HIV / AIDS and their unnecessary deaths

Human Immunodeficiency Virus, better known as HIV, is a virus that attacks the body's immune system. If not threated, it eventually leads to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, otherwise known as the disease AIDS. Where did HIV start? According to CDC, HIV infection in humans came from a type of chimpanzee in Central Africa. Studies show that HIV may have jumped from chimpanzees to humans as far back as the late 1800s. However, it wasn't until the early 1980s where the world became aware of HIV and AIDS due to rare illnesses.

Initially the disease was called the GRID, Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. Later on, the world learned that the disease was sexually transmitted and could also infect women changing the name to AIDS. In 1988 the first world aids day took place raising awareness on HIV and AIDS.

HIV in The Netherlands

As said before, it was in the 1980's that the world became aware of HIV and it is still one of the world's most serious health and development challenges. Why do we hear so less about it?

The Netherlands was one of the first in the world to recognize the treath posed by HIV and therefor to implement an exhaustive public health response. They launched an education campaign to raise awareness and to provide information about transmission. Also they provided harm reducation programs for people who inject drugs and were the first country to apply the "spuitomruil" method (needle exchange) to make sure drugusers used clean needles to inject their drugs. The Netherlands also promoted safe sex practices (use of condoms) and they provided free anonymous testing, treatment and counseling. All these factors had a massive impact on minimalizing the spread of the disease.

Since 1996 HIV is threatable with combination therapy. The treatments for HIV have improved over the years and nowadays HIV is a disease you can live and grow old with. These treatments, when succesfull, ensure that the virus is no longer detectable in the body. That means that the infected person cannot transmit the virus anymore, the virus will always stay in the body but in such small amounts that the virus can no longer be measured in the blood and does not form any kind of danger in transmitting.

Status now

Data from 2021, in the Netherlands there are estimated 24.110 people living with HIV. But that at 96% of the infected people under treatment the virus succesfully has been suppressed. The HIV-positive diagnoses is decreasing more and more every year.

HIV in developing countries

Whilst HIV is a disease under control in The Netherlands, development countries still struggle to get the virus under control. HIV and AIDS continues to be a major health challenge in developing countries. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV ands AIDS (UNAIDS), there were approximately 38 million people living with HIV/AIDS globally in 2019 of which 67% live in sub-saharan Africa. But why are developing countries still very much affected by HIV and AIDS?

This has a variety of reasons. Firstly, in developing countries there is limited access to prevention, testing and treatment. Countries in poverty have little to no recources and gouvernments are not activily fighting and preventing HIV/AIDS. Factors like stigma, discrimination, inequality of social / cultural influences contribute to the continued impact on the epidemic. In developing countries there is often a limited healthcare infrastructure. Many countries lack therefor to provide HIV treatment and care. This includes shortage and limited access to medical supplys, healthcare workers and laboratory services.

Next to these factors, developing countries often lack financial resources to fund the HIV treatment. Less financial resources means that there are limitations on the medicins, training staff, raising awareness and educate.

As you can see, reasons why HIV remains untreated in many developing countries are very complex and multifactoral. Its very sad to see that a killing disease that is very well treatable nowadays still causes many deaths. Personally, I think it will be very difficult to tackle such an issue with that many contrubuting factors. It will be very important to raise awareness in the first place, education what HIV and AIDS is and how it can affect your live and the ones of your family and children. Reduce stigma and cultural influences. Next to that, gouvernments need to provide better accessable health care and medicins to prevent the disease for spreading further. And, western worlds need to help these developing countries in providing education and healthcare to tackle this killing disease.

Literature:

• https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/whatishiv.html#:~:text=Where%20did%20HIV%20come%20from,is%20called%20simian%20immunodeficiency%20virus.

• https://canfar.com/awareness/about-hiv-aids/history-of-hiv-aids/

• https://www.soaaids.nl/nl/professionals/themas/soa-hiv-cijfers/hiv-cijfers-in-nederland

• https://www.hiv-monitoring.nl/nl/resources/hiv-nederland-2

• https://aidsfonds.nl/over-hiv-aids/behandeling/

• https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/miles-to-go_en.pdf.