Inadvertently, there are approximately 6 million people living with HIV worldwide

In the Wednesday (1) version of the framework medical reporter, in Novo Dia, neurosurgeon Fernando Gomez commented on World AIDS Day, celebrated around the world, and the difficulties faced by patients with the disease that left 690,000 deaths in 2020.

Survey conducted by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, against the United Nations AIDS, that 37.5 million people around the world are infected with the virus human immunodeficiency virus The first stage of infection, which should not be confused with the disease itself. Of these, nearly 6 million do not know they are carriers.

According to Gomez, one of the main reasons for underdiagnosis is bias, which lowers the rate of testing worldwide. Measure, he says, is necessary to ensure effective treatment and to control the long-term progression of symptoms. “The earlier a diagnosis is made, the better for your health and for the people you relate to.”

He continued, “There is no point in running away, we need to face the situation, create a treatment quickly and turn it from a serious matter that can take people’s lives, to a chronic problem that can be dealt with more smoothly with medicines.” .

The neurosurgeon also demystified one of the major stigmas related to AIDS, which has killed nearly 35 million people worldwide since the beginning of the epidemic, in the 1980s: that a diagnosis of HIV equates to the death penalty. “It is not true these days. Despite dealing with the problem for 40 years, its beginning was something that attracted a lot of attention, and caused a lot of fear,” he said.

According to the doctor, education is one of the factors that can help the clinical development of patients, avoiding the possibility of death. “[Sem tratamento] You can quickly get to the question of clinical manifestations of the disease. Sometimes the brain itself, when it has a diagnosis like this, seems to fall into a state of intense melancholy. And we know that this affects the functioning of the immune system.”

Once we understand the scale of the problem and the challenge, everything becomes easier. Everyone in the community can and should talk about AIDS. It’s not a death sentence, it’s a situation that makes you enjoy a healthier lifestyle. You need to take the medication correctly, follow it properly, and [Sistema Único de Saúde] He concluded that SUS presents this in a very elegant and beneficial way for everyone.”