Daily Times

HIV is a virus that targets and alters the immune system, increasing the risk and diseases. Without treatment, the infection might progress to an advanced disease stage called “AIDS.” Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition. The HIV can spread through sexual contact or blood, or from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breast-feeding. People with HIV don’t usually have symptoms right away, so they may not know they have it. So, there are some symptoms which I want to mention down:

Early symptoms:
People usually look and feel totally healthy for a long time after they are infected. The first two or four weeks after being infected with HIV, one may feel feverish, achy and sick. These flu-like symptoms are one’s body’s first reaction to the HIV infection. The symptoms only last for a few weeks and then one usually does not have symptoms again for years, but HIV can be spread to other people.

Later symptoms:
HIV destroys cells in one’s immune system called CD4 cells or T cells. Without these, it would be hard for the body to fight off diseases. One has AIDS when he or she gets rare infections (called opportunistic) or types of cancer, or if one has lost a certain number of CD4 cells. This happens about 20 years after getting HIV if one doesn’t get treatment. Treatment can delay or even prevent one from ever developing AIDS.

Infected & Died People:
The vast majority of people living with HIV are located in low-income and middle-income countries, with an estimated 68 percent living in Sub-Saharan Africa. 37.9 million people were living with HIV in 2018, including 1.7 million children. Mostly these effected people were not aware that they had the virus before. According to reports, 21 percent of them are like so. In the same year, 770,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses. When we have a glance at our own country Pakistan that is the highest ratio of HIV prevalence the country has touched during the last decade. The world is on the track to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, but Pakistan is among the countries where the ratio of new AIDS cases saw a sharp disease. As per the reports, the number of people living with HIV in the country stood at 160,000 last year. The number was 120,000 in 2015 and 67,000 in 2010.

Treatment & Prevention:
Without treatment, most people with HIV will eventually develop AIDS. There is no full cure or treatment for HIV, but treatment options are much better than they were a few decades ago. Due to medical advancements, many people now live long, active lives with HIV. New global efforts have meant that the number of people receiving HIV treatment has increased dramatically in recent years. In 2018, 62 percent of all people living with HIV were accessing treatment. This equates to 23.3 million people living with HIV receiving antiretroviral treatment in 2018, up from 7.7 million in 2010. Significant progress has been made in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. In 2018, 82 percent of all pregnant women living with HIV had access to treatment to prevent HIV transmission to their babies.
To reduce the cases there are sources like World AIDS Day to spread awareness about the virus.

AIDS Day:
Like other parts of the globe, Pakistan has observed World AIDS Day on 1st December on Sunday to acknowledge the role of communities in controlling the spread of the deadly virus. AIDS Day was first observed in 1998. Each year, organizations and individuals across the world bring attention to the HIV epidemic, endeavor to increase HIV awareness and knowledge. It is one of the greatest sources to control the virus by spreading awareness globally.

Thus, HIV is a lifelong condition and currently, there is no cure, although many scientists are working on the actual treatment. In fact, with medical care, including treatment known as antiretroviral therapy, it is possible to manage HIV and live with the virus for some more years. Without treatment, a person with HIV is likely to develop a serious condition called AIDS. In this stage, the immune system will be too weak to fight off diseases and infections.

Moreover, most of the people do have sex at some point in their lives, so learning about HIV prevention and knowing how to have safer sex is important. If one is going to have sex, using condoms every single time is the best way to protect oneself from HIV. It is important to remember that even with an undetectable viral load, HIV is still present in one’s body. If someone stops treatment then her or his viral load can go up, making it possible to pass HIV to others you have sex with.

Overall, start treatment for HIV as soon as possible and keep taking HIV medicine. When one takes it correctly, HIV treatment can lower or even stop one’s chances of spreading the virus to his sexual partner.

The writer is a student at I-WELL, Academy Turbat