Success Story on HIV/AIDS

Advantages of a planned pregnancy

A woman who knows that she or her partner is HIV positive before she becomes pregnant is better able to plan ahead. If she does not want to have a child then she should consider effective contraception. If she decides to become pregnant then early interventions may be able to help protect her, her partner and her baby. Doctors will be able to advise which interventions are best suited to her situation, and whether she should adjust any treatment she is already receiving.

Pregnancy does not make a woman's own health worse in respect of HIV.¹ Being pregnant may cause her CD4 count (see below) to drop slightly, but it should return to its pre-pregnancy level soon after her baby is born.

Protection at conception

An HIV positive woman with an HIV negative partner can become pregnant without endangering her partner by using artificial insemination (the process by which sperm is placed into a female's genital tract using artificial means rather than by natural sexual intercourse). This simple technique provides total protection for the man, but does nothing to reduce the risk of HIV transmission to the baby.

If the man has HIV then the only effective way to prevent transmission is sperm washing. This involves separating sperm cells from seminal fluid, and then testing these for HIV before artificial insemination or in vitro fertilisation. Sperm washing is a very effective way to protect both the mother and her baby, but it is only available at a few clinics and can be difficult to access, even in well resourced countries.

When both partners are HIV positive, it might still be sensible for them not to engage in frequent unprotected sex, because there might be a small risk of one re-infecting the other with a different strain of HIV.

If a couple do decide to try conceiving a child by unprotected sex then they should seek advice on how to limit the risk to each other and to their baby. It is worth noting that someone is less likely to transmit HIV if they are receiving effective antiretroviral treatment, and also if neither they nor their partner has any other sexually transmitted infections. In addition, by limiting unprotected sex to the time of ovulation, a couple can reduce the number of opportunities for HIV to be transmitted between them.

The rest of this page is written from the point of view of a woman who knows she is HIV positive and pregnant (created by avert.org).

1. Be open and honest. Communication is vital in a situation like this that concerns health and safety. Do not underemphasize your feelings about the situation. Explain honestly why you are concerned and why you feel your husband’s sexual habits are unhealthy. If they are encouraging you to do something that you are uncomfortable with, be open about your reservations and explain exactly why you don’t want to do it.

2. Have accurate information ready. If your husband’s sexual habits are dangerous or put either of you at risk for contracting a sexually transmitted disease, get the basic facts before you talk to your husband. This will help inform both of you and will help your husband understand why you are concerned. If the sexual habits are not dangerous but are still things that you are uncomfortable with, do some research on the number of couples that actively participate in these behaviors to let your husband see that the behaviors you are uncomfortable with do not have to be a part of your relationship for it to be enjoyable.

3.Suggest new things that the two of you can try as a couple that would be safe but still exciting and that both of you will be comfortable with. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, take the initiative and try one of these alternatives as a surprise. This will keep the spark in your relationship, keep the sex exciting and show your husband that there are alternatives that both of you can be happy with.

4. Get professional help. Couples counseling can help you explore why you are not comfortable with the behavior and help your husband explain why he feel the need to do it anyway. Having an objective third party may be the key to helping your husband understand why you are discouraging these behaviors.

5. Protect yourself. You have the right to refuse to participate in activities or behaviors that you feel are unsafe or that you are uncomfortable with. If you have discussed your husband’s sexual habits with him and tried to discourage them in every way possible and they persist, it might be time to consider leaving. You can’t force your husband to change his sexual habits, but you can refuse to be a part of them and take care of yourself (http://www.clubfemina.com).

There are no Qur’anic verses on epidemics, whether of the immune deficient or SARS type. Yet Muslims must address these problems. Furthermore, if a Muslim is efficient at bringing about a cure, or resolving the issue of the spread of these diseases, we might want to associate his or her “Islam” with the consequence of their research or medical findings. If we do make this association, however, it will at best be indirect. Even if the successful researcher makes an explicit or direct statement that the work was accomplished as a result of his or her being Muslim, it will be impossible to refer to a specific Qur’anic verse or prophetic ahâdîth that can stand as the foundation of the technical skills, medical know how or research methods that could actually prove to bring about the solution. In a sense this gives us, as Muslims, the greater freedom in participating fully and responsibly in the search for a cure. If we fail, we cannot be indicted as bad Muslims. On the other hand, if we are successful, we cannot associate our success explicitly to Islam, even as we take inspiration from it.

Likewise, we cannot blame a failure of Islam as the cause for AIDS. If we address shortcomings within family law, as conditional upon the safety and security of those whose lives suffer from existing family structures, then we can help to reconstruct the law to remove those factors which help the spread of AIDS. Although these structural problems may be seen as secondary causes of the spread of the virus, the process of reducing the spread of it has shown the need to address all causes. Furthermore, these structural changes have other positive results in formulating more egalitarian families and society.

As a non-medical person, and one who does not contribute to disease research, I am clear that I cannot propose a solution to HIV/AIDS. My concern here is to address the ways that hollow Islamic theological rhetoric is made hallow or sacred by authoritarian means. Religious leaders, scholars and medical personnel cannot resort to these empty platitudes to excuse them from dealing directly with a problem of this catastrophic proportion ((created by Amina Wadud).

In the United States, the annual number of new HIV infections has declined from a peak of more than 150,000 in the mid-1980s and has stabilized since the late 1990s at approximately 40,000. Populations of minority races or ethnicities are disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic. To reduce further the incidence of HIV, there announced a new initiative. This initiative comprises 4 strategies: making HIV testing a routine part of medical care, implementing new models for diagnosing HIV infections outside medical settings, preventing new infections by working with HIV-infected persons and their partners, and further decreasing perinatal HIV transmission.

Through the ways to reduce health disparities in communities made up of persons of minority races or ethnicities who are at high risk for HIV. These funds are used to address the high-priority HIV prevention needs in such communities.

The following are some prevention programs that state and local health departments and CBOs can provide for youth.

• Teens Linked to Care is focused on young people aged 13–29 who are living with HIV.
• Street Smart is an HIV/AIDS and STD prevention program for runaway and homeless youth.
• PROMISE (Peers Reaching Out and Modeling Intervention Strategies for HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction in their Community) is a community-level HIV prevention intervention that relies on role-model stories and peers from the community.
• Adult Identity Mentoring project, which encourages students to articulate personal goals and then teaches them the skills required to achieve those goals, can be effective in helping at-risk youth delay the initiation of sex .

Clear parent-child communication regarding values and expectations about sex is an important step in helping adolescents delay sexual initiation and make responsible decisions about sexual behaviors later in life. Parents are in a unique position to engage their children in conversations about HIV, STD, and teen pregnancy prevention because the conversations can be ongoing and timely .

Schools also can be important partners for reaching youth before high-risk behaviors are established, as evidenced by the YRBS finding that 88% of high school students in the United States reported having been taught about AIDS or HIV infection in school.

Overall, a multifaceted approach to HIV/AIDS prevention, which includes individual, peer, familial, school, church, and community programs, is necessary to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS in young people (created by cdc.gov).

Although there are no confirmed cases of female-to-female transmission of HIV, female sexual contact should be considered a possible means of transmission among WSW. These women need to know

• their own and their partner’s HIV serostatus. This knowledge can help women who are not infected to change their behaviors and thus reduce their risk of becoming infected. For women who are infected, this knowledge can help them get early treatment and avoid infecting others.
• the risk for exposure through a mucous membrane. Potentially, HIV can be transmitted through the exposure of a mucous membrane (in the mouth, for example), especially if the tissue is cut or torn, to vaginal secretions and menstrual blood. The potential for transmission is greater during early and late-stage HIV infection, when the amount of virus in the blood is expected to be highest.
• the potential benefits of using condoms. Condoms should be used consistently and correctly during every sexual contact with men or when using sex toys. Sex toys should not be shared. No barrier methods for use during oral sex have been evaluated as effective by the Food and Drug Administration. However, natural rubber latex sheets, dental dams, condoms that have been cut and spread open, or plastic wrap may offer some protection from contact with body fluids during oral sex and thus may reduce the possibility of HIV transmission (created by cdc.gov).