sexta-feira, agosto 18, 2006

HIV Seminar

In 1984, scientists discovered that AIDS was provoked by a virus called HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). At that time, there was a common belief that it only attacked white homosexual men, in San Francisco. However, the disease started to spread around the world, first in Africa, and it is now considered a pandemic.
Despite we are in the 21st century, nobody still discovered the cure for the HIV, but there has been some advances in the medical field. For example, in 1996 it was announced the first antiretroviral treatment. So, what can we do?
Everyone gives value to its live and the only way to protect it is to adopt safe behaviours. To do that, first of all, it is important to have access to information, something that is pretty common in the West, but scanty in the developing countries. That is one of the reasons why India and sub-Saharan Africa have the highest rate of HIV.
In Gandhi`s country, for example, the first HIV case was detected in 1986 and now there are 5.7 million people living with it, the largest number in the world. The main reason is because they didn`t use a condom. It is curious to think that such a small action, like not putting a condom, can change someone`s life forever. It is not only a question of the money a person will spend on treatments. It is also the suffering for being excluded from society and, who knows, from its own family.
HIV has a great impact not only in the life of each individual, but also regarding a country`s sustainability because it affects all areas of a society, like health, education and economy. For example, the money that will be spent on health will result in a decline in savings, slowing growth and investment. That is why India is facing now a big problem. After its economy have been growing at nearly 8% in the last few years, India can suffer a cut of 1% over the next 10 to 15 years.
The challenges are many in this fight against HIV/AIDS and our only weapon, as DI`s, is to try to make people understand how serious this pandemic is, how simple is to be protected, how it can affect everyone (children, wives, heterosexuals) and how it can put in jeopardy the future of a country. The obstacles are many – mentality, stigma, insufficient resources, illiteracy – and it would be much easier to close our eyes, but it is important to have hope and to take action.

posted by Naty Bett @ 7:11 PM