Engaging migrants in the uk in the uptake of hepititis B screening and Essay

Engaging migrants in the uk in the uptake of hepititis B screening and treatment - Essay Example Most governments are characterised by focusing their resources towards control and prevention of the spread of HIV without paying close attention to hepatitis B. Once a person contracts HIV, the life of that individual is not threatened. This is because there are ways of managing the virus and the individual’s life can be prolonged through the use of antiretroviral drugs. These antiretroviral drugs help keep the HIV levels in the body down, enabling the person to live a normal life free of any complications (ACHORD, 2009: 104). The same cannot be said of a hepatitis B victim because there are no drugs available to mitigate the effects of the virus in the body, especially on the liver (ZUCKERMAN & MUSHAHWAR, 2004: 159). The fact that the hepatitis B virus can be spread faster than the HIV and that hepatitis B’s probability of killing its victim is high makes it a necessary requirement that governments adopt more stringent measures in curbing the spread of the virus. Spre ad of the hepatitis B virus can largely be attributed to immigrants who come from regions of the world where there is a high prevalence of the risk of contracting the virus. In the context of this paper, focus is going to be drawn onto immigrants of African origin. The fact hepatitis B affects a majority of people at their most productive age irrespective of their racial, ethnic or religious background is a cause for serious concern. Hepatitis B, as HIV, cuts across all cultural boundaries and its impact, on the health of nation’s population and economies is going to greater lengths than that caused by HIV if not properly mitigated (SHERMAN, 2012: 178). The migration of Africans to the UK has been on the increase from the 1990s with the annual estimates according to the LFS (Labour Force Survey) being at around 30,000 people (OECD, 2010: 88). The majority of these immigrants originate from the West and Central Africa regions of the continent. Migration from other regions of t he continent, especially South and East Africa, were noticeable in 2000. All of these figures represent the immigrants who came to Britain and never left. Most of the African immigrants to the UK are asylum seekers especially from sub-Saharan Africa because this region has experienced wars, civil conflicts and political unrest. Examples of these countries are Chad, Central African Republic, the Congo basin and Mali (OECD, 2010: 85). A common characteristic of African asylum seekers is that they come from Britain’s former colonies and the bulk of these applications come from Southern and Eastern Africa. Examples of these countries are Somalia, Algeria, Zimbabwe, Congo and DR Congo and Nigeria. Migration for asylum purposes has been on the decline, and a new emerging trend is now being witnessed where the majority of migration is work related. The bulk of these immigrant workers is African doctors and nurses with the rest of the immigrant population being accounted for by depen dants and students. The majority of these immigrants live in the Southern and Eastern regions of the UK with people from Eastern and Southern Africa being more geographically widespread than other Africans. The demographics of Africans living in the UK present a situation where their interaction with the rest of the white population is high. If they were carriers of the hepatitis virus, their likelihood of spreading the virus to the rest of the population