2022 IB Diploma Extended Essays

1. Introduction The ‘ Human Immunodeficiency Virus’ , also known as HIV, is a virus that came to global attention ever since its global pandemic in 1981 which has resulted in 36.3 million deaths as of 2020 (hiv.gov, 2022). Ever since the first cases of HIV in the United States in 1981, it has challenged many American public health organisations to create practices to ensure its containment such as, the various HIV awareness campaigns (nationalacademies, 1993). Although the HIV virus itself does not indicate certain death, it is a progressive disease which can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Current study of IB Biology which contained information on HIV and its ongoing relevancy in places such as Africa has encouraged further investigation of the socioeconomic impacts of HIV in different locations around the world. Therefore, exploration of secondary data was necessary for determining epidemiological and economic data to explore, explain, and evaluate the socioeconomic implications of HIV on countries with different health standards and levels of economic growth. The socioeconomic state of a country refers to its social and economic standards in a certain period of time. Therefore, to explore the relationship between the socioeconomic standard of a country and its HIV prevalence, social and economic factors are to be explored for a thorough evaluation. A conclusion can be made to illustrate the significance of what the effect of quality of life in a country has on HIV prevalence and vice versa. This can also determine if these factors are independent.

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