AIDS - Don't Ignore It

In spite of the fact that throughout the 1990's, due to the wars and conflicts in the regions of Central and Eastern Europe, the subject of HIV/AIDS was largely pushed to the margins of public interest, the social problems associated with it are slowly returning to our everyday lives. The spreading of HIV, although slowed down a notch, still goes on, despite the general silence that surrounds it. For that reason, we present to you an overview of the AIDS issue, but also of the latest developments and events in the field of the fight against that disease.

Stop Global Aids

Twenty years after the first clinical diagnosis that confirmed that existence of the "acquired immune-deficiency syndrome" AIDS became on of the most dangerous diseases that humanity ever faced. Since the start of the epidemic, over 60 million people have been infected with the HIV, and HIV/AIDS have spread around to the effect that it became the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, it holds the fourth place on the list of most common causes of death.

HIV can be contracted only if it entered the blood system. Only the human blood, semen, vaginal fluids and mothers' milk can carry large enough quantities of the virus to cause infection. The human spit, sweat or urine can't do it. The most common paths for infection with HIV have been unprotected sexual intercourse, intravenous drug abuse that involves sharing of needles, through the mothers' milk or by transplanted organs or blood transfusion.

There is not knows vaccine or cure for the HIV virus. There is medication, but only to slow down the process of damaging of the immunity system and to prevent the contracting of other contractual diseases. The estimates are that, at the end of 2001, approximately 40 million people all over the world lived with the HIV virus. In most countries, the majority of newly infected are young people, women in particular. About one third of all newly infected are between 15 and 24 years of age. Most of them is not aware that they carry the virus, millions know little or nothing about HIV and how to protect oneself from it.

In Africa alone, by 2001, AIDS took almost 2.3 million human lives. The estimated 3.4 million newly infected means that there are some 28.1 million HIV carriers on the continent. The situation is similarly grim in South Asia, and there is a noticeable steep rise of the numbers of infected people in the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The Russian Federation still has the greatest rate of newly infected; in 2001, that number reached 250 000 new HIV positive carriers, and the total number of infected people reached one million over the whole region.

If you thought that you can make the problem disappear by simply ignoring it, we suggest that you think twice. With the rightist and center-right tendencies of the newly elected governments in the countries of the SEE, we may expect, in the best possible case, a stagnation of the education and promotion of AIDS prevention. Why not, after all? Nobody here does "it" before the marriage wows are exchanged, do they? We can learn everything we need from the books... SURE WE CAN!!!... you just keep dreaming...