AIDS/HIV Alternative Chinese Medicine Treatment with
Herbal Herbs Medicine Treatment - KL Kuala Lumpur Way of Chinese Medicine Research |
Some estimate more than 90% of people living with AIDS/HIV come from developing countries. Every year more and more people join them, 13.9 million people have already died from the epidemic, most of them in developing countries. The differences between the countries in the
north and those in the south have never been illustrated more starkly than this fact about the AIDS/HIV pandemic. The world's nine most affected countries are all Africa and in these countries at least 10% of their populations are infected with HIV and life expectancies have been shortened by an appalling 17 years. Other countries where communities of drug users, sex workers and gays and transsexuals are ignored and and neglected, they are more vulnerable to becoming infected without also having access to the care and treatment necessary to prevent their early deaths .
Most people Living with AIDS/HIV have no access to drugs that will keep their infection in control. This is usually attributed to the high cost of drugs but access to treatment in many countries is also impeded by ignorance, by superstition and by discrimination. Even in a relatively well-off country like Malaysia, out of over 30,000 + Malaysians Living with AIDS/HIV, less than 1000 are in regular treatment, partly because of lack of knowledge and partly because of cost. In the case of incarcerated persons such as prisoners and those in drug rehabilitation s, treatment is often low
priority.HIV is a silent virus whose presence cannot be detected without blood tests. But in developing countries, few come forward for testing often because of fears about confidentiality.
Their fears are usually justified. Recently the suicide of an HIV-positive couple was sensationalized in the newspapers where not only their names but those of their child and
parents were published. Stories like this do not encourage anyone to come forward to be tested because of the fear of the consequences such lack of respect for confidentiality can bring.
There may be laws and rulings about confidentiality but if they are not enforced strictly, nor those who disregard them punished, then people will not be encouraged to check their status. Without truly knowing one's status and acquiring information on how to not spread the virus, people with high risk behaviours may contribute to the further spread of the epidemic.
Still, for Asia, where the pandemic is late in coming and where it is projected to affect more people than any other part of the world, effective responses to AIDS/HIV are still slow and inadequate. These responses are mired in traditional health perspectives and neglect to look at the questions of health as a basic human right. Human rights advocates would do well to join the fight against AIDS by contributing their perspectives to this question. In this way, not only will the whole issue of human rights be refreshed by this new perspective but a global pandemic which is killing more people than any war can be curbed.
ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT
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