Editor,
We celebrated World AIDS Day on December 1 to show solidarity with the people living with AIDS, to commemorate those who succumbed to this fatal disease, and to raise public awareness. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a public health hazard. It is caused by HIV which can enter the body through unprotected sex with an HIV-infected person, sharing needles during intravenous drug use, contaminated blood transfusion, sharing razor blades and infected mother to her child through the placenta. A person infected with HIV suffers from declining immunity with symptoms like pneumonia, diarrhoea, tiredness, weight loss and fever. This impairment of the immune system can be slowed down by effective treatment and medication but cannot be fully cured. With AIDS, death is inevitable. Although the prevalence of AIDS is comparatively less in India, it has steadily increased over the last two decades. The population at risk in our country includes blood donors, drug addicts, prisoners and sex workers. Government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) should jointly raise awareness of its causes, symptoms and diagnosis. Moreover, it is the government’s duty to build more rehabilitation centres for drug users, provide free nucleic acid tests (NAT) to determine its presence and open up job opportunities for transgender people to replace their sex work. Adequate public health awareness is urgently needed before the prevalence reaches an alarming limit.
One of the most effective ways to combat the spread of HIV is through comprehensive prevention, including widespread access to condoms, sterile syringes, and pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP).
Only through a united effort can we achieve the goals of zero new infections, zero AIDS-related deaths, and zero discrimination.
The first World AIDS Day took place in 1988, providing a platform to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS and honour the lives affected by the epidemic.
Jubel D’Cruz
Via -email
