Today is World AIDs day. Let’s talk a little bit about AIDs and HIV!
First off, AIDs/HIV does not only effect the LGBT+ community. It’s actually wide spread all over the world, especially in rural countries where sex ed. and protection are not easily accessible.
This is an autoimmune disease, which basically means it makes it very hard for your body to fight off diseases. Your immune system is weakened because AIDs kills of your white blood cells, which are a main part of your immune system. White blood cells fight off diseases.
Basically, what the virus does is take over a white blood cell and use it to reproduce before killing it off. The virus looks something like this:
AIDs starts off as HIV, which is a tad less serious. As the sickness gets worse over the years, it may turn from HIV to AIDs. Not everyone who has HIV gets AIDs, but it is possible!
When the AIDs epidemic started in the U.S. in 1981, it mainly affected gay men. Because of this, there was little to no help for them. It was seen as shameful, and they were treated like lepers. No one knew how the disease spread, so often those infected were refused treatment because people feared it could be transmitted through touch.
The president at the time did nothing to stop it and barely acknowledged it. People died in droves, and many died alone without the support of family. At the time, there was no medicine or cure for it, and it was seen as a death sentence for the majority of people.
However, in the current day, we have preventive medicines as well as medicine for those infected that can keep it in check. There has been talk of a possible cure, but nothing has been fully determined.
The issue with finding a cure is that this disease mutates very fast, so eventually it achieves immunity to a lot of drugs, making a cure much harder to find. I believe that a cure will be found one day, but I can not say when.
Now let’s talk about how to prevent AIDs and HIV.
First off: Sex ed. This is vitally important. Many places do not have sex ed at all, and those that do often ignore LGBT+ sex ed, as it is often protested by parents. You can find great sex ed. online at Planned Parenthood. Sex ed. is important for everyone, and should cover all sexualities and gender identities.
Second: Use protection. I’m not just talking about IUDs or birth control. I’m talking about condoms. Condoms prevent pregnancy, but they also prevent the passing of STDs, including HIV. Use the proper protective measures to keep you and your partner(s) safe!
Third: Get tested for STDs often! Not just HIV, but other STDs too. If you can catch HIV early enough, sometimes you can prevent it from becoming a bigger problem. You can also ask your doctor about preventative meds to try and keep from getting HIV in the first place.
Also, you can donate to help people with AIDs/HIV get care all over the world! (I’m going to link some great charities at the end of this) It’s important to work for proper sex ed everywhere as well as access to sexual protection supplies. If we can get rid of the stigma surrounding it, we can work together to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDs.
https://www.aidsfundphilly.org/
https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/get-care/our-services/hiv-services
