GETTING INFORMED ABOUT THE VIRUS
As it is commonly known, one of the
diseases which makes people be exceedingly frightened is AIDS. Since the very
first moment in which this virus (HIV) started spreading around the world,
scientists began to study tirelessly both its causes and its consequences. At
the beginning, as the experts could not come up fast with different solutions
in order to stop the virus or, at least, prevent it from going on damaging the
ill person’s health, distinct myths about the virus have been constructed and
some of them remain nowadays in our society. The idea of prostitutes and
homosexuals as the people who have more risks to get the virus is a clear
example of a social misconception which is still present. This is reflected in
the questions that students ask every time a group of doctors visit the schools
in order to make the youth be aware of the virus, the ways of preventing it and
the steps you have to follow if you have been infected. The truth is that
everybody is exposed to the virus and all of us should be cautious in order not
to contract it.
In the last two decades, however, people
have effectively started to be more conscious about the possibilities of
getting infected by the HIV. As shown in the figures presented in the article,
it is a tremendous mistake to affirm that the majority of the people with the
virus belongs to groups of homosexuals, drug addicts or prostitutes. The
positive aspect expressed in the article -and the reason why it was written- is
that the number of cases detected at the right time in order to start a
treatment has already increased, something which shows how the campaigns and
the different talks shared in hospitals and schools have helped the society to
take care of the virus and worry about the possible situations which involve
transmission.
In fact, people are reacting more committedly
nowadays. Talking with my mother about the situation in the past and the
situation now, I became aware of how different an illness can be conceived from
the time in which the right information has been collected and enough research has
been done. It is said that every 1st of December the number of people
who make the free tests in the street increases and different shops and posts
in the streets are covered with signs containing information about the virus
and the free number which you can call if you feel desperate when you are told
you have the virus or you need any help. Latest diagnoses are struck, and this
is a good piece of news we should all celebrate. Information campaigns, volunteering
testing and the inclusion of sexually transmitted illnesses in the school
curricula seem to have an extremely positive effect on the globalized community
where we live.
