In order to know how HIV and AIDS can be avoided, it is important to be aware of what exactly it is. AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is caused by HIV. HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is transmitted by the body fluids of a person who has the infection. These body fluids may be blood, semen, breast milk, pre-seminal, rectal or vaginal fluids. Here are 7 ways to avoid HIV and AIDS in Pakistan.
This is another way of not only preventing yourself from HIV, but also being more aware. Once you get yourself tested, you will automatically want the same for your partner. If someone turns out to be HIV positive, that means that there is a high risk of spreading the infection. Therefore, treatment becomes necessary before intercourse. HIV tampers with blood cells that fight off harmful bacteria and viruses. A person with AIDS has very few of these cells left, which means that they have a damaged immune system. Thus, the victim becomes more prone to catching diseases and infections.
Avoid Injecting Drugs
Inserting pre-used needles in the body is extremely dangerous for health. Un-sterilized needles are one of the most common ways of getting AIDS. Therefore, try and fight the urge, since it can lead to horrible diseases and complications in the future. Because the needles are used by others, we do not know whether the previous injectors had infected blood or body liquids. Even re-used water may be infected with HIV. Moreover, drugs may turn out to be more harmful than they seem. This is because the very act of taking the drugs, and the very tools for taking them might give you AIDS.
Check for Clean and New Needles
When getting your flu shot, or blood driven by a doctor, check that they always unwrap a brand new injecting needle. In Pakistan, unfortunately, the standard of government hospitals is still questionable. Some of them are trying to improve their services, but some still lack the basic concept of health codes. This kind of stingy action is only carried out to save on expenditure and overhead costs of purchasing new needles. Furthermore, despite knowing the dangers and implications of such an act, injecting with pre-used needles is common practices with many doctors.
Be Careful About Blood Transfusion Sources
If infected needles are commonly used, then there is no telling what kind of blood is kept from donors. Make sure you visit a well-reputed hospital where a proper blood screening procedure is carried out. Blood transfusion entails transferring healthy blood from a donor to a patient. However, in certain hospitals in Pakistan, blood screening is not done as it should be, and infected blood is drawn for transfusion. This is a serious health violation since it can cause AIDS as well as many other health issues, which may worsen the patient’s condition.
Get Your Hair Cut from Reliable Sources
Another place where you can get AIDS is at your local barber’s or parlor’s. Before giving you a haircut, shave, facial, pr even manicure, all utensils should be properly sterilized. Moreover, even hairbrushes should ideally be new or thoroughly cleaned. However, we all know this is not the case with majority of the parlors, even high-end. Due to this, even a slight cut or nick may draw infected blood and transfer it to the tool. This tool, when used on other customers, may transfer the infection to them, causing AIDS. Therefore, make sure you check that barbers bring in clean and sanitized equipment to use on you.
When in doubt, always practice safe intercourse, using protection, and of course, limiting the number of partners. To ensure this, it is better to get yourself and your spouse tested if you are afraid of catching any infection. If one of you does have HIV, get treated as soon as possible before getting intimate. Furthermore, do not hesitate to talk about this, since unawareness can lead to massive health problems. Those who are afraid of talking due to possible stigmatization often don’t know how to go about it safely. Therefore, more awareness and openness should be practiced in this respect.
Get Physical Checkup Before Trying to get Pregnant
If a mother has HIV, the infection can very easily get transmitted to her baby. Therefore, it is crucial to get a checkup before wanting to get pregnant. Furthermore, if you do have HIV, get treated as soon as possible before trying to have a baby. This is because infected breast milk can be extremely harmful for the baby. Trying to conceive while having an infection is harmful for the baby, as well as your spouse or partner.
All in all, there are several preventive measures that can be taken to avoid HIV and AIDS. Most of them require nothing more than safety and cleanliness.