1 December 2013:
Today is World AIDS Day.
According to its website, this initiative started in 1988, presumably in the UK. It aims for people to ‘unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died’.Just in case you may be unsure of what AIDS is about: acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Its most common method of spreading is through sexual intercourse.
As part of the A Levels, biology students (especially in Singapore) learn about in greater detail. That involves things like glycoproteins 41 and 120, which isn’t very attractive to the general public wanting to know more about AIDS.
But I digress.
Basically, once HIV enters a cell, it will then infect the host cell and produce a ‘bad’ piece of RNA, which contains a code. This code kills off CD4 positive cells, which are involved in a person’s immune system.
Therefore, HIV wrecks a person’s immune system. Medically speaking, a person suffers from AIDS when his CD4 cell count is below 200 cells per microlitre. This means that his body is now more susceptible to various other diseases.
There’s a saying that people die from AIDS. More accurately, though, they die from other diseases that they catch due to a suppressed immune system, even cancer. The most common cause of death due to AIDS is actually cancer.
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AIDS is a scary disease. Thankfully, there are currently ways to prevent you from getting it. The most obvious form would be to use condoms. An Australian scientific paper has proven that condoms reduce HIV transmission risk by 80%.
Condoms are also, at least in Singapore, easily available, as compared to other protective measures. Therefore, protect yourselves. Slot in on, rubber to your horn. (Of course, for females, ask the guys to do so as well.)
Also, do not give oral sex if your mouth has any open sores or lesions. Otherwise, as HPB advises, use a condom for oral sex if you have any wounds. (Which, I think, is ridiculous. Just wait for the wounds to heal, you horny bastards.)
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Maybe by now you’re bored. You’re thinking: ‘I know all these, I do what you’ve said, I am HIV-negative, I don’t need to read on!’ That’s where you’re wrong. Even if you’re HIV-negative, there’s actually still something you can (need to) do.
And that is to not discriminate against those who have AIDS. While it is true that some of them made not-so-wise sexual choices (unsafe sex), we really shouldn’t be judging them based on that.
Worse still, some may have got it from unfaithful spouses, while he / she was faithful himself / herself. Bottom line? Don’t judge or assume. Instead, we should help these people while they are seeking treatment.
The process isn’t easy. Besides taking anti-retroviral drugs, these people may also have to take other drugs to cure other related diseases. At times like these, what they need would be positive encouragement from family and friends.
This point about non-discrimination also helps others to find the courage to test for HIV and save themselves early if they do. There are reported cases (which the health ministry or organisations can track), but what about those unreported?
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This brings me to the latest statistics about HIV in 2012 in Singapore. It was just released two days ago, by the health ministry. In 2012, 437 men and 32 women were newly reported to have HIV.
From the numbers, it does seem like the figures are rising, at least for males. I just hope that more will choose safe sex, and more will get tested. It is possible to eradicate HIV, but it takes time and everyone’s effort.
No matter what, there will be #SomeoneLikeMe who is willing to support such people and raise the awareness of AIDS and HIV. Today is World AIDS Day. I hope one day there will not be a need for a world AIDS day.
TTFN.
I know that sexual intercourse isn't the only way that HIV can be transmitted. Another factor is through intravenous drug use, where needles are recycled between people. The reason why I did not touch on this is because I don't know enough about this, and that I feel transmission via sexual intercourse is a more pressing factor to be solved. For 2012 cases, only 0.7% of it was due to IV drug use. The remaining 99.3% was due to sexual intercourse.