By Mazhar Shahen – Art in Tanzania internship
Africa is a heavily affected region by HIV and AIDS, with the majority of cases being localised in the eastern and southern parts of Africa. In 2018, there were 1.1 million new cases of HIV in Africa, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). In 2018, there were 37.9 million cases of HIV patients, with 1,7 million of these cases being newly infected 2018 globally. Out of the 1.7 million new cases globally, 1.1 million were mainly located in the sub-Saharan African region. Seventy-seven thousand00 patients lost their lives to HIV-related illnesses in 2018, 470,000 of them died due to AIDS related diseases in 201,8 and 25.7 million people are living with HIV disease.
hiv/Aids
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an immune system-compromising virus. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) can be developed if HIV infected patients are not treated. Currently, we do not have a cure for HIV; once contracted, the person is going to have HIV for the rest of their life. HIV positive patients who do not go under treatment usually go through three stages of progression.
Stage 1 is acute HIV infection; acute condition means severe and sudden. Patients are very contagious with a considerable amount of HIV in their blood. The body’s natural response to the virus is flu-like symptoms; however, this is not the case in all instances, as some people do not get sick after the infection, or ever. In the case that a patient suspects being HIV positive, an antigen/antibody test or nucleic acid test (NAT) can only help confirm the infection.
Stage 2 is chronic HIV infection; chronic condition means long-lasting, persisting effects. HIV reproduces at very low levels; however, it is still active. It couldalso beo calledthe asymptomatic HIV infection stag,e as patients may not have any symptoms during this phase. Without treatment, this stage can last a decade or even longer; however, some patients might progress at a faster rate. In this stage, HIV can be transmitted to others without proper medical treatment. Signs of this stage ending include an increase in HIV in the blood, a rise in viral load, and a decrease in CD4 cell count. People who have access to proper medication may never reach stage 3.
Stage 3 is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This is the most severe immune system phase, the most critical part of the HIV infection. When the patients develop opportunistic infections (OIs) or have a CD4 cell count below 200 cells/mm, they are diagnosed with AIDS. AIDS patients have a very badly damaged immune system that increases the risk of severe illnesses, OIs. Without treatment, AIDS patients usually survive three years.
HIV Treatment
Although there is no cure for HIV, with proper treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART, the virus can be controlled, and the majority of patients can control the virus within six months. This treatment with ART helps prevent the transmission of the HIV disease to others. The viral load, the amount of HIV in the blood, can be reduced using antiretroviral therapy. ART can reduce the viral load to very low levels, achieving viral suppression. Viral suppression is achieved by having less than 200 copies of HIV per millilitre of blood. If HIV patients skip their medications, they will give room for the disease to multiply in a more rapid form, which could lead to compromising the immune system and getting sick. If an HIV positive individual is inconsistently receiving ART medication, drug resistance might develop. HIV can mutate, change, and develop resistance to certain HIV medications. This will limit the patient’s options for successful HIV treatment. If the HIV develops into a drug-resistant form, it will be able to transmit to others. Taking medication consistently as prescribed helps prevent drug resistance.
HIV and babiesHIV-positive mother with an undetectable viral load will help prevent transmission of HIV to her offspring. If a mother with HIV is taking her ART medicine as prescribed consistently throughout the pregnancy, labour, and delivery and supplies the baby with ART medicine for 4-6 weeks after birth, there is less than 1% chance of the baby transmitting HIV disease.
Currently, the United States do not recommend that mothers who are HIV positive breastfeed, even if they are on their medication. Being on HIV medication does help reduce the risk of transmission to the baby through offspring; however, it does not eliminate the risk.
HIv prevention success in Eswatini
Governments and people can turn around the prevalence of the HIV infection in the region. Eswatini is the first African country to have 95% of people living with HIV know their status, with 95% of them on life-saving ART. The country managed to achieve this 10 years ahead of its 2030 goal. The government is providing counselling, educating the public and mainly providing free ART drugs for HIV patients.
HIv Status in tanzania
As well-thought-out people in Tanzania are living with HIV. Reports show that 5% of adults are living with HIV in Tanzania, with 40% being unaware of their positive status. That is much lower than the UNAIDS target of 90% awareness of people living with positive HIV.
Tanzania is currently implementing the fourth Health Sector HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan (HSHSP IV), which commenced in 2017 and is scheduled to conclude in 2022. The plan goal is to help increase access to prevention services for the general public to reduce the transmission of HIV. Currently, 93.6% of the adults in Tanzania who are aware of their infection are on ART medication, and 87% of those adults on medication are in the viral load suppression stage. There has been significant progress, but more work needs to be done to meet the UNAIDS criteria in Tanzania. Being aware of the disease and suppressing the viral load are key to preventing transmission to other individuals. The most common ways to prevent HIV/ADIS transmission are avoiding drug use, sharing needles, having unprotected sex, being monogamous, and vaccination if available.
REFERENCES
Cloete, A., Strebel, A., Simbayi, L. C., Wyk, B. v., Henda, N., & Nqeketo, A. (2010). Challenges Faced by People Living with HIV/AIDS in Cape Town, South Africa: Issues for Group Risk Reduction Interventions. Aids Research and Treatment, 2010, 420270-420270. Retrieved 2 25, 2021.
Dixon, S., McDonald, S., & Roberts, J. (2002). The impact of HIV and AIDS on Africa’s economic development. BMJ, 324(7331), 232-234. Retrieved 2 25, 2021.
Gayle, H. D., & Hill, G. L. (2001). Global Impact of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and AIDS. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 14(2), 327-335. Retrieved 2 25, 2021.
Tanzania. (2020, October 07). Retrieved March 02, 2021.
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention: HIV/AIDS. (2020, November 03). Retrieved February 25, 2021.
World Health Organisation (WHO) HIV/AIDS. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2021.
