Photographer : Chris M |
HIV and AIDS pose a serious and fatal threat to an estimated 40 million people worldwide. This figure is only an estimate because most people infected with HIV are unaware that they are HIV positive. According to the UN, 30 million Africans are infected. This huge figure explains why AIDS is now the leading cause of death for people in Africa.
Although there are treatments available, as yet, there is no cure for HIV/AIDS. Each year millions of people die as a result of the virus, and while this problem may seem distant and overwhelming, leaving us numb to the devastation it causes, it is real and is even here in our own backyard.
“Each day 14,000 people, half of them aged 15 to 24, are newly infected…” (United Nations Population Fund).
What is HIV?HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This basically means that it’s a virus that damages and ultimately breaks down the body’s immune system, making it weak and vulnerable to infections and other diseases. HIV is primarily transmitted in blood, semen and vaginal fluids or by shared injecting equipment (such as needles). HIV can also be transmitted from an infected mother to her child during pregnancy. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, but the two terms are not interchangeable. A person who is HIV positive may not necessarily have AIDS but a person with AIDS has HIV.
What is AIDS?AIDS stands for ‘Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome’ and comprises a spectrum of conditions that occur when a person’s immune system is seriously damaged by the HIV.
How can somebody detect whether or not they have HIV/AIDS?An HIV antibody test is used to determine whether or not somebody is HIV positive. However, it can take up to three months for an HIV infected body to produce HIV antibodies, so although the virus may be present, the test results can come out negative. This period is called the ‘window period’. That being said, there is also a special test called nucleic acid amplification which can improve the detection of HIV infection during the window period.
Is there a cure?At the moment there is no cure for HIV or AIDS, although there are treatments that can help to reduce the amount of virus in the body and keep the immune system as healthy as possible. However, even with treatment, most people with HIV or AIDS will experience varying degrees of illness that range from minor to life threatening. The lesson to be learnt is that prevention is always better than cure, especially where no apparent cure exists.
What's the situation in Australia?In Australia, an estimated 14,840 people are living with AIDS (2004). Demographically, Australians living with AIDS are very different from the rest of the world.
Worldwide, HIV and AIDS are “young people” diseases; most people living with the diseases are 15-24 years old and just fewer 50 per cent of all people living with AIDS are women.
However, most Australians living with AIDS are men in their mid-30s, and HIV/AIDS is contracted through sexual contact between men in 86 per cent of all cases.
How do I know all this?National Women’s Health Information Center, ‘AIDS Worldwide’,
Women and HIV/AIDS,
http://www.4woman.gov/HIV/world.cfm Pollard R (ed.) 2000,
HIV / AIDS Media Guide, 2nd edn,
http://www.ancahrd.org/pubs/pdfs/mediaguide.htm Population Resource Center,
http://www.prcdc.org/ United Nations Population Fund,
Preventing HIV infection,
http://www.unfpa.org/hiv/index.htm United Nations Population Fund,
HIV / AIDS and adolescents,
http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2003/english/ch3 World AIDS Day Australia,
HIV/AIDS information,
http://www.worldaidsday.org.au/info/hivaids.htmWorld Health Organisation,
http://www.who.int/en/ Affected by this issue yourself or know someone who is? Check out our sister site http://www.reachout.com.au
