Today is World Aids day meetings are being held in all over the World to mark this day. One would imagine that the spread of the disease is going down after many years of awareness campaigns and the introduction of Anti Retrovirals (ARVs) to control it. However from the look of things the problem is still spreading especially in the villages. Young girls who drop out of School after Primary education end up getting into affairs that lead to pregnancy and HIV infection. In most cases they do not get married to the men who impregnate them, therefore after delivery once they have recovered they get into other affairs and the cycle is repeated. In this way those that get infected spread the disease further. Those that have caring families or care about their life get ARVs from Government Health Centers.
Once they are on ARVs one would think they will stop having affairs with different people before marriage, from those I know they become even worse. They take contraceptives and then continue with life as usual, it is like they are on a spreading mission. The same girls also come to towns/cities for casual jobs, when taking ARVs and eating well they look healthy that one cannot tell they are sick. This healthy look still confuses many, there are people who still have the mentality that those who are HIV positive are thin and look sickly. So when they meet healthy people they do not care to use Condoms with them.
Excess use of Alcohol is also a major factor in the spread of HIV virus, many people when drunk (ignorant or intellectual) do not think wisely and end up having affairs without protection. It is also common for girls to get the virus from rich men who give them everything they want, money and the healthy look of the man blinds them into getting into unprotected affairs. Even the very educated ladies are blinded by wealth and even end up getting married to infected men only to regret later.
I don’t know what language or method that can be used to control the spread of this disease because it seems like the situation is not improving with years going by. I think the organizations concerned should concentrate more in the villages to help the innocent village girls, giving them ARVs only is not enough but they should also be assisted socially and educated.
