WORLD AIDS DAY IN FOCUS

AIDS was first discovered in Nigeria around 1986 and according to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2007 some 2.5 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.

Around 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world.

Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done.

Well for me, part of what to be done are definitely not bombarding us with statistics some of which could not be substantiated. In developing countries especially, HIV/AIDS campaign has become just another channel to sipphone money and give the people some phantom statistics and give HIV a very scary face, methink what we need is not just statistics but ways of combating the scourge and let people have enough awareness and when i say awareness, I dont really mean just telling people that HIV is real, it has been established and proven overtime that it is real, but stigmatization is what is eating deep into the people now.

I was discussing with a friend few days back, a university graduate and she was telling me that she has never seen an HIV infected person before so i told her she could as well be talking to one- don't get me wrong i was not telling her i was infected the truth is i am not but i made her understand that they are everywhere living with us, boarding same vehicles with us, using same cutleries at eateries, using same equipment for manicure and pedicure- in essence, " E NO DEY SHOW FOR FACE" meaning one can not determine anyone status by looking at his or her face, on telling the girl this, she started praying that God will not allow her to sit with an HIV infected person, enter same bus with them, use same cutleries with them or come in contact with them. then, it dawned on me that so many youth in my country do not even have any idea about HIV apart from the fact that it has no cure and you can contact it through blood mainly. they see it HIV as end of life fr anybody who hs gotten infected and coupled with the stigmatization, no one wants to get tested even the ones who know they are positive will rather go around infecting other knowingly telling themselves they should not die alone- to me its a sad thing.

HIV has been viewed overtime as a killer disease which has defied every form of medicine but so is cancer so is Tuberculosis and some other disease not known to us here in Africa, not many people know that you can effectively manage HIV, that you can be positive and still live a normal healthy life. so many people in Nigeria especially will never surrender for voluntary test because of the stigma i think that is what we should work towards and not bogus statistics. what do you think peeps???