When there are so many diseases that are killing people in India, why is so much money being spent on HIV/AIDS for which there is no cure rather than on treating people for diseases for which there is a cure (9/11/01)?
The reason for why special attention is being paid to HIV/AIDS in India is its potential for spread. Since nearly everyone has sex during their lifetime, and since the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases has been very high even prior to HIV/AIDS (over 100 million cases per year), it is clear that a very significant fraction of India has risky sex.
The second reason is that there is no vaccine or cure for HIV and it has a long asymptomatic period during which an infected person can pass the infection to others through sexual or blood contact. So one person can infect many others before symptoms characterestic of AIDS appear.
The third reason is that while many of the other diseases kill the frailest members of society, HIV/AIDS kills the strongest people in the prime of their lives (25-40). Their loss will have a devastating effect on the development of the nation.
It is worthwhile contrasting HIV/AIDS against some other deadly diseases that are common in India.
Tuberculosis
Malaria
Water borne diseases like diarrhea, cholera, typhoid
Hepatitis B and C
What are the goals of your lectures to us (9/11/01)?
I have five goals
Healthy sex invloves the physical aspects of the reproductive system, emotions, mental health and understanding of (or lack thereof) health risks. The simplest of these issues is the physical aspect -- a boy can have sex if and when his penis can sustain an erection and the girl can have sex when her vagina can withstand penetration by the penis. Such physical maturity occurs at a young age when a person has not developed sufficiently to understand the emotional or mental aspects of sex. This emotional and mental development is essential for preventing trauma and mental anguish of a failed sexual relationship. Also, at this age few, if any, adolescents understand the high prevalence rates of the many different sexually transmitted diseases and how to take adequate precautions against them or against getting pregnant. The problem we teachers face is how to convince a young adult that they are not yet ready for sex even though they are physically capable and they have very strong feelings.
To understand the risks of early start of sexual activity, doctors carry have carried out many studies involving a very large sample of people to correlate the age at which sexual activity began with risks they have incurred, the problems they have faced, and what long term consequences they are suffering. The results of such studies show that the younger a person is when they start sexual activity, the more likely it is that they have emotional problems, get involved in abusive relationships, acquire sexually transmitted diseases, develop addictions (alcohol, smoking, drugs), and for girls have unwanted pregnancies. These studies also show that the risk starts to become acceptably low if sexual activity starts after age twenty.
Our advise, therefore, is to delay sexual activity until after age twenty and to develop a good understanding of reproductive health, birth control methods, and sexually transmitted diseases before becoming sexually active.
The need for control arises when one has the freedom to make a choice about an activity that gives pleasure on one hand and has risk for harm on the other. There is no denying that sex is pleasurable, yet if done at a young age and with the "wrong" person, then it can result in emotional and mental trauma, unwanted pregnancy, or sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. Self-control results when one understands these risks and when one is self confident about not having to rush into a sexual relationship but waiting so as to enjoy sex for 30 or 40 or 50 years with someone you love. Control is choosing against an impulsive, casual, short lived relationship that can prove fatal because of HIV and choosing to wait for the right time and person.
STD is short for sexually transmitted diseases. Sometimes these are also called sexually transmitted infections (STI). STD or STI is the general name for all diseases that are spread through sexual contact. A disease can be spread sexually if the germs (virus, bacteria, fungus, lice, scabies) are present either in the fluids which are exchanged during sex (sperm, seminal fluid, vaginal secretions), in blood (as there can be bleeding during sex), or on the skin, especially in the area of the genitals, that comes in contact during sex.
HIV is a virus that is present both in the blood and fluids (sperm, seminal fluid, vaginal secretions) that are exchanged during sex. It is the most feared of the STDs since there is no cure or vaccine for it and the human immune system cannot get rid of it on its own. So it causes death in all those infected.
AIDS is the last stage of HIV infection before death. Clinally it is characterized by when the CD4 T-lympocyte count falls below 200 per cubic millimeter of blood and the viral count starts to rise. However, many people present serious opportunistic infections prior to such low CD4 count, and depending on the severity of these opportunistic infections, such a person can also be considered to have AIDS. The chances of transmission from the patient to another person are very high in the AIDS stage.