Friday, December 3, 2010

HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention

Education and prevention
thenassauguardian editorial


It was interesting to hear an official from the Bahamas AIDS Foundation during a talk radio show say that AIDS has been downgraded to a communicable disease from a killer disease.

She went on to explain that because of the advancement in medicine, it is now possible for people to live with the disease longer and stronger.

While that is good news, it makes one wonder if such information would only add to the nonchalant attitude that many people currently have towards AIDS - especially young people.

The fact that AIDS can be downgraded may cause some to let down their guard about their sexual responsibility. There is the fear that now that new medicines are being made available to not just manage the disease, but allow people to live longer, some may no longer take the risk of contracting the disease as serious as they would have in the past.

But the truth is, even in the face of medical advancement AIDS is still a silent killer in The Bahamas.

Usually, that characteristic was given to hypertension, which has no warning signs, but able to strike at any minute.

Over the past few years, since the initial all out campaigns to try and stop the spread of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) it has gone on to kill millions every year.

Here are some facts – 33.4 million people are living with AIDS worldwide.

Of that number close to 300,000 of those people reside within the Caribbean. Further, since the end of 2008, 12,000 people within the Caribbean have died from AIDS related illnesses.

It was good to see the focus return to the AIDS epidemic during World AIDS Day on December 1, because for the past few years people seemed to have forgotten about the killer disease.

Some how, as the world got crazier and as the world turned its attention to terrorism, it seemed as if the focus on AIDS education had waned. AIDS had become yesterday’s news. But the truth is, AIDS is still out there and it is still affecting millions of people everyday.

The sexual promiscuity among our young people and adults is an indication that the necessary sex education and discussions about AIDS had dwindled greatly. We must return to spreading the word that AIDS is still a killer disease.

Yes, even in the face of the most modern of medicines, we must continue to warn people about the importance of being sexually responsible. Casual sex is no longer a trend that has no consequences.

We have reached a point now where a stigma has been attached to people infected with AIDS. But times have changed.

It is that same stigma which has caused many affected Bahamians not to step forward and seek medical help. They are afraid of the tag that would be attached to them.

However, in our educational revamp of AIDS and HIV, removing such a stigma associated with this disease must also take place.

Unlike other sexually transmitted diseases in the past which may have gone away with time, or treated effectively, AIDS has not gone away. It continues to take lives on a daily basis. We must turn our attention again to education and prevention.

12/2/2010

thenassauguardian editorial