I am aware that many people will not bother reading this blog post mainly because it is 'medical related' and therefore will be a complete bore and full of statistics. But not to fear!! I will try my best to keep this short and snappy, but i do believe that raising awareness about HIV/ AIDS is so important, especially for the youngsters of today. So, in this post I'm going to try and give you an overview of what i have learnt over the past couple of days and hopefully raise more awareness of HIV/AIDS.
The other day, my school had a visit from a lovely (and hilarious) women called Emma Cole who has lived with HIV since 1991 and has inspired me to write this post. Before the talk, I had a very limited knowledge of the whole issue surrounding HIV and AIDS and ignorantly believed that it was not a problem that I, or anyone I knew, would ever have to face or deal with. Emma also had this view until she was accidentally infected with HIV after having protected sex with a HIV positive guy, but the condom split which resulted in serious consequences for Emma. The doctors told her that she had roughly 8-10 years to live, but thankfully she is still going strong today.
For anyone who does not know what HIV/ AIDS is, here is a little overview. HIV is basically a virus that attacks the body's immune system, in particular the CD4 cells or t-cells. When the CD4 count is low the body's immune system is extremely weak and the body is susceptible to other illnesses and infections. When someone with HIV contracts another illness as a result of this, it is said that they have AIDS, which is just an umbrella term for a range of illness that someone infected with HIV may be more vulnerable to developing. Many people may die from these AIDS related illnesses, unless they receive sufficient treatment. However, with early diagnosis and early treatment, most people with HIV will not go on to develop AIDS but even though there is there is no cure for HIV, there are treatments to enable most people with HIV to live a long and healthy life.
HIV is contracted mainly through unprotected sex (all types!) with a HIV positive parter, but it can also be contracted through a HIV positive woman breast feeding her child, using a contaminated needle and through the placenta during pregnancy. HIV cannot be caught through kissing, touching, hugging or coughing, which is a common mistake people make!!
So the moral of this post is to NOT HAVE UNPROTECTED SEX! 1. It means that you have a much, much less chance of catching HIV so to be honest its not worth not using a condom. 2. Less chance of getting pregnant, always a plus (unless you're aiming to create a family of course!). I actually have a friend who is 20 this year and found out about a month ago that she was pregnant because they had not used a condom (for various reasons that i cannot go into publicly on the internet...!), but not she has to make the decision whether to keep the baby (she does not have a job and is at university, so not really ideal) or to abort it. She says that whatever she does, she will regret. You always think that 'it won't be me', but that's also what she thought so please learn from other's mistakes and just don't risk it.
I really hope that I have given you an insight into HIV and made you a little bit more aware of what HIV/AIDS is, because at the end of the day if you do not take precautions you could be the one who is unlucky, just like Emma was. If you want to find out more information here are some websites you can visit:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/HIV/Pages/Introduction.aspx#close
http://www.hivaware.org.uk
http://www.positivevoice-emmacole.co.uk
@emmacolehiv (twitter)
Thank you for reading! (Sorry this was much so longer than I thought it would be!)
Katie
xox
No comments:
Post a Comment