December 1 is World Day for the Fight against AIDS, that epidemic that since 1981, the date of the first diagnosed case, has killed more than 25 million people around the world. Far from being able to put an end to it, the number of people infected by HIV is growing every day, especially in the most disadvantaged areas of the planet and, as with many other diseases, AIDS also presents more complications in women.
Current AIDS situation
- AIDS is the disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and what it does is damage the cells of the immune system, leaving the body defenseless against any infection that may occur. We put aside the terrifying data of deaths caused by AIDS during these years of development of the disease.
- Currently, AIDS no longer affects only specific groups, as it did in the early days of its appearance. Initially considered a disease of homosexuals and drug addicts, many people believed they were free from being infected by the HIV virus. Nothing could be further from the truth, because currently the main way of spreading AIDS is through unprotected heterosexual sex.
- In this way, there are many women who have been infected by the virus without belonging, in principle, to any risk group. The fact that many people still see this disease surrounded by a patina of marginality, makes an early diagnosis of AIDS impossible. In any case, today, although it is still an incurable disease, AIDS patients can have a quality of life similar to that of a healthy person. Medical advances and the appearance of retroviral are turning AIDS into a chronic disease with which one can live for many years.
AIDS, poverty and women
- Of course, the situation changes completely in less developed countries, where AIDS becomes the main health problem. In sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS continues to wreak havoc among the population, which does not have the necessary financial resources to access treatment, nor the cultural resources to adopt preventive measures.
- In this case, women become the main victims, due to the secondary role they have in their society, subjected to the decisions of men also in terms of sexual relations. It must not be easy for many of these women to refuse to have sex with their partner if they do not want to use a condom. Nor should it be easy to get a condom in certain areas of the world.
- However, and despite the irresponsibility shown by the most conservative sectors, the use of condoms is the only means of protection against AIDS, since it is one of the many sexually transmitted diseases. We cannot and must not close our eyes to the advance of this disease because it is everyone’s problem. It is not a disease of drug addicts, nor of homosexuals, nor of the third world, any sexually active person, and that includes stable couples, runs the risk of becoming infected with HIV if they do not practice safe sex.