Topic: HIV/AIDS
Country: El Salvador
Delegate Name: Medhanie Frezghi
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All El Salvador position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a very dangerous epidemic that is surfing across the oceans. About 36.7 million people worldwide have contracted the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) with around 5000 new infections every day. Human Immunodeficiency Virus weakens the immune system by attacking types of white blood cells called T-helper cells. There is no cure for HIV or AIDS. It is a very dangerous disease because it can remain dormant for years, only about 70% of people living with HIV know that they have it. HIV can be transmitted through sharing needles, sexual intercourse, blood transfusions, and can also be transmitted from mother-to-child through childbirth, pregnancy, or breastfeeding. If allowed to progress, HIV can lead to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a very severe stage of Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV can be avoided by cleaning needles after usage or remaining abstinent from sexual activity and avoiding blood transfusions if you can. Adolescents and young people make up the vast majority of people with HIV/AIDS. AIDS is extremely dangerous. With the immune system depleted, the body is unable to prevent and manage infections and health problems which would otherwise be insignificant. But For people living with HIV, treatment with antiretroviral therapy can lead to a longer life.
Before 1990 El Salvador had a less than one percent prevalence in the adult population reported as HIV-positive. El Salvador was, therefore, a low HIV-prevalence country, but today the virus has become a significant threat in high-risk communities such as commercial sex workers and homosexual men. HIV has risen steadily since 1990 in El Salvador; there are more than 25000 adults and children living with the virus. The amount of deaths from AIDS has also risen since 2014. The UN works to promote HIV prevention among young people in El Salvador. In El Salvador, incidences appear to have declined slightly since 2004, but there is a fear that because of the lack of an effective monitoring system, many Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome cases are not reported. The topic of HIV is a very important issue in El Salvador because it is one of the leading causes of death in some high-risk communities
El Salvador proposes that the United Nations continue it’s work to promote HIV prevention among young citizens in El Salvador. The United Nations use of education technologies and educational exposure to the young people of El Salvador have helped the government combat the rising problem in high-risk areas. A resolution that calls for increased education in the topic of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome will help El Salvador and other countries around the world combat the rising problem of HIV/AIDS.
