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Essay, Paragraph or Speech on “AIDS : The Ticking Time Bomb” Complete Essay, Speech for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

AIDS : The Ticking Time Bomb 

Essay No. 01

The Acronym AIDS spell a holocaust eating the existence of the human beings in a big way. AIDS or Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome is caused by a group of related retroviruses known as HIV (Human Immuno Deficiency Virus). According to the researchers of the University at Bermingham, the AIDS virus spread by the cross species transmission of virus from Chimpanzee to people in Africa. The Chimps have been perceived to be carriers of this dreaded disease for thousand of years, without being susceptible to it. It infected humans in the 1940s or early 50s when someone in the west equatorial Africa is supposed to have contracted the virus after consuming the animal for food. However French biophysicists have claimed that the USA army had released the virus as a part of an experiment on gene manipulation of pathogens, conducted on prisoners. The first case of AIDS was reported in the USA in 1981, ever since people in more than 175 countries have contracted the dreaded disease. The World Health Organization in 1995, identified about 30.6 million people from around ten countries like the USA, Canada, Brazil and others, accounting for more than 80% of those infected with AIDS. The same year more than 4.7 million people contracted the virus HIV at an average of 13000 people per day. In India around 179000 conformed cases of AIDS were detected in 1995, with maximum incidents in Maharashtra, Manipur, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.

The disease is said to spread to a healthy person through sexual contact with an HIV infected person. This accounts for both homo sexual and heterosexual contact. Sex workers are said to be the biggest carriers of this disease. Trucks drivers playing on national highway and other casual visitors visiting red light areas carry the HIV virus and in turns spread it to their families. Another major reason for the spread of the disease is the exchange or sharing of contaminated needles of syringes of a drug addict. A small fraction of the people who receive infected blood during blood transfusions also become the carrier of the virus. An AIDS infected mother can transmit the disease to her child during the pre-natal stage. In the post natal stage, it can pass, to the infant taking the mothers milk. These are the only known sources of contracting the AIDS virus.

After gaining entry into human body virus remains dormant for a decade or more. The virus lodges itself in the blood and gradually starts wrecking havoc on the body’s immune system. The virus attacks the natural defence a mechanism of the body by causing a progressive loss of T helper lymphocytes (T4 cells) of the white blood cells. This is the first phase of infection. The second phase begins after. The body sweeps the virus from the blood to the lymph nodes. The virus churns out copies of itself but is kept under check by the body’s anti bodies and killer cells of the white blood cells. In the third stage of the infection, the body’s ability to replace the damaged cells decreases while the rate of replication of the virus increases. The official diagnosis of AIDS is generally made when the helper T-cell count drops from an average of 1000 cells per-cubic millimeter of blood below 2000. It is known as the full blown AIDS case. The victim suffers from severe weight loss and weakens due to persistent diarrhoea pneumonia, fever, non recovery of a wounds and finally dies.

Although scientific research has come a long way since the virus was traced in 1981. No effective cure for the dreaded disease has been found the drug Zidovudine, is known to delay the progression of AIDS. The best safeguard against the dreaded disease is precaution. The first would be to exercise discretion while having social contacts, using unsterlised syringes or during blood transfusion. A man should always remain faithful to his wife and avoid seminal contacts with sex workers or his colleagues at work place. Maintaining high moral values could reduce the occurrence of AIDS in a big way. Indulging in momentary pleasures like taking of drugs should be avoided. AIDS infected ladies should take care to avoid conception so as to prevent the birth of an AIDS infected child. Blood donations should be taken from HIV negative people. These are the methods by which AIDS can be prevented. The Government should create awareness and disseminate information to combat AIDS. The growing dependence of drug addicts on intravenous intake of drugs has led to an alarming rate of occurrence of AIDS. In Manipur alone out of the 700 drug addicts, 4000 were found to be HIV positive.

The Government has sought international assistance to face this challenge. Rehabilitation of such patients through community involvement is being planned. The NGOs can also part be of the campaign towards educating the Grass roots. Organising the AIDS awareness campaigns at brothels to protect the sex workers and the client could help in controlling AIDS. They should be informed about the precautionary measures required against the spread of disease and the consequences of being affected. Literacy, brochure, pamphlets mainly in vernacular languages, should be distributed along with the daily newspapers in all states which would help in creating awareness among all.

Since AIDS is a major disease for which no proper cure is known we must first of all guard ourselves against contracting the disease. Those people who are already suffering from AIDS should be accepted and taken of it till the end of this disease. Without any misgivings and prejudice they contracted the disease because of their unawareness and the rest of the society does not have the right to ostracize them. They should be accepted as a part of the society and should be forgiven for their part. The society should do away with irrational beliefs associated with the disease and work towards a healthy society, both physically and morally.

AIDS

Essay No. 02

 

AIDS stands for ‘Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome’ a disease in which the body’s immune system breaks down. A virus called the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes AIDS. HIV specificifically targets key components of the cellular immune system and depletes the body’s ability to fight infection. In medical terminology HIV is a retrovirus—this means it can copy its genetic material RNA into DNA using a unique enzyme called reverse transcriptase.

Normally, living organisms make RNA out of DNA but in retroviruses such as HIV, the step is in reverse that is it makes DNA out of RNA. HIV inserts its DNA copies into the DNA of the cells of the immune system, turning them into HIV factories and preventing them from protecting the body. HIV is also a highly variable virus which hides in other parts of the body such as the lymphatic system and establishes strongholds beyond the reach of the immune system or drugs.

When a person is first infected by HIV there is a burst of activity as the virus multiplies. The immune system attempts to battle it by making antibodies. During this period, the viral load (the number of virus particles the body is carrying) is high and the infected person is highly infectious. But a person’s HIV status can not be detected at this stage by conducting tests because sufficient antibodies have yet to be formed. This is commonly called the window period and lasts from several weeks to about three months. It may take five years to ten years for an HIV positive to develop AIDS.

An infected person usually experiences an episode of illness at the end of the window period but this often resembles a simple bout of influenza and may pass unnoticed. The symptoms could include lack of energy, fever and night sweat and diarrhoea over a period of a more than a month.

The medicines which are used to fight HIV infection are known as anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) and the treatment with them is known as anti-retroviral treatment. The medicines has been designed to interfere with HIV’s ability to reproduce inside the body. Each class of medication stops the virus at different moments in its reproduction cycle. The current practice is to use a combination of durgs.

There are four primary ways by which HIV can be transmitted from an infected person to another.

(i) Blood (including menstrual blood)

(ii) Semen

(iii) Vaginal secretions

(iv) Breast milk

Blood contains the highest concenteration of the virus followed by semen vaginal flood and by breast milk.

HIV does not survive easily outside the body, so it is not transmitted through toilets seats, by contact such as hugging, kissing, shaking hands or by sharing utensils while eating or drinking. Nor can it be transmitted through insects such as mosquitoes.

The first case of AIDS came to light in the early eighties. In 1981 a victim of AIDS was found. Actually the term AIDS was coined in 1982 and after much debate the virus causing AIDS was called HIV (Human Immuno Deficiency Virus)

In the first case of AIDS in India was reported in 1986 in Chennai. Today no Indian state is free from HIV. The National Intelligence Committee believe that there will be 20-25 million HIV positive people in India by 2010. The National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) estimate that there are about 5.134 million people with HIV AIDS in the country. Statistics reveal that it is the productive force between the ages of 15-44 that is most affected and comprises 87.7% of the HIV infectious in India. Another fact is that more than 80% of the infectious are sexually transmitted. The virus has moved beyond high risk groups such as commercial sex workers and their clients into the wider population. According to WHO as many as 16000 people become infected with the HIV each day.

The all-India picture is that the prevalence of AIDS cases in six states viz., Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu is above one percent as against national average of 0.7 percent.

The government has initiated HIV prevention activities in the very early stages of the epidemic. Helplines for information and assitance is being offered to the general population and patients.The government though has maintained its commitment to prevention efforts, the country’s socio-economic status, traditional social norms, cultural myths on sex and sexuality, large scale migration and its huge population of marginalised people make it soft target.

The World Health Organisation set a target for India to provide anti retroviral therapy (ART) to 355000 people living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2005. This was part of the global target set by WHO to provide ART to three million people by the end of 2005 popularly known as 3 by 5 initiative. In India so far only about 15000 people living with HIV have been provided ART through the governmental ART centres.

None is safe from AIDS. The only way to save ourselves from AIDS is through knowledge and prevention. Since there is no cure for AIDS education and awareness generation is the most reliable method of prevention.

Awareness is also required to fight the stigma and social ostracism which i arise out of ignorance of the spread of AIDS. There is need that NGOS, media should join hands with government agencies in the crusade against AIDS.

Some measures are suggested for preventing HIV infection. Since sex with infected person is the highest risk factor, the greatest need is to educate people to have safe sex by using condoms and multiple sexual partners. Sharing needles can infect people. (a) Blood or blood products must be tested for HIV before transfusion, (b) As we known AIDS virus can be transmitted through an infected mother to her unborn child or during breast-feeding.

Red Ribbon Campaign—The AIDS Awareness Ribbon (or red ribbon) was conceived in 1991 by Visual AIDS, a New York base charity group of professionals. This ribbon is commonly seen adorning jacket labels and other articles of clothing as a symbol of solidarity and a commitment to fight against AIDS.

(c) According to WHO (World Health Organisation) as many as 16000 people become infected with the HIV each day. UN agencies estimate every minute five people aged 10-24 are being infected with HIV. This means seven million new infections each year.

(d) Besides a big part of our national campaigns should be directed towards school. Sex education should be given to teenagers and younger person in right context. So take care to either sterilise the syringe with bleach solution or boil in water for more than ten minutes. The safest thing is to use only disposable syringes and needles. So make sure that every drop of blood to be used has been screened for AIDS virus and declared HIV negative.

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