HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh and Present Research
HIV/AIDS is one of the most complex health and socio-economic problems in the world at present, having adverse impacts on individuals, communities and societies. It has become increasingly concentrated among marginalized populations in developing countrie
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HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh and Present Research
1.1 Introduction HIV/AIDS is one of the most complex health and socio-economic problems in the world at present, having adverse impacts on individuals, communities and societies. Over the last two decades, it has become increasingly concentrated among marginalized populations in developing countries like Bangladesh. Apart from behavioural and bio-medical risk factors, HIV/AIDS has spread fast where there is widespread stigma and discrimination, along with poverty and illiteracy. In particular, stigma continues to remain a major barrier to treatment and this in turn enhances vulnerability. According to the World Health Organization (2019), HIV is transmitted mostly through semen and vaginal fluids during unprotected sex without the use of condoms. Globally, most cases of sexual transmission involve men and women, although in some developed countries homosexual activity remains the primary mode. Beside sexual intercourse, HIV can also be transmitted during drug injection by the sharing of needles contaminated with infected blood, by the transfusion of infected blood or blood products and from an infected woman to her baby: before birth, during birth or just after delivery (WHO, 2019). Many people with HIV do not know that they are infected and this lack of diagnosis makes it difficult to bring them under any form of care. Once infected, a person may not have symptoms for many years but can still transmit the disease to others. The virus multiplies in the body and eventually destroys the immune system. As a result, tuberculosis and other bacteria can cause opportunistic infections (OIs), although usually these organisms will not cause disease in healthy people. The terminal stage of HIV infection, when patients suffer from OIs, is called AIDS. Approximately 50% of HIV-infected persons will develop AIDS after 7–10 years of infection. The average survival time for a person with AIDS may be only 6 months in developing countries and 1–3 years in developed countries (WHO, 1997). However, with the advent of new antiretroviral therapy, survival has improved dramatically in richer countries. These drugs, which are © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 A. Paul, HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh, Global Perspectives on Health Geography, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57650-9_1
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1 HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh and Present Research
very expensive, are unfortunately beyond the reach of most patients in the developing world. According to the World Disasters Report by International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC, 2018), HIV/AIDS is the disaster that keeps on killing. Globally, the HIV/AIDS epidemic constitutes one of the most burning threats known to humankind. Since the start of the epidemic, more than 35.4 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses and 77.3 million people have become infected with HIV. According to the latest figures published by UNAIDS (2018), an estimated 37.9 million people globally wer
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