About the Day

May 18^th is HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD). This annual observance is a day to recognize and thank the thousands of volunteers, community members, health professionals, and scientists who are working together to find a safe and effective HIV vaccine. It is also a day to educate our communities about the importance of preventive HIV vaccine research.

In recognition of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, community activities and media events are being held around the country.

HIV-blocking Gel For Women

scientists developed a new kind of "molecular condom" to protect women from AIDS in Africa and other impoverished areas. Before sex, women would insert a vaginal gel that turns semisolid in the presence of semen, trapping AIDS virus particles in a microscopic mesh so they can't infect vaginal cells

Violence Against Women and Children Driving AIDS Pandemic

Violence against women and children still remains one of the biggest drivers of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Researchers stressed during the International AIDS Conference (Aug. 3-8, 2008) the need to tackle violence in order to deal with HIV.
The Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) released an update on its Zero Tolerance campaign to address violence against women and violence against children that focuses on efforts to scale up effective programs in three African countries.
"One reason for women's increased vulnerability to HIV is violence," said US Congresswoman Barbara Lee. "The pandemic of violence against women and girls must end for us to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and begin to mitigate its effects."
More than 60 percent of adults living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are women. The report studies the areas of effect of the Zero Tolerance campaign and the obstacles it faces in reducing violence against women and children in Ghana, South Africa and Rwanda.
"Around the world, one in three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime," said Lee. "As this report points out, women who have experience violence are as much as three times more likely to acquire HIV."
According to a Jansen report released in 2002, violent sexual assault can cause trauma to the vaginal wall that allows easier access to HIV.
"Repeatedly we get this confiscation that we don't know what needs to be done," said Dean Peacock, co-director of Sinke Gender Justice Network, South Africa. "The reality is that lots of reports have very clear evidence-based approaches that produce very real results in stopping violence."
He cites second and tertiary education, microfinance, and good work with men and boys to change their attitude as some of the options that have shown very positive results.
"The problem is not a lack of information on how to address the intersection of gender violence and HIV/AIDS, it is really a lack of political will at the level of multi-nationals, at the level of many governments."
The report highlights that the most important recommendation is that donors must increase their funding to indigenous, local , grassroots organizations that are fighting violence against women and children.
"They know the needs of their communities best," said Lee. "Civil societies can play a dual role in both implementing programs and acting as a watchdog in national governments to enforce existing procedures."
According to the report, violence in many places in sub-Saharan Africa is strongly rooted in cultural content. That is why it needs persistent local action to overcome. In many places, both men and women believe that violence in the family is acceptable. A WHO study in 2006 found that 80 percent of women in Ethiopia feel it is acceptable for a man to beat his wife for at least one reason.
The effect that violence has on increased vulnerability is complex. Studies have shown that boys who witness or experience family violence are more likely to commit rape. Nearly 50 percent of all sexual assaults are committed against girls 15 years or younger.

The Women Living Positive Survey

Do women with HIV feel comfortable talking to their docs about treatment or their plans for the future? How does HIV affect a positive woman’s daily life? Do women living with HIV feel they can discuss pregnancy openly with their healthcare providers? These are a few of the topics the Women Living Positive Survey addressed with 700 women living with HIV across the United States. The Women Living Positive Survey is a good first step in drawing attention to the unique needs and concerns that women living with HIV face when accessing health care. Hopefully, this survey will help us all begin to have important discussions about the best possible care for women living with HIV disease.

What Causes AIDS ?

Most people believe they know what causes AIDS. For a decade, scientist, government officials, physicians, journalists, public-service ads, TV shows, and movies have told them that AIDS is caused by a retrovirus called HIV. This virus supposedly infects and kills the "T-cells" of the immune system, leading to an inevitably, fatal immune deficiency after an asymptomatic period that averages 10 years or so. Most people do not know-because there has been a visual media blackout on the subject-about a longstanding scientific controversy over the cause of AIDS. A controversy that has become increasingly heated as the official theory's predictions have turned out to be wrong.
Leading biochemical scientists, including University of California at Berkeley retrovirus expert Peter Duesberg and Nobel Prize winner Walter Gilbert, have been warning for years that there is no proof that HIV causes AIDS. The warnings were met first with silence, then with ridicule and contempt. In 1990, for example, Nature published a rare response from the HIV establishment, as represented by Robin A. Weiss of the Institute of Cancer Research in London and Harold W. Jaffe of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Weiss and Jaffe compared the doubters to people who think that bad air causes malaria. "We have . . . been told," they wrote, "that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) originates from outer space, or as a genetically engineered virus for germ warfare which was tested in prisoners and spread from them. Peter H. Duesberg's proposition that HIV is not the cause of AIDS at all is, to our minds, equally absurd." Viewers of ABC's 1993 Day One special on the cause of AIDS-almost the only occasion on which network television has covered the controversy-saw Robert Gallo, the leading exponent of the HIV theory, stomp away from the microphone in a rage when asked to respond to the views of Gilbert and Duesberg.

AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS is the advanced stage of HIV infection.HIV causes AIDS by attacking the immune systems of the body cells. When the immune system loses most of CD4 cells, anyone who have AIDS become less able to fight off infection and can develop serious, often deadly, infections and it’s called opportunistic infections because they makes the body's weakened defenses.When someone dies of AIDS, it is usually opportunistic infections “Infections that take advantage of weakness in the immune defenses are called "opportunistic”. AIDS refers to the body’s immune-compromised state that can no longer stop opportunistic infections from developing and becoming so deadly.

HIV full form Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

H - Human: because this virus can only infect human beings.
I – Immune: deficiency: because the effect of the virus is to create a deficiency, a failure to work properly, within the body's immune system.
V - Virus: because this organism is a virus, which means one of its characteristics is that it is incapable of reproducing by itself. It reproduces by taking over the machinery of the human cell.
A - Acquired: because it's a condition one must acquire or get infected with; not something transmitted through the genes
I - Immune: because it affects the body's immune system, the part of the body which usually works to fight off germs such as bacteria and viruses
D - Deficiency: because it makes the immune system deficient (makes it not work properly)
S - Syndrome: because someone with AIDS may experience a wide range of different diseases and opportunistic infections.
While many viruses can be controlled by the immune system, HIV targets and infects the same immune system cells that are supposed to protect us from illnesses. These are a type of white blood cell called CD4 cells.

HIV attack over CD4 cells and turns them into virus factories that produce millions of virus copies. As the virus grows, it damages or kills CD4 cells, weakening the immune system.

What is the Difference Between HIV and AIDS?

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV stands for the 'Human Immunodeficiency Virus' and AIDS stands for the 'Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome'. AIDS is a serious condition in which the body's defenses against some illnesses are broken down. This means that people with AIDS can get many different kinds of diseases which a healthy person's body would normally fight off quite easily.

You don't have AIDS as soon as you are infected with HIV. You can be HIV+ for many years with no signs of disease, or only mild-to-moderate symptoms. But without treatment, HIV will eventually wear down the immune system in most people to the point that they develop more serious opportunistic infections.


How Do I Know if I Have HIV?
Most people can not tell that they have been exposed or infected. It can take up to 12 weeks for an HIV test to come back positive. However most people respond much faster. Within two to four weeks of exposure to HIV, you might have flu-like symptoms such as fever, swollen glands, muscle aches, or rash.

The only way to know for sure if you are infected is take an HIV test. If you are infected, your immune system will make antibodies to fight the virus. The HIV test looks for these antibodies. If you have them in your blood, it means that you have HIV infection.

Do I Need to Get Tested for HIV?

The CDC estimates that more than 25% of HIV+ people are unaware of their HIV status. Many of these people look and feel healthy and do not think they are at risk. But the truth is that anyone of any age, gender, race, sexual orientation, or social or economic class can become infected. It is your actions (or the actions taken against you), that put you at risk. You should be tested if:
• You have had vaginal, anal, or oral sex without a condom
• You have shared needles or syringes to inject drugs (including steroids or hormones)
• You are uncertain of your partner’s status or your partner is HIV+
• You are pregnant or are considering becoming pregnant
• You have ever been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease
• You have hepatitis C

Why Should I Get Tested?

If you test HIV+ there are effective medications to help you stay well. But you cannot get the health care and treatment you need if you do not know your HIV status. Being unaware of your status also makes it more likely to unknowingly pass HIV to others.

If you test HIV- you can take steps to stay that way. You can also spare yourself unnecessary worrying.

What Tests are Available?

The most common test for HIV is the antibody test (called ELISA). It can be done on blood, saliva, or urine. According to the CDC, it is more than 99% accurate. Results are generally available within two weeks. (There is a rapid ELISA test that gives results in less than half an hour.)
A positive result means your body has developed antibodies for HIV, so you are infected with the virus. To be completely certain, positive results are confirmed with a more sensitive test called the Western blot.
A negative result means your body has not developed antibodies and are probably not infected. To get truly accurate results, it's necessary to wait three to six months after your last possible exposure to the virus before being tested. That is because the immune system can take anywhere from three to twelve weeks to make antibodies. In this "window period," someone may get an unclear result or a false negative.

HIV-related tests
What tests are used to diagnose and monitor HIV?
Antibody testing
p24 protein testing
Viral load testing
CD4 testing
Genotypic resistance testing

Where Can I Get Tested?

HIV testing sites are spread out all over the country. In large cities, rural areas, in hospitals and in clinics, HIV testing is available. The key is trying to find the HIV testing site that best suits you.


Is There a Vaccine to Prevent HIV Infection?

There is currently no vaccine available. The best way to prevent HIV is to use sterile needles and practice safer sex .
Ways of preventing HIV transmission
• You can abstain from (not have) sex.
• You can have safer sex.
• You can get treatment for sexually transmissible diseases (STDs).
• You can take universal precautions when you touch blood or body fluids.
• You can take post-exposure prophylaxis (treatment) immediately after an exposure to HIV.
• Mothers can take anti-retroviral therapy to cut down the risk of passing HIV on to their unborn babies.
• Medical researchers hope that one day we may have an HIV vaccine to prevent people from getting infected with HIV.
• Researchers also hope that we may develop a vaginal microbicide that can be used to prevent HIV from getting passed on during sexual intercourse

SAFER SEX

Some safer sex practices are:
• Always using a male or female condom when you have sex.
• Staying faithful to only one uninfected partner.
• Sex without penetration (eg ukusoma or thigh sex).