The Ticking Aids Time Bomb in India
February 24, 2009 by ©Kamaal Nishant©
The acronym AIDS spells a holocaust, threatening the existence of the human beings in a big way. AIDS or Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome is caused by a group of related retroviruses known as HIV (Human Immuno-deficiency virus). It was first conclusively identified in 1981. According to the researchers of the University of Alabama at Birmingham the AIDS virus spread by the cross species transmission of viruses from chimpanzees to people in Africa. The Chimps have been presumed to be the carriers of this dreaded disease for thousands of years, without being susceptible to it. It infected humans in the 1940s or early 50s when someone in the west equatorial Africa is supposed to have contracted the virus after consuming the animal as food. However French biophysicists have claimed that the US army had released the virus as a part of an experiment on gene manipulation of pathogens, conducted on prisoners. The first case of AIDS was reported in the USA in 1981, ever since people in more than 175 countries have contracted the dreaded disease. According to United Nations agency UNAIDS, in July 2003, 42 million people were infected with HIV worldwide-29.4 million of them in Africa. It had killed 25 million people worldwide. The United Nation forecasts that by 2010, 45 million more would be infected if the pandemic continues to spread at its current pace and 70 million would have died by 2020.
In India, the first case of AIDS was reported in 1986 from Chennai. Since then there has been an increase in the number of HIV infections over the years. In July 2003, India with the world's second highest population had at least 4 million HIV positive people. HIV sentinel surveillance data showed Maharashtra as the most affected state followed by Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Manipur. In the year 2000, the prevalence of HIV in all parts of the country highlights the spread of infection from urban to rural and from high-risk behavior groups to genera] population. 80% of the infections were through sexual transmission, 8% through pre-natal transmission, 6% through injecting drug among users and 4% through blood transfusion.
The disease is said to spread to a healthy person through sexual contact with an AIDS infected person because the HIV virus is present in sexual fluids, saliva and blood. This accounts for both homosexual and heterosexual contacts. In fact through various researches it has been found that deep kissing where saliva is exchanged can infect the partner. Sex workers are supposed to be the biggest carriers of this disease. Truck drivers plying on national highways and other casual visitors visiting red-light areas carry the HIV virus and in turn spread it to their families. AIDS has long been a taboo because of its association with sex. No doubt, unprotected sex with an infected person is a major cause of the disease but there are other factors too, like being infected through use of hypodermic needles or syringes. There have been reports of doctors and health-care workers getting infected while carrying out their duties. This shows that the risk is so great the even trained professionals can become victims. An AIDS infected mother can transmit the disease to her child during the pre-natal stage. In the post-natal stage, it can pass to the infant through the mother's milk. These are the only known sources of contracting the AIDS virus. The disease cannot spread through casual contact with an AIDS patient, like sharing his linen and utensils, shaking hands, hugging, coughing, sneezing or by sharing the swimming pool. Diana, the late Princess of Wales, in an attempt to unravel the myth to the media and public took off her gloves and shook hands with an AIDS victim.
AIDS is the late stage of infection with the Human Immuno deficiency Virus (HIV). It can take around 7-10 years to develop other infection with HIV. The virus destroys the immune system of the body. The victim suffers from severe weight loss and weakness due to persistent diarrhea, pneumonia, fever, non recovery of wounds and finally dies. Although scientific research has come a long way since the virus was traced in 1981, no effective cure for the dreaded disease has been found. The drug 'zidovudine', is known to delay the progression of AIDS. There is a combination of powerful drugs that can make life easier and longer for a person living with HIV/AIDS, but only a fraction of those infected in developing economies such as India can afford or have access to treatment. Also there is a scarcity of doctors and clinics equipped to do a mandatory monitoring on the basis of which antiretroviral drug combinations are prescribed.
The treatment of AIDS is costly and there is no cure. The best safeguard against the dreaded disease is precaution. The first would be to exercise discretion while having sexual contacts, using unsterilized syringes or during blood transfusion. Maintaining high moral values could reduce the occurrence of AIDS in a big way. Indulging in momentary pleasures like taking of drugs should be avoided. AIDS-infected women should take care to avoid conception so as to prevent the birth of an AIDS - infected child. Blood donations should be taken from healthy HIV negative people. These are the methods by which AIDS can be prevented. The Government of India addresses HIV / AIDS epidemic, simply not as a health problem, but as a developmental issue, which impinges on various economic and special sectors of government and non-government activity. The government has sought international assistance to face the challenge. Rehabilitation of such patients through community involvement is being planned. Many Non-Governmental Organizations are involved in the AIDS prevention campaigns and are helping the government in its Endeavour. The National AIDS Control Program, Phase-II is being implemented for a period of five years from April 1999 with the support of I.D.A. and other bilateral donor agencies like USAID. Some of its main components are preventive interventions for the general community, promotions of voluntary counseling and testing facilities, blood safety and prevention of occupation exposure and low cost AIDS care to people living with HIV/AIDS.
The Government should create awareness and disseminate information to combat AIDS. Since the spread of AIDS can be effectively stopped by taking preventive measures, awareness is the key to containing and eventually eliminating it. There have been good public service television advertisements that have helped to remove the stigma to some extent. All other media too must be used. Organizing AIDS awareness campaign at brothels to protect the sex workers and the clients could help in controlling AIDS. They should be informed about the precautionary measures required against the spread of disease and the consequences of being affected. Literary pullouts, brochures, pamphlets, mainly in the vernacular languages, should be distributed along with newspapers in all states which would help in creating awareness among all. However what is needed for combating AIDS is a concerted and vigorous national campaign, and not an occasional statement or conference resolution.
Since AIDS is a major disease for which no cure is known, we must first of all guard ourselves against contracting the disease. The people who are already suffering form AIDS should be accepted and taken care of without any misgivings and prejudicial They contracted the disease because of unawareness and the rest of the society does not have the right to ostracize them. The society should do away with the irrational beliefs associated with the disease and should work towards a healthy society both physically and morally.
Source: An article published in Health magazine in July, 2008 by Huma Suman
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