Voluntary counseling and testing is a very good prevention strategy and indicator to know the actual number of people living with HIV and AIDS. It knows your HIV status.
Individuals who know their HIV status are in a better position to protect themselves from infection; and if they are HIV positive, from infecting another. Someone who is HIV positive can be provided with information and support to enable them to live positively. People who are ignorant of their HIV status or who are not cared for, can be sources of new HIV infection.
Empowerment of people with knowledge and skills especially women, protect themselves against HIV infection. It is not possible to make informed decisions about any aspect of HIV or sexual behavior without access to all the relevant facts. Inaccurate information and ignorance are two of the greatest factors driving HIV and AIDS related stigma and discrimination.
Correct, non-judgmental information needs to be disseminated to all; inside and outside of churches. This will assist people to live positively - whatever their HIV status - and to break down barriers which HIV has created between people and within communities. Education also includes information on good nutrition, stress management, and the need for physical exercise.
The acronym "SAVE" provides the added benefit that all religious and non-religious groups can identify with the fact that we want to save lives through multiple prevention strategies for instance, some denominations would not feel comfortable with the promotion or use of condoms and others might find it difficult to promote and distribute sterile needles to injecting drug users. But everyone will be able to identify with some of the strategies included in the "SAVE" acronym.
Let us "SAVE"!
Source: "Channels of Hope" workshop manual.
Showing posts with label HIV Prevention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HIV Prevention. Show all posts
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
HIV Prevention Strategies 2
Greetings to all my readers! Happy birthday to my doctor!
Before I continue with the prevention strategies let me mentioned the local statistics of HIV infection as of July 2008. There were 53 who tested positive to HIV and more than half of it was through homosexual contact. It brings the total since 1984 to 3,358 and according to my doctor; there are 63 who were tested positive in SLH alone this August. You can check the NEC at www.doh.gov.ph and click the HIV icon there for updates.
Our duty is to move from ABC to SAVE. S stands for safe(r) practices, A is for access to treatment, V is for voluntary testing and E stands for empowerment.
Safe(r) sexual practices include all avoidance and risk reduction strategies like abstinence, delay of first sexual experience, mutual faithfulness in marriage, and correct and consistent use of condoms and reduction of number of sexual partners. It also includes policies and procedures to ensure safe blood supply, sterile equipment, adoption of universal precautions, and prevention of mother to child transmission, provision of sterile needles and syringes for injecting drug users and post exposure prophylaxis or PEP. You will notice that ABC is present already within safe or safer practices.
Access implies more than only the availability of medications, and the word "treatment" encompasses more than the word "medication". Therefore "access to treatment" includes the availability of medication, as well as access to the medication and all the necessary support services. It includes the access and availability of medication like ARVs, treatment of STIs and other OIs, treatment - education and support such as access to blood tests for monitoring and adherence as well as counseling, and nutrition for people with compromised immunities or on ARVs.
Access also implies the availability of comprehensive and correct information and education in order to make informed decisions for prevention, care and support. It also implies a supportive environment where stigma and discrimination have been reduced.
Next post I'll talk about the V and E.
Source: "Channels of Hope" workshop manual.
Before I continue with the prevention strategies let me mentioned the local statistics of HIV infection as of July 2008. There were 53 who tested positive to HIV and more than half of it was through homosexual contact. It brings the total since 1984 to 3,358 and according to my doctor; there are 63 who were tested positive in SLH alone this August. You can check the NEC at www.doh.gov.ph and click the HIV icon there for updates.
Our duty is to move from ABC to SAVE. S stands for safe(r) practices, A is for access to treatment, V is for voluntary testing and E stands for empowerment.
Safe(r) sexual practices include all avoidance and risk reduction strategies like abstinence, delay of first sexual experience, mutual faithfulness in marriage, and correct and consistent use of condoms and reduction of number of sexual partners. It also includes policies and procedures to ensure safe blood supply, sterile equipment, adoption of universal precautions, and prevention of mother to child transmission, provision of sterile needles and syringes for injecting drug users and post exposure prophylaxis or PEP. You will notice that ABC is present already within safe or safer practices.
Access implies more than only the availability of medications, and the word "treatment" encompasses more than the word "medication". Therefore "access to treatment" includes the availability of medication, as well as access to the medication and all the necessary support services. It includes the access and availability of medication like ARVs, treatment of STIs and other OIs, treatment - education and support such as access to blood tests for monitoring and adherence as well as counseling, and nutrition for people with compromised immunities or on ARVs.
Access also implies the availability of comprehensive and correct information and education in order to make informed decisions for prevention, care and support. It also implies a supportive environment where stigma and discrimination have been reduced.
Next post I'll talk about the V and E.
Source: "Channels of Hope" workshop manual.
Monday, September 29, 2008
HIV Prevention Strategies 1 - ABC
As a Christian living with HIV, my ultimate goal is to promote Kingdom living as the effective way to stop the increasing numbers of people being infected with this virus. Of course, not everybody can follow Jesus Christ without committing any sin that will put them at risk of contracting HIV but I am sure that all of us really want to prevent more people of becoming infected.
Most people have heard about the ABC approach which stands for abstinence, be mutually faithful and condoms towards HIV prevention. Its main focus is on preventing HIV transmission caused by sexual intercourse but we also learned that sexual activity is only one way of how HIV is transmitted.
Originally the ABC message was developed in Uganda. It was never meant to be the only answer to HIV prevention. It is therefore essential that we also introduce other acronym in combination with the ABC message to demonstrate that there is more than one way of protecting oneself against HIV. The complexity of the cultural and societal context in which HIV is transmitted demands a multifaceted approach.
A very popular new acronym that manages to capture the multifaceted approach is "SAVE". Even as an acronym, SAVE reflects the underlying purpose of prevention programs; that is our whole purpose - we are here to SAVE lives through education and providing skills.
I will discuss on my next post what SAVE is all about.
Source: "Channels of Hope" workshop manual.
Most people have heard about the ABC approach which stands for abstinence, be mutually faithful and condoms towards HIV prevention. Its main focus is on preventing HIV transmission caused by sexual intercourse but we also learned that sexual activity is only one way of how HIV is transmitted.
Originally the ABC message was developed in Uganda. It was never meant to be the only answer to HIV prevention. It is therefore essential that we also introduce other acronym in combination with the ABC message to demonstrate that there is more than one way of protecting oneself against HIV. The complexity of the cultural and societal context in which HIV is transmitted demands a multifaceted approach.
A very popular new acronym that manages to capture the multifaceted approach is "SAVE". Even as an acronym, SAVE reflects the underlying purpose of prevention programs; that is our whole purpose - we are here to SAVE lives through education and providing skills.
I will discuss on my next post what SAVE is all about.
Source: "Channels of Hope" workshop manual.
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