Hi everyone,
Hope you have had another good week. This week has been pretty laid back compared to others, and mainly my week focused on finishing assignment three. I finished the book At Risk this week and was kind of disappointed about the ending. The book ended with Amanda, becoming really sick again and leaving for the hospital most likely not coming back. I do not know if the book ended right before Amanda died, or if the book ended signaling what the rest of Amanda's life would be like. Overall it was a sad book, but also an educational book. The title speaks for itself, "At Risk" it shows how not just the stereotype patients are at risk for HIV, everyone is at risk. No one asks for HIV and it is sad that it happens to unfortunate people everyday.
This weeks question had to do with saving someone who is HIV positive and risk becoming infected yourself. Mainly the story was about if you drove up to a crash and one patient had a lacerated artery and mentioned, "HIV positive" without saying if it was they
were or it was the driver what would you do. In my case I would save the patient while trying my hardest to avoid contact with blood. I would probably try to use my shirt or jacket to try and stop and tie off the bleeding. Just because a person is HIV infected does not mean that their life is already over and you shouldn't try as hard to save them. A person is a person no matter what they have and if you do have an HIV patient in your lifetime just think of them as you relative, because you would wanted them to be helped just as much as a non-HIV patient. Remember no one asked to become infected with HIV and it is not their fault, so do not treat them like they did.
were or it was the driver what would you do. In my case I would save the patient while trying my hardest to avoid contact with blood. I would probably try to use my shirt or jacket to try and stop and tie off the bleeding. Just because a person is HIV infected does not mean that their life is already over and you shouldn't try as hard to save them. A person is a person no matter what they have and if you do have an HIV patient in your lifetime just think of them as you relative, because you would wanted them to be helped just as much as a non-HIV patient. Remember no one asked to become infected with HIV and it is not their fault, so do not treat them like they did.Did you Know:
In this weeks did you know I have decided to talk about the cures that are complete myths, but are still believed to work in Africa. Some parts of Africa still to this day believe that HIV/AIDS is more of a punishment for sins than a disease and thus do not look towards medical help. One cure that some people believe in Africa is the virgin cure, according to Science in Africa. According to Science in Africa, " Encompassed in the current belief system of both prevention/cure of HIV/AIDS is the notion that an intact hymen, and the smaller amount of vaginal secretions in young girls, prevent transmission of the disease through sexual intercourse." Also another cure Science in Africa talks about is infant rape, or the force of sexual intercourse between the age of five to eighteen months. Now I know you are all probably looking this at how horrible these people must be, but please put your judgment aside for just one second. Most of the people who believe in these cures are uneducated and the only thing they know is they will die from this curse unless they use one of the two cures. These people are not doing this, because they want to! They are because it is all they know how to do without becoming deathly sick. To me this just proves how education would be one of the main preventives of HIV/AIDS. If we could have the chance to educate everyone on what HIV/AIDS is I can guarantee that the spread of HIV/AIDS would decrease.
Those myths that you spoke of are just another example of how dangerous a lack of education can be. I wonder...where do these ideas comes from? Education is key to prevention...it's just a shame that so many people remain uneducated (for one reason or another).
ReplyDeleteWhere to begin on these topics. The book "At Risk", even though I've never read it, sounds like a good one. I'm sure at some point you will here the phrase "The feminzation of AIDS" where now world wide more women and girls are infected than men. That's a course all to itself.
ReplyDeleteIn Canada, the numbers of women who are getting HIV are growing, and the hardest his are the aboriginal women. Women are getting it because they buy into the stereotypes that they aren't at risk. And I can tell you I have many friends who are women, and HIV positive, and they didn't get it from a gay man.
At the same time we cannot deny the fact that in North America HIV disporportionately hits gay men. At frist because of such discrimination and lack of sociatal value of gay men (i.e. they deserve to die) there was an effort to say "it is everyone's disease" and it is, but we cannot go to the point of sterilizing the issue in order to recieve funding or general support.
Having said that, this is a pandemic consisting of different epidemics around the world hitting mostly those who are marginalized in different ways. So you will see a different situation in Eastern Europe as you would for South Africa per se.
I've worked in Africa, and the misinformation, and even the South African government at one time even denying HIV as the cause of AIDS have proven to be great stumbling blocks.
And, follow the legistlation being adoped in Uganda imprisionning Ungandan gay men especially those whoa are HIV positive. I'm not sure if they took out the death penalty due to international pressure or not.
Amercian fundamental Christians have a hand in shaping that law.
Thus proving we are all connected no matter where we live in this work.
No one can blame the rape of a child on a cure for a disease. These men know what they are doing because they have been told that raping children doesn't rid them of HIV. Yet, still they do it. Perhaps because older women, might just say no if they knew about the HIV status. A child doesn't have a voice.
ReplyDeleteBrian is correct when he says that more women are becoming infected world wide. In many countries and even in this one, women are see as the vehicle to produce children, and the object for sex. They are third or fourth class citizens in a first class country.
It will take HIV negative women standing up for the rights of HIV positive women to effect a change. They can't do it alone.
They say HIV/AIDS has no cure but I stand to prove them wrong!!! My name is Leo from Republic of Congo. I have lived with HIV for so many years taking anti-retroviral drugs to subside the virus, to a point I was short of money buying the drugs. But not long ago I read about Iyabiye’s medication online, I decided to try him to see if what I read was true and behold it was all true. He administered his medication to me and after using it I became cured, I went to the hospital and I was tested negative meaning I am HIV free, no more worries and no more spending unnecessarily again. Contact him if you are interested: yabiyehealinghome@gmail.com or Call/Whatsapp: +2348072229413
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