Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

HIV-AIDS



I decided to write about this pandemic, because I realised that the only way to stop it is to create awareness. Yes, AIDS is real. So many people in the world live with HIV today. The figures are disturbing.

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. It stands for Human Immunodeficiency virus. I won't bore you with the details of the virus. All you need to know is how you can keep the virus away from you.

AIDS is a syndrome caused by a weakened immune system. The immune system helps to protect us and fight infection. AIDS victims have weakened immune systems and as such, any little thing, even the common cold, can blow up into a terrible illness that will eventually kill the victim. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) can therefore present in a million ways.

The first case of AIDS was seen in the US in the early eighties, and the virus was discovered a few years after. Since then, the number of people who have died of AIDS is unbelievable. The number of people living with AIDS is just as incredible.

In Nigeria, at the last count, it was found that 5.34% of the population is infected with the virus. When you consider this, that means 1 in 20 Nigerians has HIV. In some parts of southern Africa, the statistics are as high as 1 in 7 people.

Some people have attributed the high incidence of HIV in southern Africa to the fact that there are lots of tourists in the area. I think lack of education also has a hand in this. And this explains why, of all the cases of HIV-AIDS, 90% are in developing countries.