Strong Reasons Make Strong Action
By Sharon Leung, IPSF HIV/AIDS Coordinator 2007-08
7 billion people live on this planet.
4 million people are newly infected with HIV each year.
3 million people will died of AIDS related illness this year.
40 million people are living with HIV at this moment.
No one could have possibly imagined how the epidemic could have spread to such frightening proportions when AIDS first emerged. It is discouraging to see these global numbers of people infected, despite the fact that effective prevention strategies already exist. In fact, the knowledge of safe sex and HIV prevention still remains low in many countries, as well as the perception of personal susceptibility.
There was an article that caught my attention in October 26’s publication of The Nation in India. The article was titled “Mother HIV +, court asks daughter if she wants her”. Upon further reading, I learnt that the daughter was only nine years old, but the most shocking part is that the court has denied the mother’s human rights on the basis of the discriminatory ground that she’s HIV positive.
When addressing such challenges such as discrimination and poor HIV knowledge, it is important to know your epidemic.
In Africa, there are 10 countries where more than 10% of the adult population aged 15-49 is infected with HIV. In four countries along the southern cone of the continent, at least 20% of the population is living with HIV.
In Asia, although the epidemic is relatively recent in origin, there is an even greater diversity of the AIDS epidemic compared to Africa. In India alone, there is an estimated 2-3.1 million people infected with the virus, 650,000 in China and 580,000 in Thailand. With the continual growth of sex trade, the use of illicit drugs, migration and mobility across borders, there is a high potential for growth for the epidemic.
In the Caribbean, the key factor driving the worse of the epidemics is unprotected sexual intercourse.
In Latin America, approximately 1.7 million people are living with the virus. The highest rates of infection in these countries are accredited to men who have sex with men and second highest rates attributed to female sex workers.
In Western Europe, as well as the United States, heterosexual sex is the primary cause of newly diagnosed infections, however, the rate of new incidences of the epidemic have been geographically varied in Western Europe.
In Central Europe, the largest number of newly infected HIV cases is found in pediatric patients.
In Eastern Europe, the primary driver of HIV infection is injecting drugs use. Eastern Europe is also considered to be the fastest growing arm of the global HIV epidemic, with the worse effects in Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states, such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
So what is being done to halt this epidemic? During the summer 2006 United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, United Nations member States agreed to work towards the goal of “universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes, treatment, care and support” by 2010. The goal called for an increase in global response through the WHO/UNAIDS “3 by 5” initiative. On World AIDS Day 2003, WHO and UNAIDS released this detail strategic plan to distribute antiretroviral treatment to 3 million people in 50 developing countries by the end of 2005. The idea is to emphasize effective public health initiatives and the need for simple and standard approaches to healthcare in many low income settings.
How can you impact this disease? As pharmacy students, we are future health professionals who capable of empowering the public with a greater knowledge about HIV and taking action ourselves by incorporating work with pharmacists, local healthcare facilities and other healthcare professionals. We can educate those who are not infected on how to protect themselves against HIV and teach those who are infected on how to live with the virus. AIDS is a preventable disease. It is simply not enough to provide factual information, but we must also encourage people to negotiate for safe and responsible sexual relationship, as well as provide better access to condoms for those who choose to have sex.
To find more information, a list of resources can be found at www.unaids.org/en/Coordination/MakingProgress.
World AIDS Day, which happens on December 1st each year, is coming around the corner. It is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. People need to challenge the myths and misconceptions about human sexuality that translate into dangerous sexual practices. The theme this year is “Stop AIDS; Keep the Promise – Leadership.”
In most cases, we have too many high sounding words with too few actions that correspond with them. It’s time to take action and “keep the promise.”
Let IPSF know what you will be doing to “keep the promise”. Use the IPSF Activity Form or submit a similar, short report to your CP. Short articles with photos of your activities can also be sent to the Chairperson of Public Health by December 31, 2007 to have an opportunity to be highlighted in the Newsletter or News Bulletin.
Contacts
Susana Gassmann, Chairperson of Public Health 2007-08,
publichhealth@ipsf.org
Sharon Leung, IPSF HIV/AIDS Coordinator 2007-08,
sharonleung.bc@gmail.com
4 million people are newly infected with HIV each year.
3 million people will died of AIDS related illness this year.
40 million people are living with HIV at this moment.
No one could have possibly imagined how the epidemic could have spread to such frightening proportions when AIDS first emerged. It is discouraging to see these global numbers of people infected, despite the fact that effective prevention strategies already exist. In fact, the knowledge of safe sex and HIV prevention still remains low in many countries, as well as the perception of personal susceptibility.
There was an article that caught my attention in October 26’s publication of The Nation in India. The article was titled “Mother HIV +, court asks daughter if she wants her”. Upon further reading, I learnt that the daughter was only nine years old, but the most shocking part is that the court has denied the mother’s human rights on the basis of the discriminatory ground that she’s HIV positive.
When addressing such challenges such as discrimination and poor HIV knowledge, it is important to know your epidemic.
In Africa, there are 10 countries where more than 10% of the adult population aged 15-49 is infected with HIV. In four countries along the southern cone of the continent, at least 20% of the population is living with HIV.
In Asia, although the epidemic is relatively recent in origin, there is an even greater diversity of the AIDS epidemic compared to Africa. In India alone, there is an estimated 2-3.1 million people infected with the virus, 650,000 in China and 580,000 in Thailand. With the continual growth of sex trade, the use of illicit drugs, migration and mobility across borders, there is a high potential for growth for the epidemic.
In the Caribbean, the key factor driving the worse of the epidemics is unprotected sexual intercourse.
In Latin America, approximately 1.7 million people are living with the virus. The highest rates of infection in these countries are accredited to men who have sex with men and second highest rates attributed to female sex workers.
In Western Europe, as well as the United States, heterosexual sex is the primary cause of newly diagnosed infections, however, the rate of new incidences of the epidemic have been geographically varied in Western Europe.
In Central Europe, the largest number of newly infected HIV cases is found in pediatric patients.
In Eastern Europe, the primary driver of HIV infection is injecting drugs use. Eastern Europe is also considered to be the fastest growing arm of the global HIV epidemic, with the worse effects in Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states, such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
So what is being done to halt this epidemic? During the summer 2006 United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, United Nations member States agreed to work towards the goal of “universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes, treatment, care and support” by 2010. The goal called for an increase in global response through the WHO/UNAIDS “3 by 5” initiative. On World AIDS Day 2003, WHO and UNAIDS released this detail strategic plan to distribute antiretroviral treatment to 3 million people in 50 developing countries by the end of 2005. The idea is to emphasize effective public health initiatives and the need for simple and standard approaches to healthcare in many low income settings.
How can you impact this disease? As pharmacy students, we are future health professionals who capable of empowering the public with a greater knowledge about HIV and taking action ourselves by incorporating work with pharmacists, local healthcare facilities and other healthcare professionals. We can educate those who are not infected on how to protect themselves against HIV and teach those who are infected on how to live with the virus. AIDS is a preventable disease. It is simply not enough to provide factual information, but we must also encourage people to negotiate for safe and responsible sexual relationship, as well as provide better access to condoms for those who choose to have sex.
To find more information, a list of resources can be found at www.unaids.org/en/Coordination/MakingProgress.
World AIDS Day, which happens on December 1st each year, is coming around the corner. It is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. People need to challenge the myths and misconceptions about human sexuality that translate into dangerous sexual practices. The theme this year is “Stop AIDS; Keep the Promise – Leadership.”
In most cases, we have too many high sounding words with too few actions that correspond with them. It’s time to take action and “keep the promise.”
Let IPSF know what you will be doing to “keep the promise”. Use the IPSF Activity Form or submit a similar, short report to your CP. Short articles with photos of your activities can also be sent to the Chairperson of Public Health by December 31, 2007 to have an opportunity to be highlighted in the Newsletter or News Bulletin.
Contacts
Susana Gassmann, Chairperson of Public Health 2007-08,
publichhealth@ipsf.org
Sharon Leung, IPSF HIV/AIDS Coordinator 2007-08,
sharonleung.bc@gmail.com