There are millions of people who have died due to HIV. It is of great importance that this infection is diagnosed early and intervened correctly. However, many patients do not know that they have HIV infection. Experts in HIV infection, which is stated to have infected approximately 38.4 million people in the world, stated that the figures in Turkey started to cause concern and said, “A silent pandemic continues in Turkey, the diagnoses in our country have started to increase. Now we see patients since high school age. Especially in the Istanbul region, we can only recognize 50 percent of it. Most of the cases are in Istanbul, Turkey. “50% of people live their lives without knowing their diagnosis, this worries us,” he said.
THE RATE OF SEEN IN OUR COUNTRY HAS BEEN INCREASING
Explaining that in addition to the decrease in age in infection, the rate of people who are not aware of carrying the infection is very high. Fehmi Tabak said, “The 42nd year of the identification of HIV infection, of course, has undergone many changes from the very beginning until today. We are in a period where patients receiving treatment are no longer contagious, and we have entered a period in which their life expectancy is prolonged and they lead a life equivalent to their age group. A silent pandemic continues in Turkey as a continuation of the pandemic in the world. In many developed countries, HIV infection cases started to increase in our country while new diagnoses were decreasing. Now we have 4-5 thousand new definitions per year. Since 1985, we have been following approximately 35 thousand HIV-infected people. We are trying to explain that there is nothing to worry about in patients under treatment, that they are no different from normal people, that they can be treated more easily in terms of contagious characteristics, and that there is no need for worries.
AWARENESS IS VERY IMPORTANT
We now see patients from high school, with an average age of between 20 and 40 years. This began to evolve into a slightly younger age. We know that many of our patients are homosexual, and now we have about 15 percent of our patients diagnosed in women. 85% of them are male, and a significant portion of them are homosexuals. Awareness is very important, we do not know at least half of our patients. Those patients we do not know continue to transmit the disease. The first mode of transmission; sexual intercourse, there are more benefits that we cannot explain in having a test. Especially in the Istanbul region, we can only recognize 50 percent of it. Most of the cases are in Istanbul, Turkey. It will increase for a while in our country, but after a while these increases will stop, so awareness is very important. There are anonymous test centers, they can take this test even without giving any identity information. HIV infection does not show any signs and symptoms until it reaches very advanced stages, so it continues to transmit the disease. The risk of transmission through homosexual intercourse is slightly higher. When we look at the percentages, we see that there is a little more in the male population. 50 percent of them continue their lives without knowing their diagnosis.
NUMBERS ARE CONCERNING
Drawing attention to the importance of awareness-raising activities for HIV, Assoc. Dr. Dilek Yıldız Sevgi stated that the upward movement in numbers is worrying. Emphasizing the necessity of early diagnosis and treatment, stating that undiagnosed people continue to transmit HIV, Assoc. Dr. Dilek Yıldız Sevgi said, “HIV is a pandemic, 38.4 million people in the world are infected with HIV. In our country, the numbers were low until now, but we see that they have increased in recent years. We have concerns about that too. We think that awareness of HIV diagnosis and the rate of testing should increase. Because we have powerful treatments against HIV, we can control HIV infection. We can offer the person a normal life. Early diagnosis and treatment, raising awareness is very important. What worries us; The increasing number of infected people over the years, and the fact that they have not been diagnosed, we always express with an iceberg. The contagion that worries us is the increase in numbers.
IT IS POSSIBLE TO END THE HIV PANDEMIC
Young, adult age infected in Turkey, more numbers there, the age group is really very young. We can prevent HIV transmission with treatment, it is possible to end the HIV pandemic with the treatment we have, as long as we can diagnose it. There are drugs that need to be used every day. It needs to be used for life with one or a few tablets a day. He has to come to the hospital for a check-up at regular intervals. Other than that, people can work in their normal job and have a baby. We can see people infected at a very young age. For this reason, we need to be able to talk about HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and educate young people about self-protection.”
(UAV)