Aids / Sida

[Rors]

Since AIDS is still kinda taboo in Lebanon (people don't dare to say they're seropositive, they are sometimes reluctant to ask for help in order not to blow their secret up, other times they are fired from their jobs or not even hired or marginalized...), i thought about opening this thread to post information, news, questions...so we can highlight some of this disease's facts and eliminate wrong information, misconceptions and misunderstandings about this issue.
Any feedback,personal experiences, information about any side of AIDS are appreciated

I'll start with the basics:

AIDS is the final stage of the HIV human immuno-defficiency virus) infection. The virus attacks the immune system's white cells (Lymphocytes T CD4+) that play a major role in coordinating the organism's responses to any infection (viral, bacterial, fungee..). When an HIV infection occurs, there's a balance between the viral replication and the CD4+ response. This balance could remain for 15 years now (thanks to new therapies). This is the period when a person is called seropositive.
However, at some point, this balance breaks out and the virus takes its toll on the immune system (le taux de CD4+ devient extrememnt bas): this is when the "actual" AIDS begins: the body is too weak to defend itself so so it becomes too vulnerable that any microorganism can cause severe illness whereas those same organisms won't affect healthy persons. That's what is called oppotunist diseases that eventually kill the patient and not the HIV itself. The AIDS stage could last from 3 to 5 yrs.

[lady_forever]

Great Research about Aids well done wish people would be more open to that disease and take precation measures and once infected to get help as fast as they can..Congratulations on that research....

[PoloRM]

I studied all this at school in terminal (I was specialite bio), and it's true, the fact is the virus won't have any lethal effect on you, but rather opens the way for all other viruses and illnesses to enter the body very easily.

[coralie]

HIV/AIDS IN LEBANON

adult age 15-49 with HIV/AIDS (2003) ................. 2800
new HIV infection (2004) ......................................nd
adult HIV prevalence (%) 2003..............................0.1
women age 15-49 with HIV/AIDS 2003..................500
children with HIV/AIDS 2003....................................nd
AIDS orphans age 0-17 2003.................................nd
AIDS death 2003.............................................. ......200
source UNAIDS




unfortunatly our biggest Taboo is our ignorance !
you can check this link where you can find testemonies of sropositive Lebanese citizens ... nothing can be said after reading it !
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?R...on=Middle_East

[Aounist05]

I would like to ask this question, but please try not to have a negative reaction. Do you consider society is responsible of helping people getting infected in fatal diseases like AIDS in a delibrate way, because they were neglecting all types of security ??
I know this is a hypothetical question more than real one, since u can't tell who did what ? But after I heard Kalam El Nass episode on AIDS 2 years ago and so that guy who got infected after being at an orgy in lebanon without taking any precautions, I asked myself is it fair that this guy cost the society thousands of $ because he was neglecting all security precautions besides he was doing immoral act ? These thousands of $ could be spent on children with cancer that are helpless...
If that guy while going to the orgy, met someone who told him "hey, buddy, u r doing bad thing. This is immoral and u should not do it". I can imagine that the guy might reply "go to hell, you don't know how to live".

Some people got infected by diseases by error such as blood transfusion or by ignorance, or just because the disease might bot be avoidable such as cancer. Of course it is the society duty to help those. However people who get infected although they know the risk, do you think society should pay the price of their insane acts ????
Do you think that society should bare the consequences while those people do not assume their responsibilities ???

[PoloRM]

Originally Posted by Aounist05

I would like to ask this question, but please try not to have a negative reaction. Do you consider society is responsible of helping people getting infected in fatal diseases like AIDS in a delibrate way, because they were neglecting all types of security ??
I know this is a hypothetical question more than real one, since u can't tell who did what ? But after I heard Kalam El Nass episode on AIDS 2 years ago and so that guy who got infected after being at an orgy in lebanon without taking any precautions, I asked myself is it fair that this guy cost the society thousands of $ because he was neglecting all security precautions besides he was doing immoral act ? These thousands of $ could be spent on children with cancer that are helpless...
If that guy while going to the orgy, met someone who told him "hey, buddy, u r doing bad thing. This is immoral and u should not do it". I can imagine that the guy might reply "go to hell, you don't know how to live".

Some people got infected by diseases by error such as blood transfusion or by ignorance, or just because the disease might bot be avoidable such as cancer. Of course it is the society duty to help those. However people who get infected although they know the risk, do you think society should pay the price of their insane acts ????
Do you think that society should bare the consequences while those people do not assume their responsibilities ???

Did you read the link coralie provided? just read the first part and tell me if we should help sara or not.
The fact is we cannot differentiate between the ones who are like the male you described and the ones who are like Sarah in the article. So we should take responsibility for all of them rather than take responsibility for none of them.

[Aounist05]

Originally Posted by PoloRM

Did you read the link coralie provided? just read the first part and tell me if we should help sara or not.
The fact is we cannot differentiate between the ones who are like the male you described and the ones who are like Sarah in the article. So we should take responsibility for all of them rather than take responsibility for none of them.

My question is more hypothetical than real. I know it is not easy to differentiate. What I mean is some kind of meditation about justice in this case.
Should the society pay the price for problems of perverted people ???
Personally I contribute (as much as I can afford) to more than 1 charity organization, however when I saw the case of that man I described earlier, I thought if it is fair that I work 14 hours a day, and stick to the morale issues (by conviction), and at the end have to help (in the name of solidarity) a perverted person, who had the choice not to get infected...

[PoloRM]

Originally Posted by Aounist05

My question is more hypothetical than real. I know it is not easy to differentiate. What I mean is some kind of meditation about justice in this case.
Should the society pay the price for problems of perverted people ???
Personally I contribute (as much as I can afford) to more than 1 charity organization, however when I saw the case of that man I described earlier, I thought if it is fair that I work 14 hours a day, and stick to the morale issues (by conviction), and at the end have to help (in the name of solidarity) a perverted person, who had the choice not to get infected...

Yes, but as I said, your donnation will go both to perverted people but also to people like Sara in the article.Well since for me the excess of good is certainly better than the absence of good, then we should keep these people in consideration. Not all people who have aids are perverted.

[Aounist05]

Originally Posted by PoloRM

Yes, but as I said, your donnation will go both to perverted people but also to people like Sara in the article.Well since for me the excess of good is certainly better than the absence of good, then we should keep these people in consideration. Not all people who have aids are perverted.

I read the article, and I am not in position to judge any one, but Sara said she got infected by sexual relation outside marriage, "Sara, who is single, contracted the HIV virus from a sexual partner. "
Call me old fashion, but I have my own moral values and I diasgree with banalizing sexual relations. I bet u are saying probably he deceived her, and this might be true, we do not know the whole truth. However, Sara had the choice, and she is not the type of person that I sympathize with...The lebanese typical moral values do not tell to do sex outside the marriage and I fully support this because it helps keep a healthy society.
I will be suporting her in case if husband infected her, because he is such a creep to be cheating on her and caught the virus, like the case of "Badrieh" on Kalam EL Nas in mid 90s.

I have my own belief and values, and if I can stick to them, I see no reason why others do not ! I am no different or more powerful than any other person, and I can comply to these norms, that I selected by conviction.

I do not feel any responsibility towards people going to have "fun" (as they claim) by doing immoral and distorded acts. It is not my fault if a guy or girl gets infected because they are doing sex for fun and pleasure, with who ever they like.

On the otherside I totally sympathize with people getting infected by blood transfusion, a baby from his mother, a husband from his unloyal wife, or a wife from unloyal husband...From cases where people are really helpless, and not from ones who had the choice. You make choice/decision you should bare the consequences. A person should have his neurons in his brain and not 50cm below.

[Aounist05]

I quote from the article :
“People can contact us anonymously through the hotline and ask all kinds of questions, Badran said, adding that HIV/AIDS was increasing problem among Lebanese youth.

“The number of people hit by the virus is not just increasing, it is also reaching younger people who often discover by accident that they are HIV positive,”

Do you think this is something we should be proud of ??
This is the result of being badly raised by the srilankies maids, and degradation of values, and sexual misbehavior...The new generation is going into this dark future