680,000 people died in the last year alone, 460,000 of them living in Africa, due to HIV, which first appeared in the early 1980s, became an epidemic in 1982 and causes AIDS, the source of which is still unknown. .
AIDS stands for “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome” and means “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome”. As the name suggests, it defines a syndrome. HIV stands for “Human Immunodeficiency Virus” and means “Human Immunodeficiency Virus” and refers to a pathogen. In other words, the pathogen named HIV is the biggest cause of AIDS.
HIV = death, to be HIV positive = to have AIDS. (WRONG)
HIV weakens human immune system cells and HIV infections occur. The advanced fatal form of these infections is called AIDS. If an HIV-positive person takes their antiretroviral medication (ARV) daily without fail, the risk of developing AIDS is very low. So this person can live a healthy life like anyone else.
The reason why the disease seems so scary was that it took twice as many lives as World War I until recently, but the 30-year adventure of fighting the virus is now bearing fruit.
For those living in countries that have difficulty accessing ARVs, the situation is grim. 75% (5 million people) of HIV-positive people living in Central and West African countries are doomed to face a slow and painful death due to lack of access to ARVs. 90% of the 730,000 HIV-positive children living in poor countries do not have access to ARVs.
Touching and kissing transmit HIV. (WRONG)
The virus is not transmitted by actions such as sitting next to or touching an individual living with HIV. As we mentioned above, thanks to adequate treatments, people living with HIV can lead a healthy life.
HIV usually affects gay men. (WRONG)
This is usually the case in western countries, but when we look at the world in general, it is seen that women are generally affected. 59% of HIV-positive people in Sub-Saharan Africa are young women. Girls aged 15-19 living in South Africa are 8 times more likely to have HIV than boys.
The baby of an HIV-positive person cannot be healthy. (WRONG)
A pregnant woman who is treated for ARV has a less than 2% chance of infecting her baby. Thanks to this treatment, the number of children born HIV positive has decreased by 60% in the last 20 years. For example, mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Cuba was reduced to zero and a first was achieved in this regard.
However, it should be noted that in some regions only 39% of pregnant women have access to this treatment. That’s why about half of HIV-positive women give birth to HIV-positive babies. One-third of these babies die before they reach the age of 1, as they cannot access treatment like their mothers. One in five do not even reach the age of 5.
Using condoms is the only way to prevent HIV transmission. (WRONG)
Of course, it is a very important form of protection, but it is not the only option. An HIV-positive person treated with ARV has a 96% reduced risk of transmitting HIV to their partner. Unfortunately, it is not possible to completely stop this global epidemic, as there are still those who cannot reach this treatment.
The more HIV-positive people in a country, the higher the number of AIDS-related deaths. (WRONG)
E.g; The number of HIV-positive people in South Africa, which is the world’s first in the number of cases, is 6.8 million, the number of people who died due to AIDS is 140,000. However, although the number of cases in Nigeria is lower, half of the HIV-positive people who cannot receive treatment die due to AIDS. 25% of those in Nigeria can receive treatment, while 45% of those in South Africa receive treatment.
Apart from the well-known misconceptions about HIV and AIDS, the issue of “stigma” is also important.
Unfortunately, people living with HIV are frequently stigmatized and labeled. They are gossiped about, subjected to verbal abuse and threats. Due to ignorance about HIV and AIDS, these people can be fired from their jobs.
Misidentifications are often made for individuals living with HIV. The term “HIV patient” should not be used because HIV is the name of a virus, not a disease. The expression “AIDS virus” is also incorrect, because AIDS is a syndrome and refers to a picture of diseases.
It would be correct to use the terms “person living with HIV” and “HIV positive person”. Uses such as AIDS patient, AIDS infected, HIV infected, HIV carrier, AIDS carrier are also incorrect.
In order to prevent this stigma and discrimination, the Ministry of Health does not collect HIV-positive people’s information such as name, surname and T. C identification number; reports the information of these people with a code.
Good news was announced recently: It was stated that the vaccine developed in Japan against the HIV virus, which causes AIDS, was effective in monkeys.
Injecting HIV virus into 7 macaque monkeys within the scope of the study, the team determined that the 4 monkeys tested were infected with the virus, but the virus became undetectable after a short time. Noting that the immune system stimulated by the vaccine makes HIV lose its effect, experts announced that trials on humans will begin in about 5 years.
Last August, the vaccine developed by the American pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson failed its tests in Sub-Saharan Africa. The vaccine tried on 2637 women could not provide adequate protection. The tests of the vaccine, also supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, were stopped after the results were obtained.
On the other hand, trials of the other vaccine, called Mosaico, which is expected to be completed in 2024, on men in the USA and Europe are continuing. A vaccine against HIV, called Uhambo, was previously started in South Africa, but was stopped in 2020 after failure.
We hope that a vaccine will be found soon and it can easily reach all countries.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4
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