ROLE OF YOUTH HIVS AIDS AWARENESS AND PREVENTIONS Abstract P.MANIKANDAN M.Sc., M.Phil., B.Ed.

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AIDS is a silent killer. The main reason for AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) is HIV (Human Immuno Defiency virus). This virus when it enters our body, immediately turns into RNA, and then spreads quickly. After that it starts to destroy the white blood corpuscles. Because of this our resistance towards diseases gets decreased. Now the human body cannot withstand even an ordinary cold. In the year 1996 according to the survey, about 5000 persons per day were affected by AIDS in the whole world. The final stage of HIV is known as AIDS.In 1996, it was discovered that the virus can be controlled to a certain extent. The survey in 2002, says that about 3.97 million of people are suffering from this disease in India. At first, this virus was found in green monkeys of Africa. At that time it was known as 'Siman Immuno Deficiency Syndrome'. Africans ate the monkeys flesh as their food.

Assistant Professor in Botany, RRC Coordinator, A.P.A.College of Arts & Culture, Palani

ROLE OF YOUTH HIVS AIDS AWARENESS AND PREVENTIONS

Introduction Today's youth is going to build tomorrow's future. They build the nation and they together build the world.Each one has his/her own responsibility in building a healthy world. Because of the scientific invention many diseases are eradicated many can be cured but still there are certain exceptions like HIV/AIDS virus which threatens the whole world. At first, youth must realize the present problem created by HIV virus and their self control is going to be the main solution to the problem. The main reason to say that the solution of this problem is in the hands of youth is that they have more understanding power and they have more ability. So they can understand the seriousness of AIDS and they can take effective steps to being about the awareness and prevent the deadly disease. AIDS is caused by a virus (HIV).

Thousands of bacteria can fit inside a cell in your body, but virus particles are so minute that hundreds of thousands of them could fit inside a single bacterium. They are totally invisible under a normal light microscope. Viruses cannot grow and cannot divide. They don't breathe, don't need food, don't live, and never die. All our technology has failed to produce a single nontoxic drug that attacks and destroys a virus efficiently. The kiss of death The only real weapons we have against viruses are natural ones: antibodies which can also destroy bacteria. These are Y-shaped. The mouth of the antibody is shaped exactly to fit over part of a germ. Thousands of them lock onto a germ so that the tails bristle like a hedgehog. Sometimes that is enough to burst bacteria or to stop viruses from being able to touch a cell. Special white cells in the body stick on to these bristles and eat up the germ. These white cells are those that you find in pus, cleaning up an infected wound. The trouble with antibodies is that the body takes three days to produce the right antibody for the right virus. During this critical three-day period, the body is totally unprotected. Yet only an hour or two after viruses enter the bloodstream they have completely disappeared. You can hunt through the entire body cell by cell, with the best electron-firing microscope, and find nothing. The virus bag has disintegrated and vanished. They too have disappeared without trace, but the cell they touched has received the kiss of death. This language is what we call a genetic code. It is the language used by the nucleus (brain) of every cell in your body. A cell of your

body under the microscope looks a little like an egg. It has a central round core called a nucleus and a more transparent-looking outer area. The nucleus is black and is packed full of your chromosomes. You have forty-six chromosomes which determined everything from the moment you were conceived, including the length of your arms, whether you have black or brown hair, whether you will be bald by the time you are thirty, your height, gender, basic build, the shape of your nose. Everything. These instructions program not only your outside appearance, but also every type of cell in your body. Have you ever thought how a skin cell learned it was a skin cell and not a nail- or hair-producing cell? How does a cell know it should produce bone and not hormones? If I cut my hand, how does a skin cell know to divide and go on dividing until the gap is covered and then stop? The answer lies in that vast book of instructions. The amazing thing is that every cell nucleus in your body carries a carbon copy of your entire genetic code. Life-changing technology We have already succeeded in altering the genetic code of a bacterium so it contains a small piece of code taken from a human being. This piece of code tells the bacterium not to produce poison but to produce human insulin---previously diabetics were dependent on insulin obtained by crushing the pancreas of a pig or cow. This new strain of bacteria grows and divides for ever, with each new organism containing a perfect set of instructions for making human insulin. Human genes have been added to pigs to make them grow faster. The `superbreed' is blind, impotent and suffers from severe arthritis. Human genes have been added to cows, sheep, rabbits, mice---and even fish. Scorpion poison genes have been added to cabbages, spider genes to goats---the list is almost endless. We urgently need the technology to cure disease and to feed the world, but its abuse to create, say, designer families for tomorrow's parents is just one nightmare possibility for the future. The correct bit for any part of a human can then be cut out and transferred, or be reprogrammed and put back into the cell. So then, it is also possible to map out every single instruction a virus contains and understand precisely what it does in the cell it affects. Why can't

all this remarkable technology produce a cure for AIDS? Consider what happens when the virus bubble touches its target cell. How the virus kills a white cell The surface of HIV is specially shaped so that it only fits onto a very small range of cells in the body. The flu virus latches onto cells in the nose, while HIV mainly latches onto one particular type of white cell (CD4 + T-lymphocyte), some brain cells, and one or two others. When HIV touches the cell and the bubble bursts, the genetic code (RNA) is injected into the cell. Within minutes the code is being read by the cell and the message carried into the cell brain, or nucleus. The message is then added permanently to that cell's `book of life' as DNA. The process took only a few minutes and is complete. The cell looks normal in every way but is now doomed. It may continue to look normal for several years. During this time the white cell continues to travel in the blood looking for invaders while blissfully unaware of the invader within. If the attacked cell divides, the two daughter cells also carry perfect copies of the hidden message. It is likely that the infected cells in semen or vaginal fluids are the main source of HIV transmissions during sex. Biological time-bomb Each cell infected by HIV becomes a biological time-bomb travelling in the bloodstream. Millions of them waiting to explode. One day a particular germ enters the body that this particular cell is geared to deal with. There are thousands of different white cells, all designed to kill different kinds of organisms. It just so happens that out of all the thousands of different infections a person could have caught, this particular one fits the role of this particular cell. It springs into action, programmed by its brain to react. It starts to produce proteins. The cell should help the body turn out finished antibodies that are the exact shape and form to fit the intruding germ and kill it. It's at this point that the effect of the virus is finally revealed. The virus message then overrides the entire cell system and orders a new product to be made: thousands and thousands of HIV messages in genetic code. These are then carried to the outside wall of the cell where each is wrapped and thrown out of the cell. So infected white cells become factories for more virus, instead of factories to help the body make antibodies.In 1981, it was found that, the
virus has spread among the Africans. In the year 1987, it was discovered as AIDS.

Mode of Transmission of HIV Virus Following are the ways in which HIV virus can be transmitted 1. Unprotected hetero or homosexual contact 2. Injection which is used without sterlising after using for HIV/SIDS affected person. 3. Blood of HIV affected person used for another person 4. From the pregnant lay who is affected of AIDS to the child or when she breast feeds child. Ways in which HIV/AIDS cannot be spread AIDS cannot spread by shaking hands, eating together, using the dress of the affected person, through mosquito, air, water. Symptoms 1. Loss of 10% or more of body weight 2. Fever of unknown origin 3. Preumonia, brain tumours, haemorrhage, unremitting diarrhea, swelling of lymph glands. Following are some of the steps which may help in eradicating HIV/AIDS virus: 1) Self control Teenagers should understand their problems clearly. They should have a clear idea about the change in harmones during this stage. They should have self control and they should be motivated to concentrate on good aspects of life. They should have awareness about the preventive measures of HIV/AIDS virus 2) DRAMA Students of the college must be encouraged by their teachers and they should be taken to the rural areas, schools other educational institutions, offices etc. to conduct street plays bring about the awareness among the people and the people should be taught clearly the preventive methods, symptoms, methods of testing the HIV virus and also the facilities provided by the government to the HIV affected. People must be given awareness in their vernacular language and they must be motivated to extend their support to the HIV virus affected person.

3) Conducting completion and exhibition Youth should take the responsibility in conducting various types of competition and exhibitions in various schools, colleges regarding the awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS. 4) Extending their support to the HIV affected person Youth have to discharge their responsibility of meeting the HIV affected people and giving them selfconfidence and also encourage them to engage in some activities in which they are interested. 5) Creating awareness in the family Teenagers create awareness about HIV in their family, because when the family realizes the importance of eradication of HIV virus, then the society will realize and then the nation will realize and finally all together the world will realize the importance of eradicating this virus. People of the whole world will be aware and take preventive measures. Conclusion HIV affected people can live to the maximum of 10 to 15 years. This period can be extended if they live happily. Only way to make them happy is to touch and talk to them. Youth are the main solution for creating awareness and preventing HIV/AIDS virus. Colleges and the institutions should make them understand their responsibility and start taking steps they can obliterate the words "AIDS/HIV virus" from the whole world. Young people remain at the centre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in terms of rates of infection, vulnerability, impact, and potential for change. They have grown up in a world changed by AIDS but many still lack comprehensive and correct knowledge about how to prevent HIV infection. This situation persists even though the world has agreed that young people have the human right to education, information and services that could protect them from harm. Young people are disproportionately affected in the HIV pandemic. They face the economic and social impact of HIV/AIDS on families, communities, and nations, and they must be at the centre of prevention actions. Where young people are well informed of HIV risks and prevention strategies, they are changing their behaviour in ways that reduces their vulnerability. For example, in several countries, targeted education has led to delayed sexual debut and increased use of condoms resulting in a decrease in HIV prevalence in young people. Yet efforts to increase HIV knowledge among young people remain inadequate.