On December 5, the Hai Chau Disease Prevention team, the Hai Chau district Youth Union and the DTU Youth Union jointly held an HIV/AIDS communication campaign, as part of the 2018 National HIV/AIDS Prevention Action Month. Mr. Le Phu Cuong, Deputy-Secretary of Hai Chau district Youth Union; Dr. Tran Minh Hoi, Disease Prevention team leader; Mr. Mai Xuan Binh, Secretary of DTU Youth Union and 500 DTU students attended the event. The campaign was held to teach students more about HIV/AIDS and how to prevent it, as well as drug abuse.
Dr. Tran Minh Hoi
What is HIV/AIDS?
HIV stands for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and AIDS is the abbreviation for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Stage 3 of the AIDS infection occurs when the immune system is so badly damaged that it can no longer fight off other serious infections and illnesses.
According to Dr. Tran Minh Hoi, HIV/AIDS remained a major public health threat in Danang during the first 6 months of this year, with 56 new cases. Unprotected sex remains the main cause of 98% of the transmissions. 80% of those diagnosed were men and 20% women and the total number infections in Danang totaled 1,276.
Basic prevention principles
HIV is spread through contaminated blood, unprotected sex, and from a mother to a child during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding. Healthy skin and other bodily fluids, like saliva and tears, do not transmit HIV. Six to 10 years after contamination, without treatment, HIV leads to AIDS and death by general failure of the immune system.
However, HIV cases under treatment do not die from AIDS anymore and are able to live with the virus for the rest of their lives. According to the WHO, there is still no antidote to the HIV virus available today, although antiretroviral therapy, or ART, become widely available in the late 90s and reduced HIV to a chronic infection. It prevents the growth of the virus and slows down the disease, in combination with antiretroviral drugs, referred to as ARVs.
Attendees
The 90-90-90 targets
The three 2018 National HIV/AIDS Prevention Action Month objectives are to first identify and inform at least 90% of those infected, provide 90% of the HIV-positive cases with antiretroviral therapy (ART) and treat 90% of them by 2020.
Let’s work together to help those with the disease live better lives, without discrimination.
(Media Center)