Global Health

Human Rights and HIV/AIDS

 

HIV, or the human immunodeficiency virus, is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). AIDS is typically diagnosed as the last stage of the HIV disease. This disease is fatal because it ultimately destroys the very immune cells that the body needs to protect itself from various infections and illnesses. 
Transmission occurs through HIV-infected body fluids, which include blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk. A person gets infected only if these fluids enter the bloodstream of an HIV-victim. HIV is transmitted through:
 

• the linings of the vagina, rectum, mouth, and the opening at the tip of the penis (unprotected sexual intercourse, mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy, childbirth, or breast-feeding)

• intravenous (within a vein) injection using a syringe (sharing needles, syringes, other medical equipment)

• a break in the skin (i.e. cuts or sores)

The Issue: The common myth with HIV/AIDS is that those infected are promiscuous people who "deserve" it for engaging in homosexual intercourse, drug use, multiple sex partners, and/or commercial sex work.  As a result, people with HIV/AIDS are usually discriminated against. In addition, many people are not properly educated about HIV, and there is great fear in "catching" the virus; this influences the attitudes and mindset of those working in health care and how they treat HIV-positive people.