The first day in December is celebrated as the AIDS Day throughout the world. India is the world’s fourth-largest suffering country from aids. So, now its our duty to create awareness by wearing Red Ribbon and spread the fact about AIDS in the country.
World AIDS Day: Create awareness about AIDS to fight against it
What is AIDS?
AIDS means Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It is a fatal disease caused by a rapidly mutating retrovirus that attacks the immune system and leaves the victim vulnerable to infections, malignancies, and neurological disorders.
Symptoms of Aids
Some people develop flu-like symptoms shortly after an infection, but many have no symptoms. It may be a few months or many years before severe symptoms develop in adults; symptoms usually develop within the first two years of life in infants infected in the womb or at birth.
People come in with symptoms like fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat, rash and diarrhoea. In response to these symptoms, physicians diagnose the flu and send the patient on their way. In the majority of cases, their diagnosis proves correct, but if you are not cured, you should visit the STI clinics or hospitals near you to get the test done.
List of State wise list of STI clinics, institutes, hospitals and medical colleges
It has details on AIDS counselling centres, AIDS Testing centres, NGO’s and blood banks in different States.
- Statewise List of Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (352 KB) (PDF file that opens in a new window)
- Statewise List of Antiretroviral Therapy Centres (170 KB) (PDF file that opens in a new window)
- Centres for CD4 counts
Preventive steps against AIDS
The Official Health Page of Indian Government on Aids suggest the following. For the best information, consult a doctor or counselling centre.
- Safe Relationship
- Using clean needles.
- The HIV positive mothers can decrease the risk of passing on the infection to the baby by going for caesarean birth, not breast-feeding the child and using anti-retroviral therapy.
- Everyone must spread AIDS awareness and the methods that need to be followed to check its spread.
How to Create Awareness about AIDS?
Awareness is one of the best ways to stop the spread of Aids. If the people of India will know about the Aids, its effect and the precautions, they will fight against Aids.
The red ribbon is the international symbol to create the AIDS awareness that is worn by people all year round and particularly around World AIDS Day to prove care and concern about HIV and AIDS and to remind others of the need for their support and commitment.
However, the National AIDS Control Organization create an AIDS awareness and giving the message to the nation through the RED RIBBON EXPRESS. It travels through 152 stations around 22 states in India. Following are the highlights of the Red ribbon express:
- The project has directly reached 80 lakh people across India spreading the message of HIV prevention, treatment and care
- Over 81,000 district-level resource person trained on HIV & AIDS
- About 57,000 people counselled and 36,000 people got themselves tested for HIV.