WORLDS AIDS DAY 2014

What is World AIDS Day?

 

World AIDS Day (WAD) is held on December 1, every year, and is about increasing awareness, fighting stigma, improving education, mobilizing resources and raising funds for the global response to HIV and AIDS.

Raising awareness of HIV is crucial to get to zero new HIV infections. A red AIDS awareness ribbon is worn around World AIDS Day which is a symbol of awareness, support and remembrance of those affected by HIV and AIDS.

World AIDS Day is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988.

The 2014 theme for World AIDS Day is “Focus, Partner, Achieve: An AIDS-free Generation.”

What should I do on World AIDS Day?

World AIDS Day is an opportunity for you to learn the facts about HIV and put your knowledge into action.   If you understand how HIV is transmitted, how it can be prevented, and the reality of living with HIV today - you can use this knowledge to take care of your own health and the health of others, and ensure you treat everyone living with HIV fairly, and with respect and understanding.

You can also show your support for people living with HIV on World AIDS Day by wearing a red ribbon, the international symbol of HIV awareness and support.

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What is HIV/AIDS

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) targets the immune system and weakens people's surveillance and defence systems against infections and some types of cancer. As the virus destroys and impairs the function of immune cells, infected individuals gradually become immunodeficient. Immune function is typically measured by CD4 cell count. Immunodeficiency results in increased susceptibility to a wide range of infections and diseases that people with healthy immune systems can fight off.

The most advanced stage of HIV infection is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which can take from 2 to 15 years to develop depending on the individual. AIDS is defined by the development of certain cancers, infections, or other severe clinical manifestations.

Signs and symptoms

The symptoms of HIV vary depending on the stage of infection. Though people living with HIV tend to be most infectious in the first few months, many are unaware of their status until later stages. The first few weeks after initial infection, individuals may experience no symptoms or an influenza-like illness including fever, headache, rash or sore throat.

As the infection progressively weakens the person's immune system, the individual can develop other signs and symptoms such as swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, fever, diarrhoea and cough, muscle and joint aches and pains. Without treatment, they could also develop severe illnesses such as tuberculosis, cryptococcal meningitis, and cancers such as lymphomas and Kaposi's sarcoma, among others.

You cannot rely on symptoms to know whether you have HIV. The only way to know for sure if you are infected with HIV is to get tested.

Transmission

HIV can be transmitted via the exchange of a variety of body fluids from infected individuals, such as blood, breast milk, semen and vaginal secretions. Individuals cannot become infected through ordinary day-to-day contact such as kissing, hugging, shaking hands, or sharing personal objects, food or water.

Risk factors

Behaviours and conditions that put individuals at greater risk of contracting HIV include:

• having unprotected anal or vaginal sex;
• having another sexually transmitted infection such as syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and bacterial vaginosis;
• sharing contaminated needles, syringes and other injecting equipment and drug solutions when injecting drugs;
• receiving unsafe injections, blood transfusions, medical procedures that involve unsterile cutting or piercing; and
• experiencing accidental needle stick injuries, including among health workers.
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What should I do if I think I have HIV?

Find HIV Testing Sites & Care Services

• HIV Testing
• Hospital
• Health Centers
• Substance Abuse Center
• Family Planning

The only way to be Positive about HIV/AIDS is to take the test.