By Hind Aljuaid In many African countries, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is taboo. AIDS is a life-threatening disease caused by the HIV virus, which severely reduces the body's ability to fight disease causing organisms and resistance to other infections, AIDS is still a taboo subject, often neglected by some countries because of it being a sexually transmitted disease (STD), the fact that it can spread from an infected person, and it is incurable. In countries where this is the case, it is critical that efforts be undertaken to increase awareness to save lives.
The countries that have made it taboo are also those that suffer the worst. Sub-Saharan Africa include countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe where AIDS is most prevalent. According to a UNAIDS report, 24.7 million people (71% of the global population) were suffering from the disease. Muslim countries also regard AIDS as a taboo condition. This is because of religious principles that prohibit sexual relations outside of marriage, and because most of the Muslim countries are poor which accounts for most of the social problems that exist in such countries. The Middle East and North African countries are also among those that are hesitant and reluctant to discuss AIDS. This custom prevails also in Indonesia but recently there has been more awareness of the disease in this country. What these countries need is a complete realization of the seriousness of this disease. Immunity is what keeps humans strong. If that is taken away from the body, common infections, colds and flu can become incurable. In light of this, these countries can be helped through conveyance of complete information about AIDS. Some of the extensive ways it can be done are:
Although measures are being taken in some countries to handle the AIDS epidemic, these taboos need to be tackled urgently, and awareness of the disease should be spread widely so that uneducated people do not fall victim to this fatal disease. Source: https://www.avert.org/infographics/hiv-and-aids-sub-saharan-africa April 8th, 2016. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4893541/
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AuthorBowie State University SPR Group Student Blog Archives
May 2022
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