World AIDS Day is observed on December 1. The day as the name suggests is to show support for people living with HIV and the ones who have lost their lives because of AIDS. The theme of World AIDS Day 2020 is “Global solidarity, shared responsibility”. The World AIDS Day was first marked in 1988 and was also the first-ever international day for global health.
António Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, in his message on World AIDS Day 2020 said, “Health is a human right. Health must be a top investment priority to achieve universal health coverage. On this World AIDS Day let us recognise that, to overcome COVID-19 and end AIDS, the world must stand in solidarity and share responsibility.”
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic disease that is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The immune system of the person who is suffering from the disease gets damaged and also reduces the disease fighting ability of the body.
There are various reasons through which a person can be affected by AIDS. Let’s take a look at some of them:
1. It can be contracted through body fluids like blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, vaginal and rectal fluids, and breast milk of an infected woman.
2. Unprotected sex with a person who is infected can also pass on the deadly disease to another person.
3. Sharing injection needles, razor blades, knives among other things with an infected person can also be a reason for contraction of the disease.
There are a few symptoms of the disease that one should be aware of. These include:
1. Fever
2. Sore Throat
3. Skin rashes
4. Nausea
5. Body aches
6. Headaches
7. Stomach infection etc
The disease is not entirely curable but there are quite a few protective measures that one must adopt in their everyday life to prevent the contract of the disease. The preventive measures against HIV AIDS include, using protection during sexual intercourse, avoid sharing needles, blades etc with other people and building good body immunity.
