As a health worker, I get to meet lots of people daily. In the last 8 months, the number of people who have tested positive to HIV INFECTION in our health facility is really alarming, these people are within the age bracket 18-45 years, with 80% of them married as at the time of testing.
Globally, according to UNAIDS at the end of year 2016 there were about 36.7 million people living with HIV, 30% of these people do not know they are infected. Source
In my country Nigeria there are about 3.2 million people living with the virus. Nigeria has the second largest HIV epidermic in the world and it is largest in the southern states. Unprotected heterosexual sex accounts for 80% of new cases in Nigeria.
Source
What can you do as an individual to curtail the spread of this killer virus (HIV)
- Know your status
- Practice safe sex
- Do not share sharp object with anyone
What if you test positive
- Stay calm, you can have a normal healthy life, relationship and sex lives.
- Inform your partner of your status so they can also get tested and know how best to protect themselves
- Start treatment for HIV as soon as possible. Effective treatment with antiretroviral drugs can control the virus and makes you less infective.
- Always use condom during sex
- Do not share needles
- Get tested and treated for other sexually transmitted infections.
- If pregnant, report to your healthcare provider as soon as possible
- Feed on healthy diets.