HIV AND THE REST OF US.

Pro-chastity preachers say that demons or spirits are transferred from one person to another when they have sex. I simply consider that silly. For me, the truth in that is yet to be affirmed, but it cannot be completely denied.

It hit me one day that pregnancy is a product of what was "left - off  after the deed had been done. Babies are angels, and what was "left - off " is how each and everyone of us came into existence. Sadly, not all that is" left - off" after sex is good news. Diseases are passed along as well (who knows what else are passed too, maybe demons).

The world has recorded different venereal diseases, name them - Chlamydia, Genital herpes, Hepatitis B, Human Papilloma virus, HIV /AIDS, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, etc. Thanks to (modern) medicine, most of these diseases come and go, ie, they can be treated. But unfortunately, not all have treatment options.

A disease or an out-break of a disease makes us realize just how connected we are. This is a sad truth. Epidemics prove to us how easily things get around. Human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) is one disease that has made it glaring how connected we are and how things are shared among us. HIV, a disease that gained prominence in the early 80's has within the years infected over 70 million people worldwide, killing about 35 million people with 36.7 being currently infected.

One remarkable thing about HIV is that since a cure is yet to be found, an imprint(an infection) cannot be erased (cured). So the population of people with the virus is well defined at all times. Leaving a firm evidence of the string of the spread of the disease. Unlike in conditions with a cure. This shows us how a disease that originated from one small community in Congo(Kinshasa) has gone on to reach the ends of the earth.

Igbo people have a saying "ma eko te gi, ogodo gi eko tere gi", it loosely translates as "if you do not find trouble yourself, circumstances can rope you into trouble". The key terms in the prevention of HIV transmission are :Abstinence, Be faithful (to one partner) and use of condoms. Abstinence is a counter-indication in some situations (such as marriage),so abstinence is not applicable in all situations.

Being faithful is one thing, and ones partner being faithful too is quite another.  There are countless instances of very faithful partners who end up sharing the burnt of their unfaithful partners. Just as they say, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. So also it is with prevention against venereal diseases. Partners are only as guarded as the most unguarded partner.

The community of people living with HIV fought doggedly to end discrimination and stigma of infected persons. It seems their fight paid off as there is hardly "crucifixion" of sufferers anymore. But truth be told, this was not achieved because of their advocacy, but because infected persons began to look no different from uninfected people. Really, people living with HIV should not be seen as 'a people', we all are still one. Infected persons are people's brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends, and colleagues. Nothing changed about them, diseased or not. No one throws the baby away with the bath water.

Thanks to anti-retro viral drugs. With compliance to medication, an infected person can live out their full days. Good enough the drugs are free, unlike anti-hypertensive and anti-diabetic drugs that are very expensive and also require every day intake, just like anti-retroviral drugs.

People living with HIV in today's world are the luckiest set of sufferers in the history of diseases. The early sufferers were not as lucky, as their condition degenerated to gory conditions. Health workers and their loved ones watched helplessly as everything that could possibly go wrong in a human body began to go wrong in the body of infected persons. Fortunately, things are no longer that way.

This is good news, but the Igbos  have another saying, "a na amachi uwa george", which loosely interprets as "masking ones problems". The success of anti-retrovirals does not take away the fact that HIV is (still) a disease and it (still) does not have a cure, and it is (still) communicable. An alarming 2.1 million new infections was recorded at the end of 2015. 40% of infected persons are not aware of their status. This makes the disease easier to spread. People carry on with their usual activities without knowing that they are spreading a disease they do not even know they have. Sadly, not all infected persons spread the virus innocently, some people intentionally engage in spree sex with the malicious intent of spreading the virus as much as they can. This is simply inhuman.

In the African culture where sexual matters are shrouded, having a venereal disease does not necessarily mean that the infected person is the most promiscuous. Admittedly, promiscuity increase the chances of being infected, but it is not as though it takes a cumulative number of exposure to get infected.  People become infected if they (unfortunately) have relations with an already infected person. Nothing more, nothing less. Even one time or first time sexual contact can get one infected.

The history of mankind has witnessed the rise and fall of many diseases. A disease remains almighty until a cure is found. One day, hopefully, HIV/AIDS too would become easy to manage.