20 of 30

Write now Article Tools

The acronym AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV. Just because you have contracted HIV doesn't mean you have AIDS it can take years for an infected person's status to degenerate to the point where the immune system is too weak to fight off opportunistic infections. HIV can be spread through contact with blood, semen, vaginal fluid, and breast milk of an infected person, but not through means such as contact with unbroken skin or breathing the same air. It is mainly spread through unprotected sexual intercourse and the sharing of needles. Contrary to the common misconception of AIDS being a "gay disease," 75% of adult HIV infections around the world are the result of heterosexual intercourse ("AIDS Statistics").

Abstinence-only sex education in schools around the world may contribute to the spread of this ultimately fatal disease. When children, adolescents and adults alike are not properly educated in the prevention of HIV, they cannot be prepared to avoid it. It is unrealistic to believe that everybody will abstain until marriage and therefore other methods of education must be utilized. In the US in 2002, more than 20% of adolescents only received information about abstinence but not birth control, which may be a contributing factor in the United States' relatively high teen pregnancy rate compared to that of other developed countries ("Facts on Sex EducationUnited States"). $176 million in federal funds went out in 2006 for the funding of the three federal programs dedicated to restrictive abstinence-only sex education ("Facts on Sex EducationUnited States"). Couldn't this money be used more effectively in the teaching of the use of contraceptives and other forms of protection and birth control? Wouldn't that save a lot of abortions?

But I digress. So, back to AIDS. What is being done around the world to help the situation? The United Nations has declared as one of its Millennium Goals to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV by 2015. Many organizations including UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank have united in an effort to educate and provide testing for adolescents deemed "at risk" around the world. China has succeeded in increasing its citizens' access to drugs and other forms of treatment. However, many nations are doing more harm than good in recent legislations. Unfortunately, also in China, many AIDS awareness activists have been "intimidated

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about The facts about AIDS (HIV)?
We want to hear your view. Write now!