What is HIV/AIDS? Do you Know ? !!
HIV is the virus that can cause AIDS.
It is the abbreviation of ‘Human Immuno Deficiency Virus’. It breaks down your body’s resistance. The white blood cells, which we all have to defend ourselves against illnesses, are broken down by HIV. You cannot die from HIV itself, but if you have it then you can become critically ill from viruses and bacteria which wouldn’t normally have serious effects.
What is AIDS?
The word AIDS is used only when the immune system of someone living with HIV is so broken down that serious infections occur. AIDS is an abbreviation of ‘Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome’. The last three words, ‘Immuno Deficiency Syndrome’ indicate that AIDS is not one disease, but a ‘syndrome’, a ‘compound of diseases’ which are caused by ‘damage to the immune system’.
Somebody with AIDS therefore always has HIV, is ‘HIV positive’. But being HIV positive doesn’t necessarily mean you have AIDS.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Egypt appears to be an early stage and Egypt is classified as a low prevalence country estimates from the Ministry of Health and Population (National AIDS program) at 31-12-2002 (while they are 3845 case in the end of 2003) suggested that number of symptomatic AIDS cases is 368 while the number of asymptomatic HIV cases is 1343 and total cases is 1711.However, Egypt will continue to face a serious challenge in keeping that low prevalence of HIV/AIDS that total number of people living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2003 is about 40 million cases according to UNAIDS estimations with new 5 million cases in 2003 and every year it is estimated that over 2.6 million young contract the virus through the sexual route or through injection drug use .young people are not only disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS ; they are also particularly vulnerable to HIV infection because they lack access to sexual and reproductive health information, education and services (UNFPA,2001).
Having a picture of the HIV/AIDS problem and control activities is essential for planning a working plan for HIV/AIDS prevention, data of HIV infection and AIDS cases are very difficult to obtain analyze and interpret, there are many different clinical manifestations of the diseases, and because of it is long incubation period cases only provide a small segment of the total picture. it is important to understand the limitation of data about HIV/AIDS for planning ,implementing ,monitoring and evaluation of the national AIDS program.
The first case of HIV in Egypt was reported in 1986. And AIDS patient quarantined at local hospital was shot dead by security guard during and attempt to escape. Another AIDS patient at the same hospital had her baby delivered by a cleaner when physicians and nurses on duty refused to touch her (Preble, 1996).
Epidemiological data:- Present situation: more than 5.7 millions Egyptians had been screened between 1986 and Sept 2002 in addition to screening 750.000 blood unit yearly according to ministry of health, 2003 the AIDS cases are 368 and the a symptomatic HIV are 1343 cases with total of 1711 cases. However, UNAIDS/WHO estimates put the number by the end of 2001 at 8.000 patients living with HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS/WHO Epidemiological fact sheet 2002).
Ministry of Health and Population gave an account of AIDS cases by mood of transmission methods from 1986-june 2002 as follows Among all reported infections, 43% occurred through heterosexual contact, and 23 through homosexuality, other modes of transmission include unsafe injections and blood transfusions is 18%.More than 12% of the cases are attributed to unknown or intractable modes of transmission according to National AIDS program surveillance data.
In 1994 a study of Intravenous drugs users in CAIRO found that 8% were infected with HIV between them, however, in 1993, 1994 and 1996 none of IV drug users surveyed at a drug treatment center in ALEXANDRIA were HIV positive. In 1987-88, 07 percent among STDs patients were HIV positive; in 1993, 03 percent were infected. In 1994, there was no evidence of infection among STDs patients attending STD clinics in ALEXANRIA and ASSIUT. In 2003, a screening for a large number of pregnant women proved that there was no single infected case (NAP 2003)
There are different ways to become infected with HIV: through unprotected sex or activities which mean someone else's blood could get into your bloodstream, e.g., sharing needles whilst injecting drugs. HIV is in the blood (also menstrual blood), sperm and vaginal fluids and can therefore be transferred through sex. That's why it's very important to use a condom to stop HIV. HIV can also be passed from a mother to her baby.
There is no one list of symptoms, HIV will affect individuals in different ways. Some examples are that you can become tired easily, lose a lot of weight or sweat heavily at night. You can also get skin problems, such as eczema and mouth sores. On average it takes ten years before someone with HIV contracts AIDS, but it could also take twenty years, or even only three. Once you have AIDS and it is left untreated, many illnesses can take hold relatively easily, for example pneumonia, tuberculosis, skin cancer and dementia
Since 1997 there are medicines which ensure that you become less ill from HIV. A combination (?a cocktail?) of drugs usually works best. Together with medication for side-effects or other illnesses, people with HIV sometimes need to take many pills a day. The side-effects can be bad but these medications mean that if they can get them, people living with HIV can now live long and relatively healthy lives. However it is important to remember that no vaccine against HIV (currently) exists and there are no drugs that cure AIDS.
Medication in Developing Countries
Less than 5% of all people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries have access to this combination of life saving drugs. This is because the medicines are very expensive and the goverments of these countries cannot afford to pay the drugs companies for themDo You Know?
HIV/AIDS has become a leading problem in our modern world facing not only Africa or developing countries but, it is became a big problem for the whole world.So, the world agencies launched many initiatives to fight the disease many world leaders are fighting against our new global enemy.Since 1980 and HIV/AIDS victims increase which appears clearly in AIDS epidemiology this last year 2004.And Also .....
HIV/AIDS has become a disease of young people
1. Over half of all new infections worldwide are among young people aged 15 to 24
2. Each day 6,000 young people are infected with HIV - more than four every minute.
3. Young people often lack access to essential information on HIV/AIDS and the means to protect themselves from the virus.
4. HIV is preventable and prevention works. The returns on preventing infections among young people are enormous
Young people’s enthusiasm, creativity, and adaptability make them an essential partner with a vital role to play in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Real changes come about when young people are able to identify the issues of primary concern to them and are empowered to develop, implement and manage youth-owned strategies, activities, networks, organisations and campaigns.
Global Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS
The total number of people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) rose in 2004 to reach its highest level ever: an estimated 39.4 million [35.9 million-44.3 million] people are living with the virus (Figure 1). This figure includes the 4.9 million [4.3 million-6.4 million] people who acquired HIV in 2004. The global AIDS epidemic killed 3.1 million [2.8 million-3.5 million] people in the past year.The number of people living with HIV has been rising in every region, compared with two years ago, with the steepest increases occurring in East Asia, and in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The number of people living with HIV in East Asia rose by almost 50% between 2002 and 2004, an increase that is attributable largely to China's swiftly growing epidemic. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, there were 40% more people living with HIV in 2004 than in 2002. Accounting for much of that trend is Ukraine's resurgent epidemic and the ever-growing number of people living with HIV in the Russian Federation.
Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the worst-affected region, with 25.4 million [23.4 million-28.4 million] people living with HIV at the end of 2004, compared to 24.4 million [22.5 million-27.3 million] in 2002. Just under two thirds (64%) of all people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa, as are more than three quarters (76%) of all women living with HIV. The epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa appear to be stabilizing generally, with HIV prevalence at around 7.4% for the entire region. But such a summary perspective hides important aspects. First, roughly stable HIV prevalence means more or less equal numbers of people are being newly.
Inadequate HIV surveillance in many countries of this region makes it difficult to discern the patterns and trends of their diverse epidemics - especially among
most-at-risk groups such as injecting drug users, sex workers and men who have sex with men.
