Concord Times (Freetown)
John Baimba Sesay
25 June 2009
opinion
The youthful population is most times the most recalcitrant population to deal with when it comes to accepting that HIV/AIDS is real. This has more often than not been the case because when one takes a look at what it entails to prevent the disease, it then becomes a truism that the youths of today may find it extremely difficult to comply with some of these preventive methods. But the reality is that, the disease is real and efforts must be embarked upon to prevent, minimize or eradicate it.
HIV/AIDS, its very beginning
The origin of AIDS and HIV has puzzled scientists ever since the disease first came to light in the early 1980s. For over twenty years it has been the subject of fierce debate and the cause of countless arguments, with everything from a promiscuous flight attendant to a suspect vaccine programme being blamed.
Investigations conducted indicate that the first recognized cases of AIDS occurred in the USA in the early1980s. A number of gay men in New York and California suddenly began to develop rare opportunistic infections and cancers that seemed stubbornly resistant to any treatment. At that time, the name AIDS was not yet known, but it quickly became obvious that all the men were suffering from a common syndrome. The discovery of HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, was made soon after. Like all viruses of this type, HIV attacks the immune system.
There is now conclusive evidence that HIV originated in Africa. A 10-year study completed in 2005 found a strain of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) in a number of chimpanzee colonies in south-east Cameroon that was a viral ancestor of the HIV-1 that causes AIDS in humans.. It was in Kinshasa in the 1970s that the first epidemic of HIV/AIDS is believed to have occurred.
South Africa is currently experiencing one of the most severe AIDS epidemics in the world. At the end of 2007, there were approximately 5.7 million people living with HIV in South Africa, and almost 1,000 AIDS deaths occurring every day
Causes of the disease
For persons living with HIV, not only does it impact on their lives, but also those of their families, friends and wider communities. Generally, when the use of condom is spoken of, it becomes a problem too, especially among traditional settings and barely two years ago, was condom use relatively low at 8%. The use of condom is seen as a taboo among most of our traditional settings and the failure by many to adhere to the use of condom has also led to an increase in the prevalence of the disease. By 2005 however, condom use increased from a percentage of 8 to 37.3.
Prostitution also has its own side to the story. Over the years, the practice has almost but illegally become societal norm, especially following the end to our civil carnage. A 2004 National Aids Secretariat and 2007 Behavioral Surveillance Surveys indicated that sex in exchange of money increased from 6.5 in 2004 to 7.5% in 2007. The survey proved that about 17% of the respondents had multiple sex partners in 2004 compared to about just 19% in 2007.
A 2005 population-based prevalence survey of the disease estimated a prevalence of 1.5% with 47% new infection and in 2004, a sentinel survey of antenatal clinics estimated national prevalence of the disease at 2.9%
Practically, the fact that there is so much gender inequality in our society today could be seen as a leading factor to the seeming increase in the spread of the disease. There are those societal pressures which appear to deny women their sexual health knowledge and as such prevent women from deciding the terms under which they should have intercourse.
Preventive methods
The disease itself can be managed and that is at least good news for people living with it. First and foremost, the use of condom should not be discarded when we begin to explore possible ways of either preventing or reducing the spread of the disease. It is true that there is traditional and to an extent religious myth that has been tied to the issue of condom use, but that should not be allowed to override the interest of saving life. Condom use is paramount in whatever shape or form one may want to look at it.
But when the use of condom is ignored either because of traditional or religious myth, then we begin to talk of safe blood transfusion. One of the several ways the disease is being transmitted is by blood transfusion.
Dedication
This piece of work is dedicated to all those institutions working towards the prevention of HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone like the Shepherd's Hospice in the east of Freetown, the National HIV Secretariat headed by Dr Brima Kargbo and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
It is also dedicated to those who are aware of the fact that the disease is real but have, at the same time, not used that knowledge to discriminate it to those living with the disease, as that itself can lead to early death for an HIV/AIDS victim.
As you read this piece, please remember that the disease is real but there is treatment to prolong the lives of victims. So do something to save life by doing your part towards preventing or reducing it.
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