AIDS and Poverty in Bangladesh
AIDS and Poverty in Bangladesh Mohammad Khairul Alam Executive Director Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation 24/3 M. C. Roy Lane Dhaka-1211, Bangladesh rainbowngo@email.com Tel: 880-2-8628908 Mobile: 01711344997... [more]
AIDS and Poverty in Bangladesh
Mohammad Khairul Alam
Executive Director
Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation
24/3 M. C. Roy Lane
Dhaka-1211, Bangladesh
rainbowngo@email.com
Tel: 880-2-8628908
Mobile: 01711344997
AIDS pandemic is already having destroyed social and economical system in some regions of South African countries. It makes threat to move backward the progress that economies have made in many poor countries. HIV/AIDS affects everyone in both developed and poor countries. It is not a disease of poverty. It is not individual problem. However the pandemic does push people deeper into poverty, making it more difficult for them to sustain or recover their earlier livelihoods. That, in turn, can make people and their families more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection. Globally, every day 14,000 people getting infected HIV and among them 90% of less developed countries.
Poverty does not cause HIV/AIDS infection; it can facilitate transmission, Poverty makes people more vulnerable to HIV infection, due to lack of health care knowledge, lack of proper digest, and lack of sufficient nutrition, which can result in a weaker immune system. They also have less access to healthcare facilities and education on health issues such as HIV prevention. So it is fact, poverty & gender discrimination would be the main cause of the spread of AIDS in Bangladesh, The rate of vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is our country is higher then the many parts of the world. Unfortunately we are bound to say, HIV is only transmitted through man. We don’t get infect it by other living or death species. The overwhelming majority of people infected with HIV do not know they carry the virus. Many millions more know nothing or too little about HIV/AIDS to protect themselves against it. So it is true that men destroy themselves and others.
The most common reason of HIV/AIDS is considered to be the unsafe or unprotected sex. Sex without taking proper precaution like condom is very much responsible for HIV/AIDS. AIDS is usually transmitted from man to man through the semen or blood. Since 1981, more than 60 million people have been infected by HIV of which over 22 million people already died. Now, over 50 million people are living with HIV.
The health care system is low in Bangladesh. Thousands of people die in every year by several seasonal diseases. Particular health care or prevention knowledge would prevent this fatal mortality. Capital city’s health care system is upgraded in some extent but rural level health care system is nominal. Several NGO’s are working on HIV/AIDS prevention sector. But we found that there is a massive need of facilities and manpower to deliver comprehensive HIV care and laboratory facilities to support and monitor the therapy. There is a similar lack of medical personnel with enough knowledge of antiretroviral therapy. Possibilities for drug distribution to remote corners are limited and storage facilities are often insufficient.
Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation found extremely high levels of infections among adolescent girls, which are higher than those for boys. This is mainly because of the fact that at young age, boys have sex with girls of similar age, while girls have relations with older men, who are more likely to be infected. Sexual harassment of schoolgirls by older men sometime may be the cause of HIV infection. Poverty also drives many adolescent girls to accept relationships with 'sugar daddies' (older men who are prepared to give money, goods or favors in return for sex).
As mention AIDS Researcher Mr. Roger Tatoud, “To "think" about women and their role in society is already to empower them. It is the first step that leads to power-sharing between men and women, and as such should be at the heart of the responsible and hopefully successful strategies much needed in the fight against HIV and Aids. Undoubtedly gender mainstreaming requires political will and commitment, often in the hands of men.”
Since the join and traditional familitical system playing a vital role to prevent HIV/AIDS without our concern in Bangladesh, this disease is not turning into an epidemic in a poor and illiterate country like us. Our religious belief, respect to other people’s thought, politeness as a nation and restricted social system etc. and the education which we get from our families, are protecting us from many unsocial activities and bad jobs. But in these days, our social values and the social structure are facing a great threat following the western cultures. Familitical ties are breaking; pre-marital relation and unsocial activities are increasing day by day. That is why to protect the traditional social system and to make aware the people – we have to be alert.
Reference: World Bank, UNAIDS
World Aids Day
1 December 2006
World AIDS Day message
The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to grow. Some 40 million people, their families, and their communities, are now living with HIV. Effectively tackling this epidemic remains one of the world's most pressing public health challenges.
In August this year, at the XVI International AIDS Conference, 30 000 of us came together in Toronto in reply to the Conference's call to action. That action, we agreed, must reflect a balanced mix of prevention, treatment and care. This year's World AIDS Day theme "Accountability" reminds us again of our responsibility for making the right choices.
In Toronto, I spoke on the three areas in which we had to take action: the three "Ms" of Money, Medicines and a Motivated workforce.
Money: We have made some important progress and continue to do so. For example, just over half of the latest round of grants from the Global Fund - which totalled US$846 million - will go to fight HIV/AIDS. Continued commitment is needed and resources must be used effectively. Accountability is an important theme for those who want to see the best possible results in terms of human lives.
Medicines: Our goal remains to scale up international efforts to provide universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support services.The ten-fold increase in people on treatment in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years shows that we can do it. Sub-Saharan Africa also illustrates what still has to be done: it represents 70% of the global unmet need for treatment.
We have a very long way to go still in the provision of medicines to those who need them. To be able to do that, we must also know who needs treatment and care.
The latest AIDS epidemic update from WHO and the UNAIDS Secretariat, released on 21 November, gives us the most accurate picture of the epidemic to date. HIV surveillance remains weak in almost all regions, particularly among marginalized groups. Those at highest risk—men who have sex with men, sex workers, and injecting drug users—are not reliably reached through HIV prevention and treatment strategies.
At the Toronto Conference there was a powerful drive to address the needs of those who bear the greatest burden of the AIDS epidemic - women and girls. Some 40% of new HIV infections now occur among young people aged between 15 to 24 years. The most striking increases in the number of people living with HIV have occurred in East Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Those most at risk of exposure to HIV do not always know how to protect themselves and often do not have access to the means to do so, such as condoms, clean needles and syringes, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Levels of knowledge of safer sex and HIV remain low in many countries, as well as perceptions of personal risk. Even in countries where the epidemic has a very high impact, such as Swaziland and South Africa, a large proportion of the population do not believe they are at risk. Where prevention efforts decline, HIV infects more people.
Counselling and testing are essential so that people who are infected can know their status, seek care, and using their increased knowledge, change their behaviours to prevent transmission of the virus to others. Those who are tested can also use knowledge of their status to protect themselves.
A Motivated health workforce: Motivated and skilled health workers who can provide essential services are the crucial missing link in many countries. WHO's "Treat, Train Retain" plan for a healthy and well supported healthcare workforce is being developed now in 15 countries.
Prevention works but has to be focused on the needs of those most likely to be exposed to HIV, and it must be sustained. There are success stories. In 8 out of 11 of some of the world's most affected countries, HIV prevalence in the age group 15 to 24 years has declined in the past five years. We must seize on these successes and see that they are repeated.
We know that comprehensive harm reduction programmes reduce risky drug injecting practice and result in declines in HIV infection rates. Effective responses are being implemented in many countries, ranging from Brazil and China to the Islamic Republic of Iran and Indonesia. These experiences provide good models for other countries.
Another key element in the epidemic - Tuberculosis - has recently drawn increased attention with the development of an extremely drug resistant form that signals the urgent need for TB control. TB causes up to half of all deaths in people living with HIV.
The AIDS epidemic provides us with clear evidence that even some of the most complex health and development problems can be successfully addressed. To see this positive pattern repeated everywhere will take greater political will and more resources.
Our ability to be responsive to changes in the epidemic is a central factor if we are to succeed. We have to be constantly alert to shifts in the epidemic dynamic and country contexts, aware of which approaches are successful, and flexible enough to adapt our responses accordingly. We do not just need "more". We need to commit to clear sightedness about what is working and what is not - and quickly apply that knowledge.
For example, recognizing the critical role that vulnerable and marginalized populations play in the epidemic, we need to invest in models of service delivery that reach these groups, ensure equitable and quality services, and are able to provide sustainable support to the most affected communities.
We are now more than 25 years into this epidemic. People living with HIV and their communities urgently need to see tangible results. We are at a critical juncture. Just last week, Secretary-General Kofi Annan inaugurated the new joint UNAIDS/WHO building in Geneva. It is a building which now houses the HIV, TB and Malaria staff of WHO, side by side with the UNAIDS team. Nothing more clearly symbolises our determination to work as a team. It is a commitment to collaboration, and with that comes our commitment also to accountability: to all those currently living with HIV, and to all those whose lives must be protected from it.
For more information, please contact:
Christine McNab
Acting Director, WHO Communications Department
Telephone: +41 22 791 4688
Mobile: +41 79 254 6815
E-mail: mcnabc@who.int
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