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Goanet mourns the passing of Jorge de Abreu Noronha in Portugal - Nov 27/07
http://tinyurl.com/2dk2bl
http://tinyurl.com/29kpdx
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Nice to see this subject brought up again, thank you Mr Lopes. I had read on
this forum about a young boy who had been infected by AIDS (as opposed to the
HIV virus) by eating pineapple from a vendor in Goa who was discovered to have
AIDS.
When I questioned this and sought more information about this, I received a
couple of rebukes from Goanetters who said this subject had been discussed
previously and lots of comments were posted on the forum.
Since coming onto this forum I have not seen anything relating to the HIV
virus, nor the AIDS which developed later, its prevention or any official
figures, until I got in touch with a bona fide agency which deals with HIV &
AIDS and when I reiterated the story to them, they said it was impossible to
catch HIV virus from a pineapple because once the infected blood had left the
body, the virus would die.
On this forum I received two private emails which congratulated me for
passing on this info & one who sent in a public notice that nobody was
basically interested in the subject because it was already discussed.
I am however pleased you have taken the time & made the effort to bring the
subject up again, I dont think the subject should be left in the archives & it
is important that the subject of HIV infection (and its prevention) is made
public on a regular basis, for this type of disease is not openly discussed in
Goan families as often, if at all. Of course in Indian & most European
countries, the subject appears to be taboo.
Its no good just telling single people to pop on a condom and all will be
well. Two things come to mind when this is said, one is that it will increase
promiscuity & secondly it makes people lethargic & will not worry too much
about the other ways in which HIV can be transmitted.
A woman cannot pop on a condom (unless its on the man she is with).
Therefore if she is infected & the they do not have intercourse but have other
sexual relations which transfer bodily fluids this can infect the partner.
Its about education and I recommend to everyone, and as a father of two girls
I have stressed that EDUCATION in all aspects of this disease be made public to
EVERYONE who may be at puberty or just before, when they also learn about sex
itself. Dont leave it too late please. Education is only way forward. Go to
genuine websites & get the info, email the organisations like Terrence Higgins
Trust (in the UK), who will be pleased to send you more information or
recommend for you.
Dont listen to quacks who can cure you with a mixture of cow dung mixed with
honey which they rub on your belly button, or as in some African states that
the witch doctors say to HIV men who have been diagnosed in their last stages
of live, to have sex with a baby will cure you.
Yes, pretty disgusting, but the rape of young girls & babies of both sexes
endure this atrocity, it is quite common there and it revolts us to know that a
witch doctor recommends this as a cure!
THERE IS NO CURE YET. BUT THERE ARE WAYS OF PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF HIV.
If you suspect yourself, your partner or someone in the family, or friends may
have had unprotected sex with someone who is not your common partner, then the
only solution is to go for a test to find out.
What to do afterwards it also recommended by the HIV AIDS organisations.
Lastly please remember, you cannot catch the HIV virus by drinking from the
same cup as an HIV positive person has used, you can use the same cutlery &
plates (but common sense tells us for hygiene purposes, and cross contamination
of OTHER types of viruses, such as e. coli or salmonella etc, to WASH all
crockery and cutlery ANYWAY), but if you used the same items, even the toilet
seat, you WILL NOT catch the disease.
WHY?
Because the HIV virus, which leads to AIDS cannot survive outside the body,
not even on a pineapple. It can however enter through broken skin, but you
have to place the virus directly into the cut to get a chance of passing it on,
there is NO RECORD in its 30yr history where infected food has passed on the
virus to another living human being.
Dont be scared, just be cautious.
And thanks again Mr Lpes for bringing some extra sanity to this forum. Oh by
the way, excuse me for cutting and summarising your post, I have been told by
the moderators that I must not send in the previous post in full, as it takes
up bandwidth. I have had several of my posts deleted in the past because I
responded with the full previous post being attached.
John Monteiro
01.12.07.....15.13hrs
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Bonefacio Lopes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote = One in three people in the world's
major industrialised countries "know little or nothing" about the deadly
HIV/AIDS pandemic and 25 per cent believe that the problem has been "greatly
exaggerated" by the media, a poll said...............In response, the challenge
is to make HIV/AIDS more real to the public, "to put a face on the disease"
that kills 2.1 million people every year........"AIDS will only become real, it
will only become important when we see past the statistics," he stated.
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