What Are HIV and AIDS?
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). AIDS is a disease of the immune system that has treatment options, but no cure, at the present time. Most people just say “HIV/AIDS” when they are talking about either the virus (HIV) or the disease it causes (AIDS).
HIV destroys certain cells, called CD4+ cells, in the immune system—that’s the body’s disease fighting department. Without these cells, a person with HIV can’t fight off germs and diseases. In fact, loss of these cells in people with HIV is a key predictor of the development of AIDS. Because of their weakened immune system, people with AIDS often develop infections of the lungs, brain, eyes, and other organs, and many suffer dangerous weight loss, diarrhea, and a type of cancer called Kaposi’s sarcoma.HIV is a blood-borne virus. That means it can spread when the blood or bodily fluids of someone who’s infected comes in contact with the blood, broken skin, or mucous membranes of an uninfected person. Sharing needles or other equipment used for injection drug use and engaging in other risky behaviors are the two main ways that HIV is spread. Infected pregnant women also can pass HIV to their babies during pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding.
The good news is that HIV isn’t the death sentence it was when the epidemic began. This is thanks in large part to a treatment called HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy). HAART is a combination of three or more antiretroviral medications that can hold back the virus and prevent or decrease symptoms of illness.
How Many People Have HIV/AIDS?
HIV/AIDS has been a global epidemic for more than 25 years; today’s youth have never known a world without it. In the Kenya, the estimates indicate that more than 1.4 million adults are living with HIV or AIDS.
According to the 2007 Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey (KAIS), a population-based survey of the HIV epidemic in Kenya, which was conducted from August to December 2007 in all the provinces.
• An estimated 1.4 million adults in Kenya are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
• Preliminary results of 2007 Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey (KAIS) indicate that 7.4% of adults age 15-64 are infected with HIV.
• Women continue to be disproportionately infected with HIV (8.7%) compared to men (5.6%).
• Young women between ages 15 and 34 are more likely to have HIV compared to young men in the same age group.
• KAIS shows high HIV infection rates among older adults age 50-64.
• Urban Areas Have a Higher HIV Prevalence than Rural Areas
• Since three quarters of Kenyans (78.5%) live in rural areas, the burden of HIV (total number of people living with HIV) in rural areas remains higher than in urban areas.
• The KAIS shows that 7.8% of adults age 15-49 were infected with HIV in 2007 compared to 6.7% in the 2003 KDHS.
• Comparing prevalence estimates from (Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, 2003) KDHS and KAIS shows HIV prevalence in rural areas was 5.6% in 2003 compared to 7.4% in 2007.
• The higher prevalence in rural areas in 2007 was more pronounced among men than women
Can You Tell if Someone Is Infected With HIV or Has AIDS?
You cannot tell by looking at them if someone is infected with HIV. A person can be infected with HIV for many years, and the virus may or may not progress to the disease of AIDS. A medical test is the only way to know if a person has HIV or has developed AIDS.
How Are Drug Abuse and HIV Related?
Drug abuse and addiction have been closely linked with HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic. Although injection drug use is well known in this regard, the role that non-injection drug abuse plays more generally in the spread of HIV is less recognized.
Injection drug use. People typically associate drug abuse and HIV/AIDS with injection drug use and needle sharing. Injection drug use refers to when a drug is injected into a tissue or vein with a needle. When injection drug users share “equipment”—such as needles, syringes, and other drug injection paraphernalia—HIV can be transmitted between users. Other infections—such as hepatitis C—can also be spread this way. Hepatitis C can cause liver disease and permanent liver damage.
Poor judgment and risky behavior. Drug abuse by any method (not just injection) can put a person at risk for contracting HIV. Drug and alcohol intoxication affect the way a person makes decisions and can lead to unsafe sexual practices, which puts them at risk for getting HIV or transmitting it to someone else.
Biological effects of drugs. Drug abuse and addiction can affect a person’s overall health, making them more susceptible to HIV or, in people with HIV, worsen the progression of HIV and its consequences, especially in the brain. For example, research has shown that HIV causes more harm to nerve cells in the brain and greater cognitive damage among methamphetamine abusers than among people with HIV who do not abuse drugs. In animal studies, methamphetamine has been shown to increase the amount of HIV in brain cells.
Drug abuse treatment. Since the late 1980s, researchers found that if you treat drug abuse you can prevent the spread of HIV. Drug abusers in treatment stop or reduce their drug use and related risk behaviors, including drug injection and unsafe sexual practices. Drug treatment programs also serve an important role in getting out good information on HIV/AIDS and related diseases, providing counseling and testing services, and offering referrals for medical and social services.