We all people, living on the planet Earth, celebrate different important days like Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas day, etc. One of those days is World AIDS day which is celebrated on December 1st. We celebrate this day to remember who lost their lives to AIDS and to make people aware about this disease. AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) simply means a disease caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).
AIDS/HIV can spread through unsafe sexual contact, or sharing needles, syringes, or other drug injecting tools. It can also be transferred through unscreened blood transfusion. Due to our developing hormones and private organs, we have to be safe from any HIV infected person. When a person becomes infected with HIV, the virus attacks and weakens the immune system. As the immune system weakens, the person is at risk of getting various infections, TB and even diseases as fatal as cancer.
Once a person has the virus, it stays inside the body for life. Therefore, we have to be very careful with keeping our body safe. To prevent this disease, we should do regular health check-ups. When having sexual intercourse, we should wear protections like condoms. We shouldn’t inject drug to our body.
We should all be aware of this life-threatening disease because it harms our body for the rest of our life. Government should also make the citizens aware of its ways of transmission and some potential risks associated with this disease and most importantly people need to develop a self-awareness of some preventive measures. The social stigma that the HIV infected people carry along with is just horrible and inhumane. We need to empathize with the HIV infected people since they are also important part of our society; they are also fellow humans like us.
HIV infection is not a death sentence anymore as it’s believed to have been in the past. Infected people can lead a healthy life and maintain a harmonious social life. December 1st is the day we commemorate the people who lost their battle against AIDS, give hope to the people who are living with the infection and raise awareness among people about HIV/AIDS.
Rosinga Rai
Class: 8