Everyone knows that there are still people who believe myths like ‘You can get AIDS from a toilet seat’. But here are some myths about AIDS that maybe even you didn’t know about.
1. The case of the Mississippi baby means we’re close to curing AIDS
Doctors still aren’t sure how it could be that the Mississippi baby got cured from HIV. Therefore this happening will not have an influence on curing HIV in newborns very soon.
2. AIDS is the leading killer of babies worldwide
Other diseases like diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria kill many more babies than AIDS; in fact 'only' 2% of deaths among babies worldwide is due to AIDS. Of course this doesn’t mean that we should stop treating babies with HIV, but there should definitely go more attention to the other diseases as well.
3. Mothers with HIV should never breast-feed
The chances of giving HIV to your baby while breastfeeding is 1%. Not breast-feeding -especially in an undeveloped and poor country- is more harmful for the baby.
4. Drugs are the key to preventing HIV’s spread
Yes, drugs can help to control HIV. But in countries where these drugs are available, people are less careful about safe sex, which is a horrible thing. This way the virus can get spread even more.
5. AIDS can’t be defeated
People are scared that the HIV epidemic is out of control, while actually the numbers of AIDS-related deaths have been going down since 1997. But still a lot has to be done to really defeat it.
It is said that the ways of prevention that are available could be enough to defeat the virus. This means a combination of male circumcision (since this lowers the chances of getting infected), having fewer sex partners, making condoms more accessible, clean needles for drug users, free testing and treatment for people that got infected.
When these 5 myths get erased from this world we will be one big step closer to defeating HIV!
Read more about these myths here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-aids/2013/03/08/422c1fb6-875f-11e2-999e-5f8e0410cb9d_story_1.html
