Acquired Immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the final stage of HIV disease, which causes severe damage to immune system and numerous of dead all over the world. AIDS is the sixth leading cause of death among people ages 25 – 44 in the United States. Millions of people around the world are living with HIV/AIDS, including many children under age 15 (PubMed Health). In addition, AIDS ranks the first leading of death in Vietnam. More than 260000 people living with AIDS and an estimated 100 people become infected every day (AIDS in Vietnam).
Based on this information, we know that AIDS is one of the most powerful killers in the world. It kills more than millions of people per year. Unfortunately, we cannot produce medicine to cure this pandemic. Its damages are very huge and last long. It almost destroys everything of human such as job, family and country. My father’s friend is one of the millions patient whose life was done away by AIDS. He lost his job, his family, and his future. This tragedy turned my friend into emaciated and morose. Therefore, I want to know more about this pandemic.
I want to rescue all the AIDS patients over the world. I hope that one day I can produce a medicine which could stop this terrific pandemic and bring back my friend family. “The Terrifying Normalcy of AIDS”, by Stephen Jay Gould will give us some knowledge about this disease and from that; we could avoid the number of people getting AIDS. “The AIDS pandemic, an issue that may rank with nuclear weaponry as the greatest danger of our ear” (Gould). A nuclear weapon costs nearly billion dollar to create and can kills millions people.
AIDS doesn’t cost any but still can cause millions of death. In this article, Gould mentioned that the world has ignored AIDS, and viewing it “as a contained and peculiar affliction of homosexual men” in 1984. This lacking of understand of people at that time took part in spreading it in a simple exponential manner. Without treatment, people are susceptible to AIDS. Since its discovery, AIDS has caused nearly 30 million deaths because we didn’t notice the spread at first. When the number of death goes up to one million and two million, we started to learn about it to slow its spread.
It is so embarrassing that because of our stupidity, millions of lives were destroyed and the world had to face the greatest enemy. All of scientists in the world try their best to slow down the rapid spread of AIDS pandemic. “We have learned enough about the cause of AIDS to slow its spread, if we can make…our own sexuality” (Gould). Now, we have a full knowledge of how the AIDS can be spread. They are through sexual contact, through blood, from mother to child. Knowing the reason for the pandemic can be spread.
We do whatever we can to stop it such as giving out free condom for everybody in schools or at workplaces to have safe sex, encouraging people to have free HIV test in local, avoiding the number of mother with HIV get pregnant (Bridges). Also, we provide many sex education programs for student at school and explain family planning for who have members or relatives got AIDS. Applying these methods, the number of AIDS has been reduced and we can eliminate the risk of HIV transmission between people. “Viral diseases are preventable in principle, and I suspect that an AIDS vaccine will one day be produced.
” (Gould) Scientists have produced medicines to help people infected with HIV have longer and healthier lives. But these medicines are not perfect. They do not cure HIV/AIDS. People with HIV still have the virus in their bodies, so even when they are taking medicine they can transmit the disease to others through unprotected sex or from mother to children. (Ryan). Even though we haven’t produced a perfect treatment, we still bring hope to many people with HIV infection. We can give them a longer life and support them healthy to live as a normal person.
Today, scientists are still trying to discover a cure for HIV/AIDS. Many who are infected with it have not only to face with the disease itself, but they could experience AIDS discrimination as well. Many people know that this disease can be cause of death but are not informed about how AIDS is transmitted, which may cause them to fear AIDS and those who are infected. For example, people may not know that it is not possible for AIDS to be spread out through the air by having a conversation with AIDS patients. Therefore, it causes some people to fear being near someone who has contracted AIDS.
AS a result of this fear, many of those infected have been isolated at their homes, fired from their jobs, threatened, and excluded from school because others were afraid of being infected. Because of this discrimination, it may be difficult for some of those infected to live a normal life. HIV/AIDS didn’t get people attention from the beginning of this disease, so that the number of people who infected has been increased per year. And approximately 30 million deaths caused by this pandemic until now. To correcting our stupidity from the past, we have learned what is it about and the way it spreads out.
Finally, we figure out HIV is transmitted by three main routes: sexual contact, from mother to child during pregnancy, and through blood. Understanding the disease transmission ways, we could figure out many method to slow down the growth of people infected. Such as sex education, free condom, free HIV test, prevention mother with HIV got pregnant. By applying these methods, the number of new HIV infections among children has dropped from more than 1500 new infections per day in 2002 to 900 per day in 2011. More than 8 million people are on life-saving treatment.
(AIDS ONE) All of these informative number leading scientists and people over the world believe that we could see the beginning of the end of AIDS. Even though people have a full knowledge about how AIDS spread out, there is still discrimination among people and those who infected. They are afraid of being near AIDS patients who may cause them infected. As a result of that, people with AIDS infected will prevent talking about their HIV status with sex partners or people with whom they share needles. Fear of rejection and worries about confidential also prevent many patients from getting tested for HIV.
This means that they may spread out the diseases to others without knowing it. Therefore, don’t try to isolated or keep a distance with people with HIV/AIDS. We should talk with them and help them rebuild their confidence and hope. Moreover, it is necessary to encourage them to take vaccine treatment so that they can have a longer and healthier life as normal persons. At this time, there is no cure for AIDS, but these medicines are effective in fighting HIV and its complications. In the near future, we probably could produce a medicine to cure completely this pandemic.
Based on some treatment result, scientist found that recent medicine can reduce the risk of transmission of roughly 30%. This is a new hope for developing an effective vaccine in the future. People with HIV won’t be isolated and they can start their new life. They won’t be denies in public or in their workplace or even at their home. My friend had a happiness family with his parent two years ago. Their house is always full of laughing. The day his dad figured out he is a HIV patient. Everything has change. Their house is covered by sadness and tear.
I do whatever in my ability to help them go through this tragedy. Taking a medical care at a hospital, my dad friends get better and better. It helps to slowing progression of the disease. Even though it still has a long way to cure completely this pandemic, people who are infected HIV/AIDS should not give up their lives easily. Work Cited Gould J Stephen. “The Terrfigying Normalcy of Aids”. The McGraw-Hill reader Issues across the Disciplines. The City University of New York. LaGuardia College.
AIDS ONE. “Join the fight against extreme poverty. ” One. nd.Thursday, 13 December 2012. AIDS-PubMed Health. “Cause, incidence, and risk factors”. AIDS. 30 April 30, 2012. Thursday, 13 December, 2012. HIV/AIDS in Vietnam. “The Current Situation, the National Response, the Emerging Challenges”. Population Reference Bureau. Nd. Thursday, 13 December 2012. Bridges Debbie.
“HIV/AIDS Prevention Tips for Pregnancy, Safe Sex, Drug Use”. Understanding AIDS/HIV. 23 March 2012. Thursday, 13 December 2012. Ryan White. “U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. ” HIV/AIDS Program. 19 December 2006. Thursday, 13 December 2012.