HIV/Aids

 HIV/AIDS
 Global Picture of HIV/AIDS
HIV has reached every corner of the globe although some regions are more heavily affected than others. The vast majority of people living with HIV, live in sub-Saharan Africa.The scale of the epidemic has demanded substantial political and financial commitment from international organisations, donor countries and domestic governments.

HIV/AIDS as an obstacle towards attaining SDGs and the formerly MDGs
HIV/AIDS in Tanzania

History of Discovery and Diagnosis

In 1981, homosexual men with symptoms of a disease that now are considered typical of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were first described in Los Angeles and New York.The patients were noted to have a severe reduction in a type of cell in the blood that is an important part of the immune system, called CD4 cells.In 1983, researchers in the United States and France described the virus that causes AIDS, now known as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and belonging to the group of viruses called retroviruses.In 1985, a blood test became available that measures antibodies to HIV that are the body's immune response to the HIV.This blood test remains the best method for diagnosing HIV infection.Recently, tests have become available to look for these same antibodies in blood and saliva, some providing results within 20 minutes of testing.The first three cases of HIV/AIDS in Tanzania were reported in 1983 in Kagera Region, which borders Uganda. Since then, the epidemic has spread in all Tanzanian societies.Within 20 years (1983 - 2003) some 151,000 AIDS cases were reported through the health services.However, given the sparse nature of the available medical infrastructure in the country, there is a strong possibility that many cases were not reported.Since this period, the medical infrastructure of clinics and hospitals has been overwhelmed by AIDS-related cases.Ministry of Health has confessed that HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of adult mortality in both urban and rural areas.

Modes of Transmission
HIV is transmitted only through specific activities. Most commonly, people get or transmit HIV through sexual intercourse.HIV is present in variable degrees in the blood and genital secretions of virtually all individuals infected with HIV, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms.
Less commonly HIV is spreading throughout,sharing of sharp devices,transmission from infected mothers to their newborns during labour (the delivery process), or breastfeeding.Transmission from infected mothers to their new-borns during delivery

–The risk is high if a mother is living with HIV and not taking medicine

–Recommendations to test all pregnant women for HIV and start HIV treatment immediately have lowered the number of babies who are born with HIV.During breastfeedingContaminated blood transfusion

A diverse array of viruses occur among animals. A good way to gain a general idea of what they are like is to look at one animal virus in detail. Here we will look at the virus responsible for a comparatively new and fatal viral disease,acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS was

first reported in the United States in 1981. It was not long before the infectious agent, a retrovirus called human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), was identified by laboratories in France and the United States. Study of HIV revealed it to be closely related to a chimpanzee virus, suggesting a recent host expansion to humans in central Africa from chimpanzees.Infected humans have little resistance to infection, and nearly all of them eventually die of diseases that noninfected individuals easily ward off. Few who contract AIDS survive more than a few years untreated. The risk of HIV transmission from an infected individual to a healthy one in the course ofThe only way to know for sure whether you have HIV is to get tested.

Testing objectives:
surveillance of HIV prevalence or trends over time in a given population screening of donated blood to reduce transmission of the virus through transfusions Diagnosis of infection in individuals
Various methods; going to a test centre/site, Using an in Home-Kits e.t.c
Prevention Measures
The Red Ribbon is the international symbol of HIV and AIDS awareness.By wearing a Red Ribbon, you are showing your Care and Concern for those living with HIV/AIDS, and your support to the organizations that care for the HIV/AIDS.
Prevention of new infections
Sexual abstenence
Abstinence is the only 100% effective way to prevent HIV
Knowing yours and your partner’s HIV status
Using latex condoms correctly during sexual encounter
Limiting number of sexual partners
Having fewer partners lowers your chances of having sex with someone who has HIV
Abstaining from injectable drug use

The Role of social institutions in Reducing the Spread of HIV-AIDS in the Society

Role of Family (fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents)

Families have great influence over a person, and that influence can last a lifetime. 

Families can help protect themselves and their children from risky sexual and drug using behaviours.

Family connectedness and parent child communication are key for ensuring healthy behaviours.

Schools sometimes teach sexual and reproductive health education

However, in many cases, this education is basic and focuses on biology rather than looking at social and emotional issues and preparing children for responsible adult life.

The most important HIV-related skills that a young person needs to learn in schools include;
How to make sound decisions about relationships and sex and stand up for them,
How to identify their personal reasons for resisting pressure for unwanted sex,
How and where to ask for support and find youth-friendly health services
How to negotiate safe sexual intercourse, including the use of condoms
How to show compassion and support for people living with HIV and AIDS,
How to care for people with AIDS in the family and community.
Children may not grow up in a family home or attend school
Examples are displaced children, street working children or orphans.
They are more likely to be sexually active than other children
Particular groups within the community could be targeted in order to pass on specific messages about HIV and AIDS.
For example, we could put posters up in health centres to target mothers or people with sexually transmitted infections.
We can use person-to-person methods within communities, either to the general population or to specific groups.

Challenges of HIV/AIDS Infection
The stigma of HIV has hindered people’s access to prevention, treatment, care and other support services
A serious shortage of human resources especially in the health sector to expand testing, counselling, treatment and care services
A high level of national awareness raising efforts do not match with commensurate positive behaviour changes.

      day-to-day contact is essentially

nonexistent. However, the transfer of body fluids, such as blood, semen, or vaginal fluid, or the use of nonsterile needles, between infected and healthy individuals poses a severe risk. In addition, HIV-infected mothers can pass the virus on to their unborn children during fetal development.The incidence of AIDS is growing very rapidly in the United States. It is estimated that over 33 million people worldwide are infected with HIV. Many—perhaps all of them—will eventually come down with AIDS. Over 16 million people have died already since the outbreak of the epidemic. AIDS incidence is already very high in many African countries and is growing at 20% worldwide. How HIV Compromises the Immune System In normal individuals, an army of specialized cells patrols

the bloodstream, attacking and destroying any invading bacteria or viruses. In AIDS patients, this army of defenders is vanquished. One special kind of white blood cell, called a CD4+ T cell  is required to rouse the defending cells to action. In AIDS patients, the virus homes in on CD4+ T cells, infecting and killing them until none are left Without these crucial immune system cells, the body

cannot mount a defense against invading bacteria or viruses. AIDS patients die of infections that a healthy person could fight off. Clinical symptoms typically do not begin to develop until

after a long latency period, generally 8 to 10 years after the initial infection with HIV. During this long interval, carriers of HIV have no clinical symptoms but are apparently fully infectious,

which makes the spread of HIV very difficult to control.The reason why HIV remains hidden for so long seems to be that its infection cycle continues throughout the 8- to10-year latent period without doing serious harm to the infected person. Eventually, however, a random mutational

event in the virus allows it to quickly overcome the immune defense, starting AIDS.

 When HIV is introduced into the human bloodstream, the virus particle circulates throughout theentire body but will only infect CD4+ cells. Most other animalviruses are similarly narrow in their requirements; hepatitis goes only to the liver, and rabies to the brain.

How does a virus such as HIV recognize a specific kind of target cell? Recall from chapter 7 that every kind of cell in the human body has a specific array of cell-surface glycoprotein

markers that serve to identify them to other, similar