WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE Between HIV & AIDS!?

Is there a cure?

Worryingly, surveys show that many people think that there’s a ‘cure’ for AIDS – which makes them feel safer, and perhaps take risks that they otherwise shouldn’t. These people are wrong, though - there is still no cure for AIDS.

There is antiretroviral medication which slows the progression from HIV+ to AIDS, and which can keep some people healthy for many years. In some cases, the antiretroviral medication seems to stop working after a number of years, in other cases people can recover from AIDS and live with HIV for decades. But they have to take powerful medication every day of their lives, sometimes with very unpleasant side-effects.



 

The Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+) is the global network for and by people living with HIV; Improving the quality of life of people living with HIV through Advocacy, Community Strengthening and Knowledge Management.

On Sunday 19 May 2013, for the 30th time, grassroots organisations worldwide will commemorate International AIDS Candlelight Memorial. Our South Bank HIVe will gather to raise awareness around HIV, stand together with people living with HIV and remember the loved ones lost to HIV and AIDS. We look forward to your Participation and Support of Our Local memorial. Your support is essential to stop stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and to help with the commemoration of the millions of people who passed away since the beginning of the HIV epidemic.

What is the difference between HIV and AIDS?

HIV is the virus that causes the disease AIDS. Although HIV causes AIDS, a person can be infected with HIV for many years before AIDS develops.

When HIV enters your body, it infects specific c...ells in your immune system. These cells are called CD4 cells or helper T cells. They are important parts of your immune system and help your body fight infection and disease. When your CD4 cells are not working well, you are more likely to get sick.

Usually, CD4 cell counts in someone with a healthy immune system range from 500 to 1,800 per cubic millimeter of blood. AIDS is diagnosed when your CD4 cell count goes below 200. Even if your CD4 cell count is over 200, AIDS can be diagnosed if you have HIV and certain diseases such as tuberculosis or Pneumocystis carinii [NEW-mo-SIS-tis CA-RIN-nee-eye] pneumonia (PCP).

There are general stages of HIV infection that you may go through before AIDS develops.

Infection. The earliest stage is right after you are infected. HIV can infect cells and copy itself before your immune system has started to respond. You may have felt flu-like symptoms during this time.

Response. The next stage is when your body responds to the virus. Even if you don’t feel any different, your body is trying to fight the virus by making antibodies against it. This is called seroconversion, when you go from being HIV negative to HIV positive.
No symptoms. You may enter a stage in which you have no symptoms. This is called asymptomatic infection. You still have HIV and it may be causing damage that you can’t feel.

Symptoms. Symptomatic HIV infection is when you develop symptoms, such as certain infections, including PCP.

AIDS. AIDS is diagnosed when you have a variety of symptoms, infections, and specific test results. There is no single test to diagnose AIDS.

How long does it take to go from HIV infection to a diagnosis of AIDS?

See More

Living with HIV/AIDS | Brochures | CDC HIV/AIDS

www.cdc.gov

This brochure covers many of the topics a newly diagnosed person may be interested in. Today, thousands of people are living with HIV or AIDS. Many are leading full, happy, and productive lives. You can too if you work with your doctor and others and take the steps outlined in this booklet to stay healthy.

 



Subject: Re: [RainbowNews] Digest -AVOC "Rollin' On The River.8/29
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 19:18:02 -0400
From: "Michael W. Connett"
Organization: "The Michael W. Connett-'LIVING' Trust"

How fortuitous that these two items appeared together!
One of the things that I have come to realize along my Journey is that the talents with which I was blessed (an ability to write/communicate) were given to facilitate my purpose or "calling" in this life to teach/educate. That was a real and truthful motivation for my decision to join The Christian Brothers upon my graduation from Newport Catholic High School. The real but less truthful motivation was my attempt to escape the intolerance of my family and society by finding a "Respectable" closet to reside in. That being said, here is the lesson I want to share with you:

"THE TRUTH ABOUT 'AIDS SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS'

IN GREATER CINCINNATI"

(ASO's-both professional and Community Based Organizations/CBO's)

In a nutshell it is this: that the same kind of very real TENSION (although largely unspoken) that exists between a smaller/less known organization and a larger/very well known one as cited in the article by Doug Ireland, exists between the Three major players in AIDS Services here. AVOC is the larger and more well known organization that like the HRC, operates primarily in one area/state, gets all the recognition and manages to raise the great majority of Community Based Funding. However, they have evolved into a Professional ASO under contract with the State of Ohio to administer case management, education and prevention activities - thereby trying to wear two hats at once as both a Professional ASO and a Volunteer-driven CBO. Conversely in the same geographic area yet another state, we have two existing organizations (AVNK-the CBO & NKIDHD AIDS Care Management Program-the ASO) that like the Oregon group are smaller and less well known, each wear only one hat and struggle to meet their clients needs in the shadow of AVOC who like the HRC only dispenses to them the scraps from their bountiful table. Case in point: For the last three years I have been trying to get assistance from the PAWS program for my faithful canine companion-Moses. This last Sunday, through the perseverance of my Case Manager-Vicki Simon and the defiance to AVOC's exclusionary preferences by the VOLUNTEERS that run the PAWS program, I was able to participate in the free Vet Care Event at the SCPA and get Moses caught up on the shots that he was a year overdue for. I am deeply grateful to all involved in making this event and my participation in it possible!!!

As Olympic Gold Medalist Greg Louganis says in his recent book - "For The Life Of Your Dog": "Dogs have always been important players in my life. Sometimes I think I may even owe them my life. Living with HIV, I have come to know personally and intimately the exquisite power of the human/animal bond. I don't need scientific research studies to tell me that when you share a special relationship with animals-in my case dogs-your outlook improves, you enjoy a more fulfilling life, and most significantly, you are better equipped to heal and fight off disease. There seems to be a direct link between the human/animal bond and the human immune system, and I have been a beneficiary of that link."

There is no doubt in my mind as well, that having Moses by my side the last 5 years is a major reason why I have been able to survive living with HIV. In talking to several of the PAWS volunteers, I learned that last Sundays Vet Care Day was made possible and organized solely through their efforts and the generosity of the Veterinary professionals who donated their time as well as the necessary vaccines and supplies. To my complete surprise and chagrin I learned that although the PAWS Program operates as a service under the AVOC umbrella, they receive no budget or direct financial assistance from them for their operation. Except in the case where a donation is made to AVOC specifically designated for the PAWS Program. Over the last eight years that I have been living with HIV, from the beginning in CincinNASTY and now in my native No. Ky., I have come to realize the inequities that currently exist. Although there exits this great disproportion between the amount of Community Based fundraisng received by AVOC from Northern Kentucky and the amount of programs and services then returned by AVOC to the Northern Kentucky clients, I have been ignored, muzzled or discredited when I have tried to be vocal and raise awareness about it. But AIDS is FAR FROM Being Over...Although there is no cure or vaccine in sight, people continue to be infected and then are living longer putting a strain on all the available resources. IT IS TIME for unnecessary strains on our resources like the one presented here, to be recognized and rectified!

 

Fast Forward to the Present:

We now have, on both sides of the river; 2 Non-Profit AIDS Service/Community Based Organizations that have NO State Dept of Health designation, get no Ryan White Federal Funding and have no responsibility for any particular Programs or Services. StopAIDS (formerly AVOC) OWNS & Benefits from the Annual "Greater Cincinnati" AIDS Walk while AVNK is a designated 501(c)3 designated "Charity" of the I.S.Q.C.C.B.E, and BOTH have substantial bank balances!? WTF!?

At last year's International AIDS Conference that returned to the United States after 20+ years and was held in conjunction with the 25th Anniversary of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt in our Nation's Capitol; the Goal of an AIDS-Free Generation by 2015 was announced.

Phil Wilson, President of the Black AIDS Institute gave a plenary address that outlined the steps and things we in America need to do to ensure we don't miss the boat. Of particular interest to me was his admonition to our established ASOs & CBOs:

"Finally, the fifth thing we need to do is that AIDS organizations need to retool themselves to the rapidly evolving AIDS Landscape. Communities will always remain central to our ability to end AIDS. But most of  organizations have focused rtise on behavioral interventions only.  FEW have meaningful scientific expertise and fewer still actually deliver healthcare services.edical tools rapidly becoming a critical part of our (HIV) AIDS response and with the Affordabler Care Act poised to dramatically alter the terrain for health and social services, many ASOs/CBOs risk becoming wholly irrelevant."  IMHO, the two cited above already have...