Dr Health: HIV solution involves all of us

The solution needs to involve all of us and our collective thoughts and actions dictate the future.
HIV can be transmitted in three ways
l sexual transmission
l exposure to infected blood
l mother to child transmission
Who needs HIV prevention?
Everyone has the possibility of being infected with HIV. We need to promote widespread awareness and education programmes to help reduce the risk. HIV prevention needs to reach both people who are at risk and those who are already infected.
People who have not tested positive for HIV need interventions to help protect themselves from becoming infected.
People who already have HIV need knowledge and support to protect their health and reduce the incidence of transmitting HIV to others. This is especially important with the widespread use of ARVs leading to the rise in the number of people living with HIV.
Sexual transmission
There are three main ways proven to reduce the risk of being infected and transmitting HIV:
l Abstain from sex or reduce frequency
l Be faithful to one partner or have fewer partners
l Use of condoms
Sex education for young people is a very important part of HIV prevention. Having the difficult conversation with your children is a very effective way of educating prevention, safe sex practices and healthy sexual relationships.
This technique has proved to be more effective at preventing HIV than teaching abstinence. However, abstinence is the absolute best way and needs to be the primary focus of education.
Prevention of HIV transmission from
mother to child
HIV can be transmitted from the mother to her baby during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding. The most important aspect in preventing this type of transmission is reducing the risk of the mother being infected in the first place.
ARV treatment is a common intervention to help reduce the risk of infecting the child during pregnancy and labour.
Studies have found that this can cut the risk of transmission in half. A C-section reduces the baby’s exposure to the mother’s infected bodily fluids. This form of intervention should only be used if the benefits of the procedure outweigh possible risks.
Breastfeeding is not advised when the mother is HIV positive.
HIV can be transmitted through breast milk and poses a significant risk to your child. If mothers are in areas that safe water is not available, breastfeeding may be the only answer. A risk versus benefit scenario needs to be taken into account.
One of the mainly obstacles in transmission from mother to child is the lack of ARVs and health education. Another major obstacle is the lack of finances and medical facilities. Many times mothers are left without many options.
HIV and safer infant feeding
A baby that is only fed infant formula commonly does not receive the nutrients and the immune boosting benefit of healthy breast milk. The cost of infant formula often prevents its widespread use.
Many women and families lack access to education, clean water and resources to provide a healthy alternative to breast milk.
If the infant formula is mixed with unsafe water it can cause malnutrition, infections and even increases the risk of infant mortality.
Socially if the mother chooses not to breastfeed, that may draw attention to her possible HIV status. This may cause discrimination, violence or abandonment by her family and community.
This is not an easy subject. There are two sides. The primary focus that I am taking is for the prevention of transmitting HIV and the development of healthy children.
Aids and sex education
Sex education is about developing young people’s skills to make informed decisions about their behaviours.
The purpose is to create a confident and knowledgeable younger generation that takes responsibility for their actions. It is not meant to encourage or condemn individuals or their choices.
Sex education brings about awareness of the significant health risk and negative impact that HIV/Aids has on one’s family, community and country.
It helps equips young people with the skills need to differentiate between accurate and inaccurate information regarding the condition. It also allows for cultural discussion on the moral and social perspectives on sex.
Attitudes and beliefs
One of the problems young people are exposed to is the wide range of attitudes and beliefs in relation to sex. For example, health messages that emphasise the risks and dangers in comparison to the media that promotes sexual activity.
People commonly do not like to be told what to do. They want to make their own decisions and only presenting one side of the story is not helping the individual make an informed decision.
Many times people are looking to others to make the changes or improvements that are needed, but in reality it is up to you. The choices that we make collectively are the health of this nation.
If you have ever thought “we need a better educational programme”, that is your calling to make a difference.
Become the educational programme that we need. We cannot wait for others to do it. You may think you do not have the education or the resources to do such a programme, become a leader without a title. One person is not going to improve our health status; it’s the group of people that work in unity.
Sex education that works
It is important that sex education begin at a young age. Giving young people basic information provides a solid foundation on which more complex topics can be built upon. A common question asked is who should provide this sex education?
I do not believe it should be in our schools. I think it is the parents/carers responsibility and other young people that stand up to be role models in their community.
When parents provide the information, it can be on a one-to-one basis and can cover specific topics, questions and concerns of HIV and other sexually transmitted conditions.
This has the opportunity to have the parents instill morals and values creating healthier, stronger family relationships.
Young people and role models should not have the one-to-one discussion but they can improve the relevance and accessibility of a social structure of support. This will help improve communication and partnership of our future generations to make improvements in attitudes and behaviours.
The secret to all healthcare success is empowering the people.
To make a positive change, do not rely on others; rely on yourself to make a positive impact.

l “Like” our Facebook page: The Dr Health Show
Visit our free webpage: www.drhealthshow.com. The website is a resource for you to be able to get additional information on all topics discussed. There are additional newsletters, nutrition and fitness tips available. Recipes and a sample exercise plans are now on the website as well. The column is not meant to give or replace valuable medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is designed for educational purposes. If you have questions or would like to request a future topic, email [email protected]