By Tameika Malone
Clinical Care Co-ordinator Dr Maria Pereira said, in light of the new HIV statistics, it’s time to upgrade the public education programme geared at reducing the number of HIV cases and providing adequate treatment and care for those already infected.
New HIV cases have almost tripled in Antigua & Barbuda for the first quarter of 2016, with 21 new patients testing positive for the virus, over the eight in the same period, last year.
Dr Pereira said all hope is not lost, as there is always a positive that can be taken from any bad situation.
“When I heard it, I was quite disturbed, and I found it very revealing. HIV and AIDS have been in the public domain for about 30 years, and maybe after that amount of time persons have become relaxed about it, but it is still a very serious disease, and maybe this is a wake-up call,” the doctor told OBSERVER media.
Complacency, the doctor said, has contributed to the continued spread of the virus, and it was time for the AIDS Secretariat to get the public sector, schools, the non-governmental organisations, churches and other groups onboard to fight the virus.
She noted that HIV is now classified as a chronic disease like diabetes and hypertension, and the contemptuous condemnation for contracting the virus has become relaxed and so people are no longer doing all they can to protect themselves.
The HIV virus is spread through intravenous drug users sharing used needles with infected persons, or the bodily fluids of an infected person. These fluids are blood, semen, pre-seminal fluids, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk. Improper use of condoms can allow the bodily fluid to secrete into the body. (The Daily Observer)
