HIV is only a virus that causes AIDS whereas AIDS is the viral disease cause by HIV. HIV stands for “Human Immunodeficiency Virus” while AIDS stands for “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome”. The virus that causes AIDS is a special one because it’s not just a virus but a rep-virus that replicates in a fraction of seconds & attacks the human immune system harshly. The immune system contains biological “fighters” known as antibodies that battle against diseases. The abating of the immune system makes the humans defenseless to opportunistic infections including typhoid. I believe you know what I have just said about HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS is transmitted through the transfer of blood directly or indirectly from an infected person to another person. The use of un-sterilized sharp instruments such as a razor, needle, and hair clipper & injection syringe can cause the spread of HIV/AIDS. Unprotected sexual contact can cause the spread of HIV/AIDS.

A mother suffering from AIDS can transmit to her unborn baby through the umbilical cord which connects the mother & the unborn baby. Blood transfusion can also guide to transmission of HIV/AIDS if the blood transfused is infected with HIV/AIDS. So there are only 4 known ways through which you can come in contact with the virus that causes AIDS. There is no way you can come in contact HIV through having a hand shake with someone that is infected, mosquito bites,  hugging, kissing, & sharing personal things such as clothes with someone who is suffering from HIV.

The only technique you can find out whether you’ve Aids is through having a blood test & should go for blood test from time to time, at-least twice in a year, since the virus has an incubation phase of about 3-6 months. If you’re not yet married asceticism from sexual intercourse is the finest option for you but if you can’t refrain, than you’ve to protect yourself with a condom. Then if you’re married you just have to be truthful to your partner – stick to him or her since he or she has got whatever you’re looking for out there. You have to make certain that you avoid unprotected sexual intercourse, & other ways of getting infected with the disease. I also believe that you know these things I’ve just said about HIV/AIDS.

But there is one thing you do not know about HIV/AIDS. What you do not know is that HIV/AIDS kills slower than the stigma attached to it by various people in our various societies. Yes you heard me correctly. Stigmatization has killed more people living with HIV than the virus or the disease itself. Few people living with HIV/AIDS have been rejected by their families & friends simply for the reason that they tested positive to the virus. Some people living with the virus have lost their work simply because they are living with the virus. I can go & on to tell you what some people have been passing through because of the truth that they are living with HIV/AIDS. A few of them have committed suicide because they thought they couldn’t live to face the shame. More & more people living with HIV/AIDS have died as an outcome of stigmatization or the psychological pain that follows the disease.

You’ve to show love to these people suffering from HIV/AIDS. You’ve to show that their families & friends still need them. You’ve to show them that the society still needs them irrespective of the reality that they are living with HIV/AIDS. You’ve to let these people know that they are not less human because of their health condition. You’ve to let them know that living with HIV/AIDS is not the ending of the world. Let them know that they can still breathe a normal life even if they are living with HIV/AIDS. As a matter of fact, anybody can survive with the virus so we’ve no right to stigmatize anybody because he/she is suffering from AIDS.