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Today, 1stDecember 2007, on World AIDS day, I wish to share with you a nice piece of work that my sister has done as an assignment for university.Here it goes:

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus known mostly as the HIV is a retrovirus that infects cells of the human immune system. It destroys or diminishes the efficiency of our antibodies. During the first stage, the person has no really noticeable symptoms. However, as the infection progresses, the immune system becomes weaker, and the person becomes more susceptible to so-called opportunistic infections. The most advanced stage of HIV infection is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It can take 10-15 years for an HIV-infected person to develop AIDS. The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Mauritius dates back to 1987 when the first HIV positive case was detected. Since then the number of recorded cases has continued to increase and according to statistics produced by the AIDS Unit of the Ministry of Health, the rate of progression was mild during the early years following detection. Since 2003, the country seems to be heading towards a critical phase with the rate of increase assuming an almost exponential trend. And it is predicted that it would become still sharper in the years to come. So, the causes of this trend and the social impact on the society should b analysed and ways have to be found to b able to counteract this crisis.

The number of HIV positive cases in Mauritius is predicted to rise to 10 000 by the year of 2010 from its current level which is around 2000.However, many HIV positive persons are known to be either unaware of being infected by the virus or deliberately conceal the truth status from the authorities due to the marginalization problem. Thus, in any society the real number of infected persons far exceeds the number officially registered. The estimate generated by one model recognised by UNAIDS and utilized by the AIDS Unit of the Ministry of Health would indicate the real figure for year 2010 to be around 25,000. So, it can be seen that the actual number and the real number has a large difference. Until 2002, the main mode of HIV transmission was heterosexual but nowadays the main route through which it occurs is through the sharing of injecting needles. Up to 95% of the newly current cases of HIV infection is contracted through injecting drug use. It has seen to be prevalent most among youngsters from 20 -25 years.

The modes of transmission of HIV/AIDS are:

• Having unprotected sexual intercourse(anal or vaginal or oral)
• Transfusion of contaminated blood
• Sharing of contaminated needles
• Between a mother and infant during pregnancy(child birth and pregnancy)

Now, let us examine some of the causes which have encouraged the spread of HIV/AIDS in Mauritius. Contrary to many African countries, where the main reason of HIV spread is due to sex, here, in Mauritius, the main reasons responsible for its spread is namely due to the prison inmates, drug users and sex workers and other factors too which have been contributing. According to the AIDS of the ministry of health, most of those who are HIV positive live in Port-Louis and in the region of Plaine wilhems. It accounts for 74% of the total HIV cases for the country. As we are a small country and the mobility of the population, the spread of the disease to the other districts can be much faster.

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