Living Positively 1

One of the most paralyzing myths regarding HIV and AIDS is that there is nothing we can do about it. Part of the message of hope that we need to spread is that albeit there is no cure for HIV, it is possible to live a healthy and productive life despite HIV infection. It is possible to take some control of our lives and equip our selves as well as our immune system with strategies of coping better with HIV.

Now let's talk about the different treatment options. Remember that treatment is different from cure. When we refer to the term "cure", it means a type of medicine that will completely heal us or take away a specific disease. When we use the term "treatment", we use it in the context of medication and general health guidelines that help a person to manage a disease or illness. The purpose of this treatment is not to remove the disease, but to help the person to manage and limit the effect of the disease on his body.

Remember this virus weakens the immune system, which is responsible for the body's defense against other diseases and infections. With a proactive approach to treatment we need to aim at reducing the negative impact of the virus as far as possible. How can this be done?

First is strengthening the immune system, next is treating all the opportunistic infections and then taking ARV or antiretroviral treatment. Let's take a brief look at each of these individually on my next post.

Source: "Channels of Hope" workshop manual.