AIDS - Prevention is better than cure

AIDS is one of the most dangerous diseases on the planet. As is the case of any diseases, AIDS prevention also is better than curing it after you gets infected. A major reason which is hampering the AIDS prevention activities around the is the lack of proper sexual education of the people involved and the taboos associated in different cultures around the world regarding condoms usage. Let us take a look at some of the major causes of AIDS infection and how to avoid those situations.
The single most important cause behind the transmission of AIDS is sexual contact. One of the partners has to be HIV positive so as to spread the virus to his/her sexual partner. And the virus spreads only when you have unprotected sex. So the key word is protection here. And condoms can do whole lot of difference here. Studies conducted on HIV positive people and his/her disease free partner who had used condoms during all their sexual activities have shown that the rate of infection is less than 1%. This proves the reliability of condoms. As long as the condoms are used properly, they are very safe. The overall safety of condoms is above 80%. And this rate goes significantly higher when the condom is used properly. The lubricants used with the condom can play a significant role in the effectiveness of the condom. Oil based lubricants can corrode the material of latex condoms and should be avoided. Water based lubricants will work fine with latex condoms and thus helping AIDS prevention.
HIV can be infected to the infant's body from the mother during pregnancy. Again if the mother had safe sex all through her sexual activities, this could be avoided. In the cases where the disease is not transferred to the kid during pregnancy, HIV can be transferred through breast milk and hence breast-feeding should be avoided.
Male circumcision is known to have a positive effect in reducing the rate of AIDS infection. As circumcision has religious as well as cultural angles associated with it, many people would be wary of undergoing the procedure even as a tool for such a worthy cause as AIDS prevention.
Medical personal like doctors and nurses are always at the risk of getting infected from infected patients. This is especially true when surgical operations are performed on the patients. These risks can be reduced to a certain extent by using protective gloves, goggles etc. Washing your hand and face routinely with soap can reduce the chances of getting infected. Extra care need to be given while handling any sharp objects like needles, surgical knives etc.
Blood transfusion is another instance when you could get infected. Only thing you can do for AIDS prevention in this regard is to use tested blood for transfusion. You may use the blood of some one you are familiar with so as to reduce the chances of infection.
Drug addicts get infected with AIDS when they exchange the syringe used to inject them selves. Some governments around the world have created projects where they provide new syringes to drug addicts so as to improve the chances of AIDS prevention.