“That puts a barrier between them and testing”, Wing-Sie said.
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The theme of World Aids Day 2015 is: Getting to zero; end Aids by 2030.
India, China and Pakistan are among the 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific that account for 98 per cent of youngsters aged 10 to 19 living with HIV, according to a United Nations report which said the region is facing a “hidden epidemic” of HIV among adolescents. The treatment involves antiretroviral therapy (ART), which means taking drugs every day to suppress the virus in your body.
“ART decreases the risk of HIV transmission to an uninfected person by 96%.The Treatment as Prevention (TasP) refers to prevention methods that use ART to decrease HIV transmission at the point of diagnosis without having to wait for the immune system to deteriorate”. Those findings led World Health Organization in September to recommend that everyone living with HIV be offered treatment.
Just because we have made huge leaps in battling HIV over the past few decades, it doesn’t mean we should become complacent, argues Ryan.
“There’s still a long way to go to find a cure for HIV/AIDS, but I remain optimistic that, in the words of Nobel Prize laureate and co-discoverer of HIV, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, remission is achievable”. If 40 countries spent 1 percent more on their health programs, and spend one-fifth of that increase on AIDS programs, it would be enough to buy antiretrovirals for more than 7 million additional people, the ONE Campaign says. If more people knew that they’d be shocked.
“I think we’ve moved into a period of apathy which we really have to push against”.
“Stigma is what’s fuelling the HIV epidemic in Malaysia and across the globe, pushing the most vulnerable and marginalised even further underground and away from lifesaving HIV treatment and care services”, Dr Raj exclaims.
Women are biologically more susceptible to HIV infection, but behind that statistic are social factors like illiteracy and child marriage, added McClure.
Scientific advancements have helped stabilize those who are infected with HIV and helped reduce the risk of transmission to others.
Aside from PrEP, it’s also possible to wash sperm for artificial insemination.
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The genetic codes of the HIV antibodies were introduced into the leaves to produce the antibodies in the plant. It can also be spread by sharing infected drug needles or through contact with the blood of someone who is infected.
