabetes have to be careful with food.

That case affects patients emotionally which might make mental problems. As a result of mental health problems, being in stress or depression is not helpful for whom might care about their situation by checking their blood sugar levels whether it is high or normal.

Another effect of having diabetes is having heart problems. Why are heart problems more common for people who are living with diabetes? According to N.N. Ladhani,”
Cardiovascular disease is a major source of morbidity and accounts for over 60% of deaths in people with diabetes. Compared with those without diabetes, people with diabetes are up to three times likely to have a major cardiovascular event” (Ladhani, 2012, March 30).

In other words, people with diabetes could have a chance of heart attack three times more than the healthy people. What is the fact of this health problem? Diabetes or high blood sugar with the time make high glucose in the blood can block or damage the arteries that leading to heart diseases eventually. Therefore, the heart will not be able to deliver the blood normally and would lead to heart attack.

Persistently high blood glucose levels can increase your risk of developing other health issues such nerve which is related to physical problems. This problem can be cure easier than the others. However, it could lead to serious complications, such as sensory diabetic neuropathy and amputation. An advance level or uncontrollable diabetes could damage main nerves of feet, and if it is damaged the person will have less sensitive about small action such as small cuts.

According to the Global Diabetes Community (2014)” The effects of diabetes on the nerves can be serious as the nerves are involved in so many of our bodily functions, from movement and digestion through to sex and reproduction.”(diabetes.co.uk). As a result, inflammation which cause by these cuts can lead to worse situation if not treat too fast. Infections that come from wounds would have been more dangerous for those who have diabetes.

I believe that there are many steps government can do by making step forward to keep numbers of diabetic patients or reduce them in best strategy. For example: include diabetes and other side effects topics into education system and ban some advertisements for some companies. I wish they would make changes soon or did like what they did with tobacco companies.

They force them to pay medical treatment and surgery fee, this step made those companies put obvious warning into their product and advertisements. Furthermore, I believe that people could make change in their life if government had made it more matter.

In conclusion, this kind of illness, which is knowing by negative side effects, is still increasing and spiriting in welfare communities more than others.

References

1) Behavioral Diabetes Institute. (n.d). Breaking free from depression and diabetes: 10 things you need to know and do. Retrieved from http://www.behavioraldiabetesinstitute.org/resources/print

2) Ladhani, N. N., Majumdar, S. R., Johnson, J. A. (2012, March 30). Adding pharmacists

to primary care teams reduces predicted long-term risk of cardiovascular events

in Type 2 diabetic patients without established cardiovascular disease: results

from a randomized trial. Retrieved from http://auraria.summon.serialssolutions.com

3) The Global Diabetes Community. (2014). Long term effects of diabetes on the body. Retrieved from http://www.diabetes.co.uk/how-does-diabetes-affect-the body.html

The Causes and Effects of Using Genetically Modified Food

Sara Aljeid
Saudi Arabia

In the United States, industry claims that genetically modified food (GMO) is perfectly safe, but it is not true. Genetically modified foods, which is according to Hartl (2011), genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) are genetically engineered plants or animals. This process mixes together different DNAs with different organisms and creates a new product. Genetically modified food has been banned in some countries such as Italy and Brazil because it has negative effects on human health and environment. In the past, people were strong and healthy although they had no cure and medicine.

They ate food from natural sources without additional chemical materials, and ate organic food that protect their body from many diseases such as diabetes and cancer. GMO are a new type of science that may solve many world problems such as global hunger. The causes of increasing GMO are shortage of food in the world, economical issues, and invention of new crops; however, these changes in our food production can also have some negative impacts in many aspects in our lives.

One of the reasons for using genetically modified food is to overcome the problem of food shortage. It is vital to note that traders and farmers will experience improved yields from their crops and plants. Due to overpopulation, developing countries cannot provide enough food for their people, so researchers have tried to solve this issue. Instead of relying on animals to reproduce or growing edible crops, scientists can transfer genes directly into plants or organisms to change their genetic characteristic. Additionally, changing genetic characteristic through mating is still confined in the same class of plants or animals, but we can transfer genes from plants to animals or reverse by genetic engineering. Experts show that “the only way to boost agricultural production, which will help in fighting global hunger, is through genetically modified organisms” (Tao & Shudong, 2007). Organic food will not be sufficient to feed all of people, so genetically modified organisms must be utilized to avoid this issue in the future. People should not worry about getting food with GMO because they can eat which they want in anytime and anywhere.

The other cause of using genetically modified food is for economic reasons. People do not pay attention to sources of food. These people just follow what is appropriate for their income. Seed producers will experience increased sales because people believe that what is the cheaper food. This will lead to an increased demand for their seeds. Kym Anderson, Chantal Pohl Nielsen, Sherman Robinson, Sherman Robinson illustrated that “World market prices for GM products will have a tendency to decline and thus benefit net importers to the extent that they are indifferent between GM and non-GM products.” This information illustrated that there are no different between GM food and organic food in terms of prices. People have bought genetically modified food because of that it is lower prices.

An important reason for using GMO’s is to produce and develop new crops. GMO can produce crops resistant to drought, salinity or crops use nitrogen and other nutrients in the environment effectively, and thus this type of plant will breed with good efficiency. These plants are usually modified to resist pests, herbicides and diseases.

Pest infections lead to crop losses, which cause financial and food losses to a country. The altered crop is given a gene that “confers special characteristics such as resistance to bacteria, fungi, and viruses, which are disease causing agents” (Hartl, 2011). For instance, genetically modified corn undergoes changes that enable them to withstand pests such as the corn borer. Additionally, genetically modified papaya can withstand viral disease such as the ring spot virus. This disease can eliminate an entire plantation of papaya. This information proves that genetically modified organisms contribute to the development of new plants that are resistant to disease and pests.

On the other hand, GMO have negative effects which leads to cancer. This disease is fatal because there is no medicine for it and it leads to die. In France, studies were conducted about deathly cancer and showed that it comes from genetically modified food because researchers change the genetic characteristic of food. According to Dr. Mae-Wan Ho (2013), “GM DNA jumping into genomes cause ‘insertion mutagenesis’ that can lead to cancer, or activate dormant viruses that cause diseases.”  

Researchers have found that when rats eat GMO, they will get cancer. The author mentioned that “GM study slammed a study claiming that rats fed Monsanto's genetically modified NK603 maize (corn) or its companion glyphosate-based herbicide, Roundup, showed increased incidences of cancer” ( Nature ). Rat’s biological and behavioral characteristic are similar to those found in human, and a lot of human behavior can be observed in rats.  This information state using genetically modified food lead us to a deterioration life.

GMO’s also harmfully influence the environment. Plants and crops/animals consumption are the Victims of using GMO’s products. According to Union of Concerned Scientists: At least one major environmental impact of Genetic Engineering [GM] has already reached critical proportions: overuse of herbicide-tolerant GE crops has spurred an increase in herbicide use and an epidemic of herbicide-resistant ‘super weeds’, which will lead to even more herbicide use. (2012). As a result, Farmers are going to use more weed with seeds; moreover, soil will have negative effects. Increasing of weeds could lead to decrease the nutritional value of the harvest. Animals, which eat this, will have a critical effect in their life cycle.

I believe that people have many diseases because their food which is not healthy and organic. Genetically modified foods have become more popular in most countries because people do not know what the negative impact is for them. Researchers have tried to give the solution to food shortage, but they have not focused on human health. Further, GMO also have disadvantage for environment because farmers have used over herbicide to increase crops. This leads them to use more herbicide which lead to damages the soil.

In conclusion, GMO’s have different advantages and disadvantages that affect our lives. It gives the consumer solutions for the food lack in the world, finding cheaper products and creates and promotes new picks. On the other hand, it has serious effect on organisms’ health, environment and critical effect in rising the wages. In my opinion, having GMO products leads to the solution of many problems, but the recipients must be aware of the side effects that could be epitomized from using it in our lives.

References

1) Anderson,K., Nielsen,C., Robinson,S., Thierfelder,K., (2001), Estimating the Global Economic Effects of GMOs. Agricultural Biotechnology: Markets and Policies in an International Setting,.1-21.

2) Hartl, J. (2011). Genetically modified food to fight hunger? deutsche welle Retrieved From: http://www.dw.de/genetically-modified-food-to-fight-hunger/a-15525069

Ho, M. W. Why GMOs can never be safe. Science in Society, 59. Retrieved From

http://permaculturenews.org

3) Seven days: 5-11 October 2012. (2012). Nature, 490(7419), 148-149. doi:10.1038/490148a

4) Tao,Z., Shudong,Z., (2007). The Economic and Social Impact of GMOs in China. Retrieved from http://chinaperspectives.revues.org/359

5) Union of Concerned Scientists (2012), Genetic Engineering in Agriculture, Retrieved from http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/genetic-engineering/

Causes for the AIDS Crisis in Africa

Marwa Alethafa
Al Qadisiyah, Iraq

According to The United Nations, seventy percent of people in the sub Saharan countries of Africa have Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). These are mostly poor, developing countries in Africa. The United Nations also notes that more than one million adults and children die every year from HIV/AIDS in Africa alone. In fact, 91% of the world’s HIV-positive children live in Africa. Propagation of the HIV in sub-Saharan Africa is the result of weak economy, unsafe sexual practices, and lack of health awareness.

One of most important factors leading to the prevalence of HIV in these countries is the economy. Sub-Saharan African Countries have very weak economies. Most of these countries are agricultural countries, but subsistence agriculture has been affected by many factors such as civil wars in a large number of these countries, lower technological tools, poor farm inputs and desert encroachment (Hellandendu, 2012). There is therefore a substantial migration of rural people who are able to work to urban areas looking for a job among the few available jobs.

According to Hellandendu, 2012, a large number of these immigrants are men who get their sexual needs through commercial or other forms of promiscuous sexual outlets. On the other hand, the females are searching for opportunities to make clients of the sex market and migrate to cities with the main goal of making money through full time or clandestine commercial sex work (Chela and Mensah, 1995). Poverty in these countries makes every one of people looking for a way to provide necessities of life including the satisfaction of sexual desires. Furthermore, millions of children have cut off tie with their families because the parents and guardians failed to provide the means of sustenance for them. This forces these children to make their living on streets by doing bad jobs like begging, stealing or engaging in commercial sex activities.

The second problem is that many people do not have safe sexual practices. In many developing South Africa countries, people need to prove that they have sexual prowess where male is required to demonstrate virility by having many sex partners. In some Sub-Saharan African countries, it is a requirement as a part of ritual practices that non-married partners do sexual intercourse between them.

These practices are not exclusive for sexually mature people. Hellandendu, 2012 stated that in Mbale District of Uganda, boys are circumcised as part of passage de rite at the adolescent stage and then it is necessary for them to have sexual intercourse with eligible female partners of comparable ages to them in order to have the required number of partners for successful completion of the ritual. These unsafe practices among different ages led to roughly 23.8 million infected persons in all of Africa (The United Nations, 2012).

The final problem is the lack of health awareness among people who are living in these countries. Most people who infected with HIV are not convinced that they have the virus and they continue living with this secret for the rest of their life. Because this disease has a long incubation period, people who are close to those infected and their families are susceptible to transmission of the virus. This makes the average life-expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa is 54.4 years of age; in some countries in Africa, it’s below 49 (World Health Organization, 2014). In addition, poor education and the lack of it in some cities in these countries led to the lack of

health awareness among young people. This makes the most of infected People hide their disease for fear of rejection of their community for them. Instead, people should put the issue in front the community to raise awareness of health by transferring experiences and advices among their society.

Some people argue that the governments in these countries are not required to provide the expensive treatment for people who are going to die anyway. So, they are wondering why these governments spend a lot of money on the rampant disease with no hope. However, without providing treatment for these people may affect their life by losing hope to still a life and they will be waiting to die. By this way, the government could kill them before HIV does.

In conclusion, there are many reasons of the spread of HIV and at different levels: social, economic and cultural. The economy and the lack of awareness of health and cultural are the most effective reasons that contributed in the spread of the virus. In order to eliminate these causes, the sub Saharan countries of Africa need to join all international, local, family and personal efforts. There are presently drugs that delay the development of HIV into full-blown AIDS in the developing countries. However, these drugs are still very expensive and most HIV patients in developing countries and Sub-Saharan African in particular cannot take these drugs. I believe that providing these drugs for every one could reduce the risk of spread this danger virus.

References

1) Chela, C. and Mesch, M.(1995). Policy and practice: change at the national level require great political commitment and resources. AIDS ACTION, 29, p 3.

2) Hellandendu, J., (2012). Contributory factors to the spread of HIV/aids and it impacts in sub-

Saharan African countries. European Scientific Journal, 8(14), 1857 – 7881.

3) The United Nations. "World AIDS Day 2012." UN AIDS.World Health Organization. "Use of antiretrovirals for treatment and prevention of HIV infection." WHO. Accessed April 15, 2014.http://www.who.int/hiv/topics/treatment/en/>.