| Protect yourself and
your loved ones from AIDS |
| |
The recent events surrounding SARS (Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome) showed that
no country can be immune in a global epidemic. What we can do is to protect ourselves
to the best of our ability. And some of the most cost-effective protective measures
begin with us.
SARS may have dominated the headlines in recent months, but let’s not forget
that there are other epidemics ravaging our world at the moment. One of these
is AIDS or Acquired Immuno-deficiency Syndrome, which has been with us for a
little more than 20 years.
Like SARS, AIDS is a disease caused by a virus. The virus that causes AIDS is
known as the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV for short. HIV destroys the
body’s immune system and renders it ineffective, so that the patient eventually
succumbs
to infections and cancers.
Despite advances in treatment and research, AIDS has remained an incurable disease.
That is to say, with or without drugs, AIDS kills. And death usually comes in
a slow, painful way. What drugs can do at the moment is to delay the inevitable.
And they are not without side-effects. Not everyone responds to them. There is
as yet no vaccine against AIDS.
The World Health Organization estimated that there were a total of 42 million
adults and children around the world living with HIV/AIDS at the end of last
year. The greatest number of sufferers were in sub-Saharan Africa (29.4 million).
An estimated 5 million adults and children were newly infected, and an estimated
3.1 million adults and children died due to AIDS last year.
AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease. You get infected when you have sex with
an HIV-infected person. Infection is mainly through heterosexual contact. There
is no way you can tell from external appearances whether a person is infected
with HIV or not, unless he or she undergoes a blood test, and a repeat test a
few months later if the results of the first test are negative. Hence avoid casual
sex and stay faithful to your partner. Using a condom during sex only reduces
your risk of getting AIDS. A condom does not offer 100% protection.
The other way of getting infected with HIV is through the use of contaminated
needles and other skin-piercing instruments. Many sex workers are also intravenous
drug abusers. Hence, your “virgin” prostitute or casual sex partner
may still pass the virus to you. It is safer to avoid casual sex and visiting
tattoo parlours.
If you think you are HIV-positive or are at risk of getting infected, see your
doctor and get yourself tested. Starting medication in time delays the onset
of AIDS-related complications. As you still have to live even if you are HIV-positive,
you need counselling in order to live positively and also to prevent passing
on the infection to others, including your loved ones. |
