WORLD AIDS DAY 2018
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 01 Dec 2018
December 1 is the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day. This global health campaign started by the World Health Organization (WHO) is celebrated to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS.
This year?s theme is ?Know your status?. People from all walks of life are encouraged to get tested for HIV. Concerned individuals and health groups are also calling for more access to testing and treatment.
The red ribbon is a symbol for the solidarity of people living with HIV/AIDS.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks the body?s immune system and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the result of the destruction of the immune system which makes the infected individual prone to various infections and tumors. HIV is passed through sexual contact, though infected blood, and intrapartum or perinatally from an HIV positive mother to infant.
Here in the Philippines, it was reported last September that 32 Filipinos test positive for HIV every day. If this dire trend is not corrected, the Philippine National AIDS Council estimates that a quarter of a million Filipinos will be living with HIV in 2030.
The cases were mostly from the 15 to 24 year old age bracket. Last year, a one year old baby in Cagayan Valley tested positive for HIV.
The current worldwide estimate is that 3 million people 19 years old and younger are infected with HIV.
It would be prudent for those in charge of combat sports like boxing and MMA here in the Philippines to review their licensing requirements and frequency of required HIV testing.
Boxing can be used as an effective tool to inform the public and participants about HIV/AIDS. In the African country of Uganda, they have an initiative called ?Box HIV out of Uganda?. The country?s boxing federation partnered with various HIV-AIDS organizations to educate the boxers, officials and coaches about HIV, reminding their boxers to live a healthy life and informing those who are infected that they should get treatment in time.
Education is the best weapon to stop the spread of HIV. Read about it and talk about with your friends on how to prevent its transmission. The treatment for AIDS is also readily available and the disease is no longer a death sentence. There are many testing centers available in the Philippines where the results are confidential.
Be safe.
(The author is a ring physician and a practicing internist in Cebu, Philippines . He spent two years in Tanzania as a volunteer doctor treating patients with HIV/AIDS)
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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