HIV and AIDS

 
 
                                                                    
                     HIV/AIDS
Sexual activities comes with risks of sexually transmitted diseases infections (STDS /STIS), including HIV / AIDS
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). By damaging your immune system, HIV interferes with your body's ability to fight the organisms that cause diseases. This particular virus is found only in human beings and infects only humans. The virus damages the immune system to such an extent that it can no longer effectively protects the body against other infections. This damage leaves the immune system deficient or short of something it needs to protect the body. We will consider this further in the section on the immune system later in the manual.

     What does AIDS mean?
AIDS is the acronym or abbreviation for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The first thing that must happen is the virus must come from somewhere or someone, it must be acquired. You acquire or get something when you did not have it before. In the context of AIDS this means that the Immune-deficiency syndrome, or the deficiency in the immune system, was not present in the human body previously. It was acquired, 'got' or picked up, by means of some action. There must be an exposure to the virus due to your personal or someone else's action.
   HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed almost 33 million lives so far. However, with increasing access to effective HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care, including for opportunistic infections, HIV infection has become a manageable chronic health condition, enabling people living with HIV to lead long and healthy lives. Over two thirds of all people living with HIV live in the WHO African Region (25.7 million). While HIV is prevalent among the general population in this region, an increasing number of new infections occur among key population groups. HIV can be diagnosed through rapid diagnostic tests that can provide same-day results. HIV self-tests are increasingly available and provide an effective and acceptable alternative way to increase access to people who are not reached for HIV testing through facility-based services. Rapid test and self-tests have greatly facilitated diagnosis and linkage with treatment and care.

               What Causes HIV?

HIV is thought to have originally mutated from a virus that infects chimpanzees, called simian immunodeficiency virus. Research has indicated that the virus probably mutated into HIV, which is a version that could infect humans, as far back as the late 1800s when the chimpanzees were hunted for meat.

    Model Transmission

HIV can be transmitted via the exchange of a variety of body fluids from infected people, such as 
transfusion of infected blood
using of needle or blade that has been used on a person with HIV and not sterilized afterword.
breast milk, 
semen and vaginal secretions.
 HIV can also be transmitted from a mother to her child during pregnancy and delivery.

Having sex with someone who already have it

• Accidental needle stick injury.
• Mother to child transmission (via pregnancy or breastfeeding).
• In rare cases the virus may be transmitted through organ or tissue transplants, through artificial insemination with donated semen, or through unsterilized dental or surgical equipment.

 Individuals cannot become infected through ordinary

day-to-day contact such as kissing, 

hugging,

 shaking hands,

 or sharing personal objects, food or water. 

It is important to note that people with HIV who are taking ART and are virally suppressed do not transmit HIV to their sexual partners.  Early access to ART and support to remain on treatment is therefore critical not only to improve the health of people.

            Risk factors

Behaviours and conditions that put individuals at greater risk of contracting HIV include:
a) having unprotected anal or vaginal sex;
b)having another sexually transmitted infection (STI) such as syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhoea and bacterial vaginosis;
c) sharing contaminated needles, syringes and other injecting equipment and drug solutions when injecting drugs;
d) receiving unsafe injections, blood transfusions and tissue transplantation, and medical procedures that involve unsterile cutting or piercing; and
e) experiencing accidental needle stick injuries, including among health workers with HIV but also to prevent HIV transmission.

               HIV testing services

HIV testing should be voluntary and the right to decline testing should be recognized. Mandatory or coerced testing by a health care provider or authority, or by a partner or family member is not acceptable as it undermines good public health practice and infringes on human rights.
New technologies to help people test themselves are being introduced, with many countries implementing self-testing as an additional option to encourage HIV diagnosis. HIV self-testing is a process whereby a person who wants to know his or her HIV status collects a specimen, performs a test, and interprets the test results in private or with someone they trust. HIV self-testing does not provide a definitive HIV-positive diagnosis, but it should be used as an initial test to be followed by confirmatory testing by a health worker.  Many countries are now using innovative approaches to develop and support HIV self-testing using digital platforms and on line support for help with the testing procedure and linkage to services