9th of 10 things you ought to know about HIV

Total HIV patients in Malaysia is documented ~ 75,000 end of 2006 .
Have we identified and confirmed all of them ?
Or
It is just the upper half of a floating iceberg ?

1. Documented figure in Malaysia year 2006 report is ~ 75000 ,
but UN has estimated ~ 2 - 3 times under reporting in most communities .
If this is true , then the actual figure in Malaysia is touching 150,000 .
Many go undetected due to
A. lack of universal screening
B. Silent nature of HIV with 5 – 10 years incubation period




This is because HIV patients cannot be detected by naked eye
in the early 5 - 10 years of life after infection .
In the early phase , HIV can be detected and confirmed by blood testing .

" UNIVERSAL SCREENING AND EDUCATION "

Practically , we need to change the mindset of the " low risk " people
that HIV is a disease of human being and all of us are at risk .

Objective of checking blood for HIV is because you

1. love yourself , your husband and your children .
2. not because you have done something wrong , but to make sure everything right .

As mentioned earlier , HIV has travelled from high risk men to low risk women and children .

In Johor , premarital HIV screening was iniated among muslim around 2003 .
The program has been detected about 1 in 500 men or ladies registering for marriage .
In another word , the program has detected at least 1 HIV seed-planted family in every 250 future couples and families .
If nothing were done , 10 years down the line , a HIV family will be produced with
1 HIV husband + 1 HIV wife + 2 HIV children .








HIV rapid kit is a screening tool with ~ > 95% sensitivity and
specificity, but it is still inadequate to confirm HIV ,as it is a highly
stigmatized disease .

1. If negative + no risk for last 6 months
= > 95% confident is negative

2. If negative with risk last 6 months
= repeat 6 months later to clear the window period .

3. If positive on rapid kit , there are 1 - 3 % of false positive
= keep calm and proceed with la test ( EIA/ PA/ LIA)

There are many advantages of early detection if is properly done with education

1. If detected during early pregnancy and proper intervention given to the HIV pregnant mother ,
this will decrease the risk of transmission from mother to newborn baby from

40% in Africa countries ( without intervention )
to
1% in Scandinavian countries with ideal intervention .

2. If detected before marriage , then transmission
between discordant spouse and pregnancy can be prevented .

3. If detected before marriage for a single man / woman ,
then early detection , monitoring and initiation of treatment
when their immune system drop to about 30% .
By this , we can prevent serious illness
due to weak organism and prolonged hospitalisation .


BRING HOME MESSAGE

CHECK YOURSELF , YOUR LOVED ONE

1. BEFORE MARRIAGE / SEXUAL DEBUT
2. BEFORE PLANNING FOR PREGNANT
3. IN EARLY FIRST TRIMESTER OF PREGNANCY
4. BEFORE THIRD TRIMESTER
5. AFTER THAT , DEPENDING ON YOU AND YOUR SPOUSE'S FAITHFULNESS