HIV/AIDS is real

DECEMBER 1 marked World AIDS Day 2009. Out of the 33.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, an estimated 260,000 live in Ghana, according to UNICEF 2007 survey.

DESPITE the fact that this figure is one of the lowest in Africa, with around 2% of the population living with the virus, it is still twice as much as the less than 1% of people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

BILLBOARDS and flyers throughout the country betray the many campaigns that have been led to inform Ghanaians about the risks of contracting HIV and how to avoid it. Many non-governmental organizations provide free HIV testing services, underlining every individual’s right and duty to know their status.

THE HIV virus—contracted through blood, breast milk, semen, or vaginal fluid—attacks the body’s immune system, making the person more susceptible to other diseases. A person is considered to have AIDS only when the immune system is so weak that it cannot fight off a range of diseases that it would normally be able to cope with on its own.

WITH the treatments available, people can live healthy, active lives with HIV. One of the most difficult aspects of living with HIV/AIDS, however, can be the stigma attached to the disease.

NO matter how much information it seems there is available, the fact that people are afraid to be around others with HIV/AIDS reveals just how ignorant many people still are. The large majority of people infected with HIV know all of the risks associated with transmission and are, therefore, more careful than anyone. The virus cannot be spread through saliva, so unless people are sharing needles, having unprotected sex, or breastfeeding, there is no opportunity for the virus to spread.

NOR should having HIV imply anything about a person’s lifestyle. People in all professions and of all ages, unfortunately, are living with the virus.

This year’s World AIDS Day theme, “Universal Access and Human Rights”, underlines the importance of the pandemic and according everyone the human rights that we are all entitled to.

IT is important to get tested, to know your status in order to protect yourself and those around you. Just as important is the need to be educated about the risks and realize that, as long as you are always having protected sex and not sharing needles, in short, protecting yourself, you will not contract the virus.

THE AIDS epidemic is not restricted to those infected with HIV. It is a global and national responsibility to address and solve. It is a personal responsibility to be educated, not only to protect yourself, but also to reduce the discrimination faced by those living with the virus.