World AIDS 2020 Focuses On Resilience And Impact Of HIV/AIDS Epidemic

World AIDS Day is observed on December 1 across the world. This day is meant to raise awareness about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which is caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV causes AIDS when it is left untreated. AIDS is a condition which interferes with the body's ability to fight infections. The human body cannot get rid of HIV and there is no effective cure. So, a person who has HIV has it for life. Over the past four decades, millions of people have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS.

World AIDS Day 2020: Theme and significance

The US Government theme for World AIDS Day 2020 is Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Resilience and Impact. This theme is especially important this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has reinforced the urgency of ending HIV/AIDS around the world.

World AIDS Day 2020 theme is a reminder of everything that can be achieved, when we together focus on the impact by delivering high quality services for treatment and prevention of HIV, to the ones who are in need. It also focuses on tackling stigma and discrimination against people with HIV. The theme reaffirms the role of resilience, which enables persons infected with HIV/AIDs to meet challenges associated with the infection, even in times of adversity, reports hiv.gov.

World AIDS Day: How can you get HIV?

HIV is present in the body fluids of someone living with the virus. These fluids include blood, breastmilk, vaginal fluids, semen and pre-seminal fluids and rectal fluids. A person can get infected with HIV when an infected person's body fluids enter your blood through a mucous membrane - rectum, lining of vagina, opening of penis, shared injecting equipment or through broken skin like cuts or sores in the mouth or tears around the anus.

In body fluids like saliva, urine or sweat, there is not enough HIV to be able to transmit from one person to another.

If a person infected with HIV has an undetectable viral load, it means that treatment has lowered the amount of virus in the blood, to the levels where it cannot be detected by a normal blood test. Such a person cannot on HIV.

HIV can be transmitted only by someone who has a detectable viral load. These people can transmit the virus to others, whether they have symptoms or not.

The virus is most infectious during the first few weeks of infections. At this time, many people are unaware of their status.

This World AIDS Day, let's spread as much awareness about HIV/AIDS as possible.

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