December 1st was observed as World AIDS Day. The term HIV and AIDS is well known.
To think they go hand in hand is somewhat true but not always because a person can have HIV but not AIDS. AIDS is an advanced stage of the HIV virus. HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a virus that attacks the immune system.

HIV attacks the CD4 cells that helps us fight against diseases/ bacteria and in return, it weakens our entire immune system and opens up the door for vulnerability towards a host of other illnesses. My point is not to talk about the science behind HIV/AIDS, it’s to discuss to social epidemic it has been ever since its first rampant outbreak in the 1980s. HIV/AIDS and stigma shake hands in many societies across the world.

The cause of such brutal stigma perhaps includes the many myths, norms and perspective we hold against this illness. HIV can be transmitted through bodily fluids, such as (vaginal and semen fluids, blood, breast-feeding). A mother can also transmit the illness to her child through the pregnancy itself. None of these answers the question, why is this disease stigmatised as much as it is?

Perhaps, is because one way of transmitting this disease is by having sex with an infected person? Is it because sex is still a taboo in many societies? Or perhaps, the widely known cases of HIV/AIDS are amongst sex workers and homosexuals?
Perhaps, it’s less to do with the disease itself and more to do with how we classify people and acts of norm. Would it have been less stigmatised if it didn’t involve the word ‘sex’? Maybe!

People often tremble and scorn at the term, ‘HIV/AIDS’. It’s important to note that there is the word ‘human’ in the term ‘human immunodeficiency virus’. If we focus more on the fact those affected are human beings, and less on how or why they contracted the virus, then in my opinion, we would stand a greater chance at fighting against HIV/AIDs.

Stigmatisation (bad labels and branding) causes people to lose their status/reputation in society, people refuse treatment at public health care centres and even decline to be seen around people living with HIV/AIDs. Free testing and free checkups are still useless if 95 per cent of persons are afraid or unwilling to show up, or even participate because of stigma.

Some symptoms of HIV include: chills, fever, tiredness, sweating in the night, weight loss and muscle aches. Some signs of AIDS include: diarrhea, blurred vision, excess tiredness, high fever lasting for weeks, coughing. HIV/AIDS is without a fixed cure. However, there are antiretroviral drugs available to help slow down the process of the illness.

Antiretrovirals (ARVs) help to stop HIV cells from copying themselves. There are many types of these medications, so if you, or a person you know is HIV positive, visit a health centre/hospital near you. There is also pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP that is taken as a preventative method, in case you believe you may have been exposed to the virus but also is not HIV positive at the given time. Also, remember that a CONDOM is cheaper than AIDS.

“Whenever AIDS has won, stigma, shame, distrust, discrimination and apathy was on its side. Every time AIDS has been defeated, it has been because of trust, openness, dialogue between individuals and communities, family support, human solidarity, and the human perseverance to find new paths and solutions,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. I agree with this statement.

I’ll let the number of 37 million persons living with HIV and the deaths of approximately 940,000 (in 2017), speak for itself. There is no known cure for this detrimental disease we call HIV/AIDS, however there are cures for stigmatisation and I believe the way in which we treat victims of HIV/AIDs is more deadly than the disease itself.