HIV INFECTION PREVENTION PODCAST

The speaker is a student from Brigham Young University, Idaho, majoring in Public Health. They are sharing information about the prevention of HIV and emphasizing the importance of education. They mention the alarming number of people infected with and dying from HIV globally. They describe the story of a young woman named Florentina who falls in love with a prince from Canada, only to discover he is involved in drugs and prostitution. She is forced into prostitution without safety measures and eventually contracts HIV. She returns to Nigeria and her family supports her in managing her condition. The speaker encourages listeners to get tested, use condoms, and know their partner's HIV status. Hi everyone, my name is Essien Ekmayong, I'm a student of Health Science Department of Brigham Young University, Idaho. I'm majoring in Public Health. I'm reaching you from Health Communication Campaign on the Prevention of HIV and VAC My objective in sending this broadcast is to educate married, single, individuals and pregnant women within the ages of 18 and above on how to prevent contacting HIV virus. Since the beginning of the epidemic, 84.2 million, that's about 64.0 to 113.0 million people have been infected with the HIV virus. And about 40.1 million, that's within 33.6 to 48.6 million people have died of HIV. Globally, 38.4 million, that's about 33.9 to 43.8 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2021. It's a cureless virus that is increasingly becoming prevalent amongst us as the day goes by. The only option we have that can sustain living with it is to seek out ways that support and uphold the prevention of HIV infection. And so it was with young Florentina, protected until unprotected. Her parents always told her that love can be stupid, silly and even blind, most times even with clear eyes. Filippidis was right when he said, when love is in excess, it brings a man no honor or self-worth. This was the case of young and promising Florentina, whom after secondary school, while her mates were getting ready to ride jams to proceed to enter the university, Florentina thought she was in love. When she found herself caught up in the euphoria and glamour of a young prince who recently returned to the Igbe community from Canada, Prince Julius shoved Florentina off her feet when he told her how beautiful she is and that he would like to spend his time in the community with her. And with all things being equal, he might even take her along with him to Canada when returning. Consequently, to Florentina, every other thing had no meaning in her life except for Julius and his intentions. Their time together lasted for long, she even returned with him to Canada. Sadly, this was the beginning of a bitter to an onset of a sweet story. Getting to Canada, Florentina's eyes began to clear from the blurry of what she thought was love. She began to take consciousness of her actions and what was happening around her. It was this time that she realized that Prince Julius was into drugs and prostitution business. These fields are enticing, it's hard to move to Canada with him. Florentina was forced to participate in prostitution with unethical partners. Most of these illicit sexual affairs were indulged without safety measures or any preventive measures. Although it was already too late, she began regretting the decision to fall head over heels for Julius without the caution of knowing him first. She endured a painful and excruciating lifestyle until she felt seriously healed. After much tests and blood screening, she was diagnosed with HIV infection. Shockingly, Julius didn't have use for her anymore and decided to bundle her back to a big community in Green State, Nigeria where she resides. Disappointed as her parents were, they took her in and concluded on measures to manage her situation after consulting with a doctor. Part of these measures included her abstaining from sex totally and her personal belongings to be reserved for her usage on loan without other household members sharing it. Her family also agreed to keep her infection a secret or to help her adjust to her deal. She is now back to school, managing her infection with the prescribed routine drugs and spends most of her time attending to church activities. Though she has moved on with her life, but regrets of not taking safety and protective measures into consideration before her looping with a stranger still haunts her. As the saying always goes, the risk is the not knowing. Action steps as we move forward. Get tested, it's safer. You can still have pleasure with condoms on, fair enough to know your sex partner's HIV status. And that's a wrap, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. Peace out.