HIV/AIDS : Medical Advances Breaking The Myth

Today, the degree of fear associated to the virus has diminished as compared to the 80s. When one reflects on the advancement of treatment, HIV is no longer a death sentence. There have been plenty of medical advances in the treatment and care for positive cases in recent years. HIV today is an easily treatable, long-term health condition, meaning anyone with HIV can expect to live a long and healthy life if they take good care of themselves and take their necessary medications.

Treatment Giving Hope
Medical practitioners say the power of the HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) today is so profound that with proper treatment and care, most people with HIV can stay healthy and live a long and full life. According to an HIV patient in Yaounde, treatment has evolved over the decades. “Initially when these medications appeared, it was really restricted in terms of toxicity and the number of pills was unbearable to take for a day.” But over the years and in the course of the epidemic, pharmaceutical companies have come up with a medication that one just need to take once a day. With this the level of toxicity has decreased. Treatment has also evolved from taking pills to patients receiving an injection once a month as an HIV medication. The shots are given by a health care provider once a month or once every other month, depending on the persons treatment plan. Patients say this is really huge because they will not have to swallow a pill.

Mother-To-Child Transmission Now Preventable
At the start of the disease, HIV-positive pregnant women systematically gave birth to HIV-positive babies. The prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV was far-fetched and the future was a bleak one for such babies, their families and the nation to which they belong. But research over the years has proven that preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV is possible. Today, medications to research methodologies have made it...