World AIDS Day
Dec 01, 2018 16:36 UTC
AIDS is one of the problems facing the human communities. This disease has taken the lives of millions of people and millions of others are suffering from it. With respect to the spread and consequences of this horrible disease, the United Nations announced December 1 as the World AIDS Day in 1988. This was done in order to make people aware of the hazards of the disease and the ways to encounter it.
AIDS is caused by the infection resulting from HIV. This virus enters the patient’s body via blood, sperm and mother’s milk. It destroys the white blood cells and weakens the immunity system of the body. In many cases the early symptoms are not sensed for years and the affected individual looks quite healthy; whereas the HIV virus is harming the immunity system and the individual is already a sick person and susceptible to catch other diseases. Tuberculosis is one of the major diseases and causes of death of AIDS patients killing 25% of them. AIDS makes patients liable to catch various types of cancer, too.
AIDS was discovered in the United States in 1981 for the first time. The first patients were among the injecting addicts and gays. Some researchers maintain that this disease had been generated in the 19th and 20th centuries in the west of Central African Republic, though this has never been proved.
According to the statistics, 26 million of the total 40 million HIV-afflicted people are from Africa. 25 million people have already succumbed to HIV in Africa. The Sub-Saharan countries are the most susceptible regions and it is estimated that 68% (nearly 30 million) of those suffering from HIV and 66% of the total death rate has occurred in this region. Currently, South Africa is the most afflicted region with almost 6 million patients. Unfortunately, the biggest number of HIV patients or transmitters of the virus in Africa are women.
South and Southeast Asia is the second region afflicted by AIDS. It is estimated that 4 million people are suffering from AIDS in the region and 250thousand of them have died of the disease. In India, approximately 2 million and 400 thousand men are afflicted by AIDS. Western and Central Europe with 0.2% and Eastern Asia with 0.1% are the least afflicted regions in the world; while it has the warning state in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The spread of AIDS is very low among religious societies.
According to the UN, the death toll of AIDS patients in 2005 decreased to half of the previous year. The United Nations announced in a report that in 2016 nearly 1 million and 800 thousand people had been afflicted by AIDS which meant 300 thousand people less than 2015. Thus, it reached 36 million and 700 thousand people. Besides, the number of those dying from AIDS in 2016 was almost 1 million; i.e. 100 thousand less than the previous year. As per the UN, if the trend persists, the global goal of uprooting and curtailing the disease will be feasible. Michael C. Deeb, Executive Director of the UN Program against AIDS, says that the world reaction to the problem has been incredible. The world has invested millions of dollars for the issue and today, for every dollar spent on the issue 17 dollars have been gained as capital.
The UN officials believe that dissemination of information is one of the most important factors for fighting this lethal disease. However the report reads that the progress of fighting and destroying AIDS has not been the same in all parts of the world. In West Asia and North Africa, the death toll has been 38% in 2010 and has increased to 48% in 2016. There was a 10% increase in this number in East Asia and East Europe.
The latest investigation shows that life expectancy among the HIV-afflicted people has increased 10% from 1996. Subscription of remedial method called, “Triple Medicines” is considered as an important factor in this regard. The UN has also announced that the subscribed medicines have less side-effect and the patient takes less medicine; hence the virus has had less resistance against the treatment process. Although this has caused hope in fighting AIDS, in practice, only 1.6 million people of poor countries have access to the medicines which control AIDS. The inability to secure the expensive costs of medicines has failed many patients to start the treatment process. According to the statistics, most of those who die due to poverty live in Africa and Sub-Sahara and majority of them are women whose children remain unsupported after their mother’s death.
Another issue which is effective in eradicating AIDS is the lack of awareness among the afflicted of their disease. Presently, nearly 37 million are living with HIV across the world, but 40% of them are not aware of their HIV status. Many people notice their disease just after the disclosure of symptoms and this causes the treatment to start vey late. This will lead to many problems in treatment and prevention. That’s why the world health and hygienic organizations ask all countries to offer opportunities and access to HIV test among people to help them get aware of their HIV status. In view of this, the motto of this year has been chosen as, “Encourage Everyone to Know Their HIV Status.”
RM/SS