Basic Facts about HIV & AIDS

This information is very, very IMPORTANT. 

AIDS patient.

Take it seriously. Take time to read it, absorb it, and understand it to act on it. You will need it in the journey to your life because those of us living now were born into an AIDS generation. It is the individual’s responsibility to PREVENT contracting HIV infection. 

Youths are yet to face the reality of life, therefore, encounter it with informed choices. Do not ignore HIV knowledge, or do not pretend, or do not stay away from HIV education, be informed, stay healthy. The Basic Facts on HIV/AIDS information provided on this page is to help you stay informed.

What is HIV?

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It’s a virus that weakens the body’s defence (immune) system until it can no longer fight any illnesses such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, malaria, cancerous tumours, and other medical conditions. HIV infects and kills human CD4 cells (T cells) whose job is to tell our immune system to defend against infection.

What is AIDS?
AIDS stands for Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome. A person is deemed to have AIDS when HIV seriously damages his or her immune system and becomes sick with opportunist infections such as pneumonia, malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, etc...

Does HIV or AIDS have a cure?
At this stage, there is NO cure or vaccine for both HIV and AIDS. However, some treatments prolong the onset of HIV and AIDS. Many with AIDS are now living with a good quality of life, supported by available HIV and AIDS treatments, family support, and positive living.

What is the mode of HIV transmission in PNG?

In PNG HIV is mainly transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse with an HIV positive person. HIV is transmitted by body fluids such as semen, pre-ejaculate fluid, blood, vaginal secretions, or breast milk. HIV is highly likely to be spread through contaminated needles used for injecting drugs, and also for tattooing or body piercing.

How can we protect ourselves from contracting HIV infection?
Individuals can protect themselves from HIV by using ABC strategies;

A = Abstaining or
B = Be faithful to one sexual partner or
C = Use Condom.

If you want to have sex with someone you do not know. Do not share used sharps (they may be infected). If you have sex with a partner who is free from HIV, always correctly use a condom. Proper and consistent condom use can prevent early teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection that includes HIV.

What puts you at risk?
The practice of unsafe vaginal sexual intercourse, oral or anal sex, outside the marriage with someone you do not know unless both partners are medically free from HIV for at least 6 months.

What are the symptoms of HIV?
Many people living with HIV, apparently healthy for many years. Therefore, we cannot depend on any symptoms or signs. The ONLY way to know if individuals have HIV is through a blood test.

Can HIV transmit through casual contact with an infected person?
NO. HIV does not spread by casual contacts such as playing sports, hugging, working together, sharing drinking glasses, breathing the same air, shaking hands, using the same washing water or toilet, touching, closed-mouth kissing, sharing eating utensils or towels, swimming in the same pool, or coming in contact with their sneezes, coughs, tears or sweat. Mosquitoes or animal bites or donating blood do not transmit HIV infection.

What to do if you think you’re at risk?
If you think you’re at risk, or have unprotected sexual contact with a stranger or someone you do not know, go for Volunteer Counselling & Testing (VCT) at the STI and HIV/AIDS clinic, or visit the Provincial AIDS Committee Office for help.

Is HIV testing done in private?
YES. Tests are done in private. No name will be made known to the public, or relatives, health or HIV Workers unless permission is granted by the people who turn out to have HIV.

What is the benefit of VCT?
Knowing your HIV status will help you make positive decisions that will help you stay healthy. You will be provided with information to guide your life to a positive lifestyle. You will go through intensive counselling which will provide opportunities for you to learn about what are HIV, AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI), whether you’re positive or negative.

Smoking parents destroying their children's life

Many smoking parents black or white, irrespective of their race directly killing their children with smoke or teaching them bad social habits. Many parents do not realize their bad social habits yet hang on to them while others do not realize how harmful their bad behaviour which their children are learning as a social norm in a family smoking classroom environment.

The following stories are to help every smoking parent understand and respect the importance of their children's health.

Story#1: 

A smoke of an expatriate guy!

“My daughter and I went to the shop and on return, she requests me to take her to a rest house, before she goes in, she said, “Daddy it’s okay, you can smoke”.

Story#2:

 I ask my kids to go and buy smoke for me.

“I always feel guilty when I ask my kids to go and buy smoke for me”, “yet finding difficult quitting it”. “Truly, I am chain to smoke”.

Story # 3:

“I love my son.

" I took him around wherever I want to go to drink beer”.

“When I go to a restroom, he keeps my beer”

“I didn’t realize how silly father I was”.

“When my son completed from high school course (grade 10)”.

"He went out with his peer to celebrate with beer party".

“What will I say”?

Scenario#4:

Peter Joe said, “he smokes one [1] packet per and in a year, he smokes 365 packets in a year”. He has been smoking for the last 15 years.

This guy smokes like there is no tomorrow.  He feels good because smoking keeps him alive. He sleeps with smoke and opens the day with smoke.

Financial cost

365 packets of smoke X K25.00 ($7.74) =K9, 125.00 x last 15 years K136, 875.00.

This is how he destroys his life.

Now you work it out for yourself how much you have spent to destroy your health.

Parent #1 teacher

The child learns in the family house of the institution before they learn outside of their family. If the family at home are smoking, the learner, the child consider smoke as an acceptable social norm, thus the kids learn new social behaviour thus create a new folder in their mind and save SMOKE as GOOD.

The home is made up of a family that includes a father, mother and children. The children are born as a result of two, husband and wife shared LOVE and they should cherish their love as a valuable thing in their life, but their actions indicate otherwise.

All, kids grow up in a trusted home where they look up to their parents as a number one teacher where they graduate them with an acceptable social value before they’re discharged into the open world.

The number one teacher, releases to their kids their bad social habits of smoking, the kids, create a new folder in their mindset that smoke is an acceptable norm in human life yet not knowing its repercussion. Consequently, when they grow up, they automatically start to smoke.

Important notice to SMOKERS!

Are you teaching your children a valuable social norm or graduating them with a half-baked social character that badly going to reflects how silly your parents you are?

If you give them substandard life, they return what you have invested. Do not expect a high standard.

Therefore, I encourage those smoking parents, do not live your own life but live for your children, thus you’re indeed changing the world.

Lifestyle Health Issues in Papua New Guinea

Introduction.

Papua New Guinea land of Paradise sinking at the fastest rate at the cost of Lifestyle Diseases.

The lifestyle Diseases and tuberculosis which is powered by HIV infection are rising shoulder to shoulder, but Lifestyle Diseases is taking over the lead.

Lifestyle is the fastest-growing public health concern.

Lack of Health Education on Lifestyle Diseases is propelling the increase of preventable diseases and killing lives. 

Many people including the educated people have little or no knowledge or awareness of the choices of daily food.

If those in the Urban areas are 

becoming the victim of Lifestyle Diseases because they eat processed foods.

In daily newspaper articles, there is always an official announcement of someone passing on or seeking financial assistance for overseas specialised medical treatment.

Common Lifestyle Diseases in Papua New Guinea.

Many people are dying from Diabetes or crippled. Why? Because the consumption of sugar base food is very high in Papua New Guinea.

For example, one person can drink 2-5 cans of Coke or Pepsi per day. On their breakfast, white bread or scone, a cup of coffee with 2-6 teaspoons of sugar, or white rice and dinner, white rice, coffee with sugar, or even coke. This continues for a day in, day out, week in, week out and year in, year out.

Papua New Guinea has an uneducated population of alcohol culture. Starting with six bottles of beer is more beer coming its way, till the last penny dries out increases that affects weight and sugar level.

Another major Lifestyle Disease is heart Disease that includes stroke, accumulation of cholesterol in the circulation System, Heart attack.

Health issues develop from three backgrounds; a first family history which can be quickly aggravated by the Lifestyle situation, secondly, the way one lives their daily life- the choice of foods and thirdly, external socioeconomic pressure.

The National Department of Health is yet to rise from its foot to conduct a nationwide lifestyle health program to save the lives of people.

Many highly skilled workforce such as Lawyers, judges, accountants, businessmen (etc) is rapidly becoming the victims of preventable diseases.

Socioeconomic impact of Lifestyle Disease.

A new social trend spiral from the deaths of lifestyle diseases is the shifting of blame to sorcery, which is causing unnecessary social stress.

The immediate family members, especially the children are the biggest loser in the name of Lifestyle Diseases.

Papua New Guinea population needs a new shift of mindset of health concerns by attending to monthly health checks and living a health concerns lifestyle.

AIDS victim buried alive in Papua New Guinea

Full blown AIDS patient 

Veronica, a full-blown AIDS patient, was single and 26 years old when she was diagnosed. She was the first of five children, with her second sister married to a man far away, leaving the three boys in primary school. Veronica had only completed primary education, as her parents were subsistence farmers who could not afford to support her further studies. They were unable to find other opportunities for tertiary education and thus, she was forced to return to the village. 

In the hope of finding opportunities, Veronica migrated to the town. However, living in the city was difficult, and she had to put her life at risk by relying on an uncaring man, who gave her HIV through unprotected sex. After her HIV developed into AIDS, she was forced to go back home to be cared for by her parents. Her health continued to deteriorate until she had to seek medical care at the nearest health centre, where she was diagnosed with AIDS.

At that time, treatment was limited, and so she was taken back home, where news of her condition spread rapidly. The fear of the new infection drowned the minds and hearts of the community, as the social values were quickly replaced by panic. Despite generations of rich cultural and social values, Veronica witnessed firsthand how poorly her community treated people living with HIV/AIDS.

She needed constant support, but no one, including her parents, was there for her. She lived alone in a family home, without the company of relatives, as nobody wanted to risk contracting the infection. The family eventually moved her from the village hamlet to a garden house, a few kilometres from the village, in fear of community pressure.

The community had rejected Veronica, and the family feared that they would lose their standing in society. As a result, they moved her out of the garden and constructed a new home in the bush, where they left her alone. Her physical body, mind, heart, and strength slowly deteriorated, and she was left uncared for. In the end, she was laid to rest in a bare grave, without any care or love.

The treatment of AIDS patients in Papua New Guinea has since improved, with communities now accepting HIV positive people and providing care and support. Medical professionals are treating patients with dignity and pride, while the private sector is coming out publicly to fight stigma and support those with HIV. Ultimately, love heals HIV/AIDS, with increased human love healing the land.

How to quite smoke

Cambridge seller 

Basing on my research Papua Newp Guineans are sitting on a time bomb of social disaster. Many people are already chained to bad social habits. The research findings were on bad social habits like smoke, beer [etc.] that are widespread amongst the young generations.

Almost all the bad social habits are socially learned that are influence by peer social club's members. Once they are hooked to it, it’s difficult to find liberty but chained forever. 

Some of these bad social habits are; smoking, buai/betel nut chewing and substance abuse (alcohol) and gambling.

• Smoking habits.

Where did one start smoking?

I asked the above question to one hundred Smokers, the first answer they said was from the “social club” influence of peer pressure.

The first pull blankets their lives with lots of fun and smiley faces, then it ended up with the symptoms of headaches, nausea (feeling of vomiting) etc.

You know, friends are doing it so to qualify ourselves in the social club and walking on the same path – we register ourselves in the smoking club without knowing the significance of financial, health and family cost, John Morris said.

The 100% of interviewees said they have started smoke for only to secure social qualifications, which have chained them into bad social habits forever.

One guy said, “he had been smoking for 39 years”.

The 50% said they try their very best to quit the smoke but return to their old habit. Almost [100%] everyone said, “smoke is our life” and “if we do not smoke, simply we’re dying”.

They do not know why they are smoking. Even today, they still do not understand the magnitude of damage they are causing to their health, finance and families, especially their children.

They do not realize how much they have spent since start smoking. John Morris said he has been smoking for 20 years at the rate of K20.00 per day. 

He said, “he did not realize how much he spends per year and it’s surprising to know the cost of smoke for the last 20 years”. Below is how much Mr Morris spent on smoke in 20 years.

Financial cost.

365 days per year x K20.00 =K7, 300.00

20 years x K7, 300.00 K146, 000.00

(Workout your own cost using this example).

The cost of other spendings on buai/betel nut, gambling and beer is increased to K8, 000.00 per year.

K8, 000.00 x 20 years =K160, 000.00

If he continues smoking for the next 20 years,  how much money will Mr Morris spend at such a rate?

Chaining their lives (addictive).

Smoking behaviour is very addictive it's not an easy road to quiet.

Do you take smoke leave or holiday? Have you tried not to smoke for a day?

100% of the interviewees said, “they do not take smoke leave or holiday”, which means they smoke every day.

What happens to their bank account? Without notice, the smoke cost draining their bankaccount 24 hours every day until one quits it.  So, the smoking companies’ is feeding the population with rubbish to make money, while the Smoker's bank balance sheets continue to reduce.

Those people who smoke are not better than those who are in the state prison. Their lives are chained to smoke and other bad social habits forever.

To understand how we are chain to smoke, let’s consider the following two [2] scenarios: 

Scenario 1:

Two friends visit you! One will ask for K2.00 and another one will ask for K100.00. Their reasons are: They want to use the money to buy food or things they need.

Which amount easy is pop-up in your pocket?

K2.00 or K100.00!

Answer: 100% of interviewees said K2.00! Good!

Scenario 2:

We are having a dry season. Luckily the sky has blessed the land with rainfall. Now the two tanks are filled with sky juice. Unfortunately, one tank tape is linking and the other one, kids have opened the tape and it's flushing.

Which tape/tank will one pay attention to?

Answer: 100% said the flushing one! Correct!

What many do not realize is the small things that add up to big things. In executing a task, if you do not get the smallest procedure correct, you will not complete the task correctly thus put the lives of humans and properties at greater risk.

How much do you spend on smoke?

So, spending little by little, the individual is developing a new behaviour of not caring for small things, which adds up to the big thing, which is further explained below. 

The accumulation of K2.00 over the 365 days will add up to the significant financial cost. If you put the empty bucket under a leaking tape. What do you notice early in the morning or in the afternoon? The bucket is full. That’s how you waste your money on smoke.

It’s direct harm to an individual's health where one is reducing their life expectancy every time he smokes and certainly will die young with many medical complications.

How does one quiet?

You have started the smoke for no good reason, but you have the reasons now to quit smoking. The followings are few tips one can use to STOP smoking.

1. Stop the activity that prompts you to smoke.
2. Engage in an activity that interests you a lot on smoking time
3. Carry less cash in your pocket.
4. Stop smoke for your children: Promise your kids that for them you will stop smoking
5. Stop smoke for your health
6. Stop smoke for your money
7. Engage in physical exercise
8. Drink plenty of water daily.
9. Associate with non-smokers than smokers.
10. Seeking psychotherapist support.

                       Be a man…stop smoke!