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

Bahamas Blog International

Educating Women on The Deadly Disease HIV/AIDS in The Bahamas

The HIV/AIDS transmission rate in The Bahamas is an important success story

Rapid Growth Of HIV In Females

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

29th November 2004

Women in The Bahamas have caught up with men in new HIV cases, prompting serious concerns for health officials.

Although the number of new HIV infections declined for a third consecutive year in 2003, the fact that more and more women are being infected with the virus that causes AIDS means that there needs to be renewed focus placed on educating women on the deadly disease, according to Nurse Rosa Mae Bain, director of the HIV/AIDS Centre.

Last year, 289 cases of HIV were reported. This compares to 332 in 2002- 385 in 2001 and 404 in 2000, according to health officials. Around the world 38 million people are infected.

In the early years of the epidemic, men far outnumbered women in new cases.

But that has changed.

The ratio of males to females is now 1:1. The disturbing trend is a global one, according to health officials.

So it is no coincidence that women and girls are the focus of this year’s World Aids Day on December 1.

“We as women have caught up with and in some countries have even past the men,” she said.  “Consequently, we need to focus in on women being able to negotiate safer sex practices.  That is crucial.  We need not to be getting infected.”

She said, “Women, because they account for all these single homes are the people out there providing that nurturing to the bulk of our children.  So the message that we want to give is ‘look, you men support our women.  Provide them with the support so that they can use preventative methods so that they do not become HIV infected’.”

Nurse Bain said women are particularly vulnerable because they tend to allow their partners to take the lead in safe sex practices.

Around the world this week, it will be a time of remembrance for the millions of people who have died from AIDS.  It will also be a time to focus on the 14 million children who have been orphaned by the disease.

Nurse Bain said AIDS orphans are also a serious concern in The Bahamas, but she said new drugs are making it possible for people to live longer, which means that the numbers of orphans are getting smaller.

Because of antiretroviral medications, she said, there are also fewer and fewer babies who are becoming infected with HIV from their mothers.

The percentage is now down to 3 percent, according to Nurse Bain.

“If we look at the statistics closely we would find that not one mother who attended the clinic, who took her medication, who kept all her appointments had a baby born HIV positive,” she said.  “That three percent was because we had a cohort of pregnant persons who did not attend so consequently they did not receive the medication and their baby was born positive and that’s why we’re still at three percent.”

She said the reduction in the transmission rate in The Bahamas is an important success story.

Another success, she said, is that the children who were born with the virus are living to see their teen years.

“Yesteryear, most of our children died before their first birthday, but with the use of anti-retrovirals or the use of AIDS medication as we call it- these children now look good, they feel good, they’re in school and we need to go to another level and provide them with a home setting.” 

The Bahamas is The Only Country in The Region that is Witnessing A Downward Trend in New HIV Cases

Anti-AIDS Education Programme Yields Positive Results Throughout The Bahamas

New HIV Cases Decline 

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

15th November-2004

The number of new HIV cases reported in 2003 declined for the third consecutive year, but health officials say there are still serious concerns regarding the spread of the deadly virus in the country.

Last year, 289 cases were reported.  This compares to 332 in 2002; 385 in 2001 and 404 in 2000, according to newly released numbers from the Infectious Disease Division of the Princess Margaret Hospital and the Department of Public Health.

The most recent figure is also the lowest number of cases reported in a given year since officials reported 710 cases in the period 1986-1988.

Director of the HIV/AIDS centre Nurse Rosa Mae Bain reported that The Bahamas is the only country in the region that is witnessing a downward trend in new HIV cases.

She believes this positive trend has resulted from a consistent anti-AIDS education programme throughout The Bahamas.

“We’re marketing the condom use because it’s crucial that everybody who has sex with somebody knows the status of their partner,” Nurse Bain said.  “If they don’t know, then they need to protect themselves with the condom.”

Her department is also getting set to launch a marketing campaign promoting the use of the female condom.

“They’ve been available for a while, but we’ve not really pushed it,” she said.

Officials of the National AIDS programme have also expanded their outreach in schools, working with grade six students encouraging them to delay the initiation of sexual activity.

“What we are also doing is training them if they are sexually active to protect themselves, that is crucial.  They need to know about the availability of condoms, how to store them; how to use them; how to put them on and how to take them off,” Nurse Bain said.

The new numbers also show that the sexually active age group 15 – 44, continues to be the main group of people infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

AIDS is the leading cause of death in the age group 15 – 29.

The National AIDS programme has monitored the epidemic since 1983.  As of December 31, 2003, there was a cumulative total of 9,725 total HIV infections, 4,758 cases of AIDS and 4,697 persons who are non-AIDS HIV positive.

Of the total 4,758 cases of AIDS, 3,309 have died.  Of the total 9,725 infections, 6,920 occur in young adults between the age group of 15 – 44.  The ratio of males to females infected with HIV is now 1:1.

Nurse Bain said there is still a serious concern as it relates to older men passing the virus on to young girls.

It’s a dilemma authorities continue to tackle.  They say because of the high numbers of single mother homes, many girls are often easily enticed by material possessions and are therefore more inclined to have sex with men who can provide these things.

“We’re very well aware that approximately 70 percent of our babies are born to single parents,” Nurse Bain said.  “Because of that, within the home-setting, there is not the male figure…we want to send a message out there, ‘Older men, please leave our young girls alone.’”

There is another practice of grave concern.

Nurse Bain said there are many girls who are engaged in rectal sex as protection from getting pregnant.  They also see it as a way of having sex and remaining virgins.  But she said there is serious danger in this practice.

“Once the lining of the rectum is torn and somebody has HIV, [men] can pass that on very, very quickly to our young girls,” she said.  “This is a concern for both male and females.  Next to blood transfusion, rectal sex is the easiest way to get HIV infected.”

The first clinical case of AIDS was reported in1983 and confirmed on post mortem in 1985.  The first confirmed case of AIDS was reported in The Bahamas in August 1985 when antibody elisa testing became available, according to the Bahamas National HIV/AIDS Programme.

The Bahamas has the highest annual incidence rate of AIDS in the English speaking Caribbean, and is among the three nations with the highest incidence rates in the world.