No glove, no love – protect yourself!

1 December is World Aids Day. It has been 30 years since the official report of hitherto unknown disease was issued publicly from the Centre for Disease Control in the US. The contagious human virus itself, however, is claimed to have its origins in the early 20^th century in Africa. No wonder it has nowadays turned out a plague of that continent, moreover, becoming a pandemic. In short, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is transmitted into a human body through blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or breast milk. Later, if not diagnosed early enough, it can develop acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is a deadly disease. Although it is costly, HIV can be treated efficiently but never be cured, only put into remission. This is the best contemporary medicine can offer at the moment. Beyond that, only self-protection can prevent a person from infection. However, despite that very evident knowledge, there are still people who neglect to take precautions. They often claim that HIV is the problem of Africa or gay people and drug addicts. Yes, they are correct but it is bigotry to narrow the global problem only to these aspects. Therefore, 1 December is a day which aims at reminding people that HIV is a prevalent concern regardless of sexual orientation. “Aids won’t happen to me” is the most common fallacy which people fell prey to, especially in Eastern Europe where attitude towards the problem is lax.

Aids is a global issue, thus the problem is not concentrated only in Africa, despite staggering statistics. According to avert.org, there were 33.3 million people diagnosed with HIV positive by the end of 2009. 22.5 million were in Africa alone. Bigots are misled by these overwhelming figures and tend to believe that the problem exists far away. Instead, the truth is that the rest 1/3 of the infected are dispersed around the world, including 1.4 million people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. To make matters worse, the number has nearly tripled since year 2000, which implies a steady growth. Alarming as the figures are, they are but a symptom of ignorance. Unless there is a change in people’s consciousness, the figures will remain unabated due to high costs of treatment and lack of funds.

Gay minorities and drug addicts were thought to be the putative disease propellers. Although many years has passed since this assumption was toppled, some obstinate ignorames still maintain position that men’s debauchery is a key cause. Again, they are correct but only to a certain extent. The very high risk of virus transmission is through blood, hence sharing-a-needle drug addicts are the target. Anal sex is just another issue of increased attention due to abundant presence of capillaries in rectum.  Because naturally men do not become pregnant, they do not experience second thoughts on unprotected sex, which is ignorance. This ignorance led to condemnation and (correct?) assumptions that gay men were “swirling in a cesspool of their own making” to quote James Anderton, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police in Margaret Thatcher era. Nevertheless, HIV spread is not confined to homosexuals or intravenous drug users solely. Heterosexuals are as much at risk as other groups. Anal and vaginal sex are both rated at high risk of infection probability whereas oral sex is classified as lower risk. Still, though, it can be insidious and lethal in consequence. A woman infected with HIV has a perfect certainty of passing down the virus to her child if she gets pregnant. Therefore, had one been reckless before or been taken advantage of after alcohol or raped, they should check in for medical diagnosis to prevent further damage in society (and in some cases for the sake of the future generations: their unborn children).

Attitudes in Eastern Europe towards HIV is lax, because too little has been done to raise awareness. Some people still believe gullibly that HIV / Aids are as conspicuous as other common infections / diseases. The prevailing excuse claims “he / she looked pretty healthy when we met.” The problem is that HIV is not flu. It cannot be estimated with a glimpse. Infection takes up about 25 days to force human organism into producing antibodies which then can be diagnosed in a laboratory. However, there is no accuracy until the period of three months after exposure, therefore if the test turns negative it should be redone after the period of three months and even later to obtain reliable results.

Aids awareness, however, shall not be raised only on World Aids Day. It is an everyday normal guy (1:48) struggle of every day – though he actually mentioned he was like STD; by the way, another contagious sexual infection. Back to the point. People were told many times and there is still constant need to rant more about the pernicious effects of sexual recklessness and ‘unprotected’ promiscuity. Or just about an accidental one off – HIV may happen even to an aloof angel embodiment.  The public opinion, however, has to be influenced so that the belief “Aids won’t happen to me” no longer be heard of. In this case everyone should be told to start taking responsibility for themselves as much as for the partner whom they have sex with. In other words, let’s start to take care for the world around us, for the present and future generations. Having unprotected sex may risk not only your own life but, if you are infected and unaware of that, the life of your partner too. Do tests regularly. It does not cost you anything but time. Be aware of random sexual intercourses. Especially, the incoming Euro 2012 summer is a great opportunity to catch some gratuitous morbidness due to influx of tourists willing to shag, drink and shag, sponsor and shag, and so on not necessarily taking protection into account. Life is for you as much as it is for others. Enjoy it responsibly. As the old eponymous slogan said “no glove, no love”, so protect yourself!