Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Dec 02, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists
Acquired Immuno-deficiency (AIDS) is celebrated in most countries every year on December1, since 1988 when World AIDS Day was founded by the United Nations. Countries in which the topic was considered taboo are now offering testing and treatment for the virus. World AIDS Day provides an opportunity for people around the world to draw attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
It is important to remind the public and governments that the virus still exists and that it is vital to increase its awareness and educate the people against prejudice.
World AIDS Day is also meant to remember loved ones who have died from the disease, to show solidarity with people living with it, to celebrate their survival and health, and to raise money for HIV/AIDS and related causes. Its recognized symbol is the red ribbon which people wore to show their support. Every year there a new theme for World AIDS Day. This year’s theme is “Hands Up for # HIV Prevention.”
The aim is to emphasize the different aspects of HIV prevention methods and what it means for specific groups of people. Individual countries can also choose to interpret the themes in their own ways.
Despite the recent discovery of medicine to treat the virus, HIV/AIDS remains a deadly disease. According to UNICEF, last year, AIDS was the second leading cause of death globally. AIDS related deaths among adolescents have tripled since the virus was first discovered in the late 1970s. It is the number one cause of death among adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa where young women are disproportionally impacted by the epidemic.
A whopping 1,068 young women were infected with HIV every day last year, and AIDS is the leading cause of death for women aged 15–44 globally.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, more than 75 million people have contracted the illness and more than 36 million have died from it, leaving roughly six million orphan children in its wake. It is estimated that nearly 37 million people worldwide are living with the virus today of which 25 million or 69 percent live in Sub-Saharan Africa and 91 percent of children infected with HIV also live in Africa.
To date, 25 million AIDS related deaths have occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Although AIDS affects only human beings, it is like other viruses such as the flu or the common cold, except that the human immune system can get rid of colds and flu, but it cannot get rid of the HIV/AIDS virus.
HIV is spread through sex and certain body fluids such as blood, semen, rectal and vaginal fluids and breast milk from an HIV/AIDS infected person. It is also transmitted by sharing needles and syringes, etc.
Once someone is infected with the virus, its stays with that individual forever, but antiretroviral (ART) medicine helps to control the virus so that people infected with HIV can live a longer, healthier and normal life expectancy. ART also reduces the risk of transmitting HIV to full blown AIDS, which is the final stage of HIV.
Despite the scientific advances made in treating the disease, it continues to affect the Caribbean. Based on recent data, about 1.6 percent of the adult population or 240,000 people in the region are living with the disease, which is higher than any other region except Sub-Saharan Africa. Several factors influence this epidemic, including poverty, gender, tourism, and stigma.
In Guyana, there is a high HIV incidence which has spread beyond specific high risk groups into the general population. However, it has made tremendous strides in reducing the number of AIDS-related deaths from 480 annually a decade ago to less than 200 today.
As Guyana joined with the rest of world to celebrate World AIDS Day, it remained committed to eliminate the epidemic by 2030.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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