Frequently Asked Questions

Here are several questions often asked about HIV and AIDS. We will address these questions through this course. We have also provided a good overview: Facts and Myths About AIDS, which can give teachers a good grounding on the subject.

PDF Version below:

Facts and Myths About AIDS

This information, in poster form (tested successfully in Uganda) answers some of the questions below:

Questions:

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Useful Resources for Teachers on HIV and AIDS

Common Questions About HIV/AIDS

(online only - U.S. focused) Full Manual on HIV-AIDS (with pictures): This manual describes the symptoms as well as treatments in a language clear and simple enough for all to understand. Basic Knowledge on HIV-AIDS/STD This site was developed by UNESCO and includes information from which students can be quizzed to judge their knowledge of the subject.

Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS : Strategies for Hope: (online only) An excellent model that encourages community mobilization around HIV/AIDS (i.e. to get people involved in HIV/AIDS prevention and care efforts) They use the Stepping Stones community training curriculum. National and Regional NGO links (country by country): This is a good source to find out what is happening in HIV-AIDS education around the world.

Additional Resources (PDFs)

AIDS Basics

More Basic Knowledge

HIV

HIV is a virus. Illnesses caused by a virus cannot be cured by antibiotics. (Although medicines may help to reduce the symptoms) People who have a virus - such as a cold - usually get better after a few days or weeks because the white blood cells of the immune system - which are responsible for fighting diseases - successfully overcomes them.

When a person is infected with HIV, the immune system tries to fight off the virus and does make some antibodies, but these antibodies are not able to defeat HIV.

The person is said to be HIV Positive. Many people do not feel ill at all when they are first infected. They may have no symptoms for a long time. They have not yet got AIDS.

HIV acts by gradually destroying the immune system of the infected person. After about 5 to 10 years (although much earlier in a minority of cases) the immune system becomes so weak - or 'deficient'- that it cannot fight off infections as it used to. (For reading sources, click here.)

HIV is found in body fluids such as blood, semen, vaginal fluids and breastmilk. It is passed from one person to another - or transmitted - only in very specific ways. These are:

HIV does not spread through "casual" everyday contact between people.

It is not transmitted by coughing, or sneezing, or by touching or hugging someone who has the virus.

It is not spread in air, water or in food, or by sharing cups, bowls, cutlery, clothing, or toilet seats.

And HIV is not transmitted by biting insects such as mosquitoes, because the quantity of blood on their mouthparts is too minute. (For reading source, click here.)

Further Resource: UNAIDS

AIDS

Eventually the infected [HIV] person may lose weight and become ill with diseases like persistent severe diarrhea, fever, or pneumonia, or skin cancer. He or she has now developed AIDS.

At the moment, in spite of much research, there is no cure for HIV or for AIDS and so, sadly, it is almost certain that people diagnosed with AIDS will die. (For reading sources, click here.)

The Role of Culture

Around the world a variety of cultural practices and traditions increase young people's risk for HIV/AIDS. For the most part, these practices and traditions affect young people more than adults - and affect young women even more than young men.

Women's Status

In many societies women are expected and taught to subordinate their own interests to those of their partners. With such expectations, young women often feel powerless to protect themselves against HIV infection and unintended pregnancies. Often, adolescent girls endure sexual coercion and abuse. In Kenya 40% of sexually active female secondary school students said that they have been forced or tricked into sex (3). In Cameroon 40% of female adolescents reported that their first intercourse was forced (313). Young women sometimes give in to having sex for fear that, if they refuse, they will be raped anyway (205).

Wife abuse is widespread. In some countries more than 40% of women have been assaulted by their partners (119). Gender-based violence is closely linked to HIV/AIDS (220). In Rwanda, for example, HIV-positive women with an HIV-positive partner were more likely to report sexual coercion in their relationship than were women without HIV (380). In Tanzania partner violence was 10 times higher among young HIV-positive women than HIV-negative women (220). Many women do not dare even to bring up the topic of condoms for protection against HIV infection for fear that they will be physically abused (381).

Marriage Practices

In many cultures, the premium placed on having children often leads to childhood marriage and early childbearing. Girls as young as age 10 are given to older men in marriage in order to cement friendships and economic ties between families. When girls are married to older men, they can be vulnerable to HIV infection because their husbands usually have already had a number of sexual partners. Social, political, and religious barriers often hide young wives from the world (423), while their husbands frequently have other sexual partners (12).

Polygyny, the practice of a man having multiple wives, occurs in some countries. In Africa, when the husband seeks a new, often younger, wife, he may have sexual contact with a number of women in the process and thus risk bringing HIV home (7, 12, 41). In some cultures, wife inheritance is practiced - a tradition in which a wife is given to her brother-in-law upon her husband's death. Thus, either partner can be at risk of HIV infection if the other is infected. Younger widows are at particular risk because they are more likely to seek and be sought by other sex partners (6, 277, 321).

In some societies payment of bridal dowry is necessary when a man and woman marry. In parts of Africa the man pays the dowry to the woman's family. Once the marriage is sealed with the dowry, the woman is considered "paid for" and often cannot leave her husband, should marital problems ensue. Even if her husband's behavior places her at risk of HIV infection, the woman may not be able to protect herself (119).

Rites of Passage

Cultural rites of passage from childhood into adulthood, although traditionally serving to unite communities, can increase risks for HIV. For example, traditional male or female circumcisions are sometimes carried out using unsterilized equipment. Researchers think that male circumcision reduces risks for HIV transmission by removing part of the foreskin that is particularly vulnerable to HIV. In some communities, however, circumcision ceremonies often are accompanied by post-initiation sexual experimentation, which increases risks for HIV (174, 350). For example, among the Maasai of East Africa the relationship among male peers is so close that, after circumcision, the initiates share wives and girlfriends.

Sexual Practices

Some sexual practices such as dry sex-the insertion of foreign objects to dry the vagina or to make it tighter -can cause cuts and scratches that create openings for HIV to pass through (321). Other practices, such as virginity testing of women, may place such a high premium on chastity before marriage that unmarried women practice anal sex instead, putting themselves at even greater risk for HIV/AIDS than if they had vaginal sex (341).

Assignment 1 - Your Context and Community

We would like you to describe the challenges and opportunities facing you and your school in terms of HIV-AIDS Education, by providing us with information.

There are FOUR ways in which you can send your responses to your HIV-AIDS Mentor.

HIV-AIDS Mentor

Teachers Without Borders

2880 74th Avenue, S.E.

Mercer Island, WA 98040

U.S.A.

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HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS for Assignment 1 - Your Context and Community

Please describe the challenges and opportunities facing you and your school in terms of HIV-AIDS Education, by providing us with information.

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This is the last page of this section. To get to the next section, you MUST use the "Outline" button and choose the next topic called "Guidelines for the Surveys" - written in black - and click on it in order to get to it.)