nigeria AIDS programme failing

Former Member

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/3645262.stm


i think anyone who share spills or anything there, should be withheld treatment, as its making it harder for everyone else to fight it

theyre under instruction to only take the prescribed dosage, yet they chip off bits and give them to kids, and break in half and share - all it does it make the HIV more resistant

i wish i culd just withhold those drugs myself cause im just!:banghead: hearing this

Former Member

Knowing the HIV is a virus and not a bacteria I'm not sure it does get more resistant.

Witholding treatment from anyone wouldn't help either. Firstly you know you're condemning them to death, and you cannot be sure that if you withold treatment they're going to revert to spreading the disease for various reasons.

Former Member

To be honest I'd rather see the money going on attempting to wipe out polio once and for all and vaccinating against measels and malaria.

But, having said that HIV treatment drugs should be made available too.

Though without education AIDS is only going to spread, you cant hand out HIV medicine to every African.

Former Member

Needs to start with prevention.

I heard somewhere that one problem they have over there is that people get HIV/AIDS, get diagnosed by a doctor and told what it means. They then go to their tribal wise-man witch doctor who does whatever incantation he does, tells the guy that's infected that he's now clear, who goes on with the spread, only to go back to the doctors in 6 months time to be told. 'For Gods sake you've still got AIDS stop sleeping around!'

Former Member

Plus of course in Southern Africa there is the opinion that if you sleep with a virgin then you rid yourself of the illness.

Thus there are many many reports of young women and girls being raped for this purpose.

Doesnt really help with the Pope talking about holes in condoms and the US not funding any programs that include condoms.

Former Member

Originally posted by Fiend_85
Knowing the HIV is a virus and not a bacteria I'm not sure it does get more resistant.

its a virus, and the drugs are retro-viral drugs, which if im correct, just inhibit the virus from multiplying, well in reality it just slows it down

and the virus mutates, erm VERY fast, so if one person doesnt take the medication properly, that person soon becomes useless to treat, and anyone they infect(which is the problem in africa) gets that too, thats why if someone aint taking their medication properly, it should be withheld for everyone elses sake!

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and yeh the problem is prevention in africa

on the other hand, you can treat like 50 people with malaria or vacinate against polio for the cost of one months woth of HIV drugs, so you can stop people spreading it, you can hlep some of the other disease problems ravaging africa

sometimes i just think we plough money into HIV cause well, msot of us are immune to polio and have access to dirt cheap anti malarial drugs, so HIV is the only one than can affect us in future, especially considering, the potential HIV vaccines, SOME, not all seem to work better on darker skinned people for some odd reason

Former Member

You know we're really screwed when HIV works out how to get around whatever it is in mosquitoes that stop the virus spreading through their bites.

Former Member

Originally posted by Fiend_85
You know we're really screwed when HIV works out how to get around whatever it is in mosquitoes that stop the virus spreading through their bites.

erm it dies, well denatures ouside the body almost instantly, and in mosquito bites,theres blood but our white blood cells die quickly which is how it replicates

Former Member

Originally posted by wheresmyplacebo
erm it dies, well denatures ouside the body almost instantly, and in mosquito bites,theres blood but our white blood cells die quickly which is how it replicates

yes I know that, but we will be screwed when it gets around that.