Center for Responsible Gambling
is committed to helping people with HIV.
HIV gives most people flashbacks the 80s and 90s. The time when many people died from AIDS. Gaunt faces and dark spots on the body (caused by the cancer type Kaposi's sarcoma). A death sentence that killed celebrities such as Freddy Mercury and René Klein.
This nightmare scenario not only affects people without HIV, but also people who have just been told that they have HIV. HIV is still compared to AIDS and certain death.
And that is not surprising, because since the many campaigns that were run in the past, you hear less and less about HIV nowadays. The campaigns from that time and the many deaths are what the general public remembers. Because little attention is given by the media, HIV is almost a 'forgotten condition'.
Yet approximately 680,000 people die worldwide every year from the consequences of HIV and AIDS.
What is the difference between HIV and AIDS?
HIV and AIDS are caused by the same virus.
The difference between HIV and AIDS is the extent to which HIV has developed in the body. A person without HIV has an average CD4 value between 450 and 1600. CD4 cells play an important role in the immune system. HIV attacks these cells. If a person has had HIV for a long time without diagnosis or treatment, and their CD4 count is lower than 200 then it is called AIDS. Someone with a low CD4 value, or AIDS, can therefore quickly contract pneumonia from a simple cold.
People who die from AIDS do not die from the virus itself, but from other diseases from which they can no longer recover.
If a person receives medication for HIV or AIDS, the CD4 value will also recover. The recovery process is just a little longer for people with AIDS.
HIV does not discriminate
In the 80s and 90s you mainly saw gay men dying from the effects of HIV and AIDS. HIV is often seen as a 'gay condition' for men with an extravert sex life who have sex with other men, or a 'too far off show' because HIV is considered a condition that's mainly a problem in foreign continents like Africa.
But did you know:
51% of people living with HIV worldwide are women?
That there is often a late HIV diagnosis in women or heterosexual men
because most doctors do not think of an HIV diagnosis when they have with HIV-related complaints (HIV indicator conditions)?
because most doctors do not think of an HIV diagnosis when they have with HIV-related complaints (HIV indicator conditions)?
Anyone can get HIV. Not just men who have sex with men (MSM), people from Africa or drug addicts. HIV does not discriminate.
We stand strong for people with HIV
Centrum voor verantwoord Gokken wants to help break the stigma surrounding HIV by making HIV a topic of discussion, also at the workplace. Make donations to important research, such as HIV cure, and create more awareness about HIV. We mainly focus on the invisible group: women with HIV.
HIV is now easily treatable. Due to the medication that is available, people with HIV have the same life expectancy as people who do not have HIV. The medication also ensures that the virus goes 'dormant' and is no longer measurable in the blood.
This means that people who use HIV medication can no longer transmit HIV to others.
The message is therefore also U=U, Undetactable is Untransmittable
U=U ensures, among other, that:
Pregnant women with HIV cannot transmit HIV to their unborn child
People with HIV do not have to use a condom or other contraceptives during a steady relationship
(of course there is always a chance of other STDs)
No special protocols are needed to treat people with HIV,
such as extra protective measures, for example during an operation or a dental visit
such as extra protective measures, for example during an operation or a dental visit
However, not everyone with HIV has access to medication or HIV is discovered at a late stage, which means that people live with an active HIV condition for too long.
We are going to do something about this!
We would like to help with:
Reduce the stigma surrounding HIV.
Showing people that HIV does not discriminate
Help make HIV medication available to everyone in the world
Helping to cure HIV through financial contributions to campaigns and research
That there will 0 new HIV infections
Let's work together to ensure that HIV becomes as normal as the common cold.
So that everyone realizes that HIV, getting tested for HIV, or dealing with someone with HIV, is not something to be ashamed or afraid of.