Tag Archives: ABCs of HIV/AIDS prevention

Don’t wait for the AIDS vaccine

I posted this on my other blog in September 2009 but had to erase it when I changed the blog’s name and niche.

My heart skipped a bit when I heard over the radio that an experimental AIDS vaccine in Thailand is showing remarkable result to patient volunteers. Experts said the vaccine has reduced the rate of infection by 30 percent. I’m thrilled to know that there is hope for my friends who are living with HIV for years especially those who depend on dole outs to support the cocktail medicine to keep them healthy.

The cocktail medicine I’m talking about is a combination of three or four different medicine people with HIV/AIDS take to keep their immune system stronger and protect them from easily getting germs or bacteria.

Dr. Eric Tayag who is at the helm of the National Epidemiology Center of the Department of Health (Dr. Tayag is now serving as the Assistant Secretary of the DOH) welcomed the much-awaited development in the AIDS vaccine.

However, the soft-spoken DOH official reminds us that we don’t have to wait for the AIDS vaccine to be available in the country and for the number of cases to increase before we learn the simple steps to avoid getting the virus.

While we are all anticipating for the full development of the AIDS vaccine and for it to be available in the market which I hope would be in the near future, let’s pause for a while and learn the ABCs of AIDS prevention…as easy as…

A – Abstain

B – Be faithful

C – Condom use