In Serbia, people infected with HIV are still not part of society

Over the past 30 years, progress has been made to ensure that HIV-positive people live longer and better in Serbia if treatment is started on time. People infected with HIV benefit from a modern therapy that has turned the deadly infection into a chronic illness, but the exogenous and stigma remain a major problem that prevents people from getting sick. engage in social life.

It is estimated that 3,500 people are HIV-positive in Serbia, but one-third of them are unaware that they are infected because there is no demonstration. In many cases, infections are detected as soon as the first symptoms appear.

Last year, in Serbia, 178 new cases of infection were detected and 14 patients died.

In recent years, more and more young people (aged 20 to 29) are among the newly discovered cases of HIV infection.

The executive director of the Union is the organization of people living with HIV and AIDS Vladimir Antic says that support for newly infected people is very important and that parenting plays a very important role.

"Parent counseling means that people living with HIV provide support to newly infected people, and budget funding for this type of counseling is not everywhere," Antic told the conference. people living with HIV ".

He hopes that parenting advice will find its place in the 2020 program budget of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Affairs and adds that funding for this service is a place at the national level.

Deputy Minister of Labor Nina Mitic She pointed out that infected people are discriminated against because of fear, for fear of ignorance and that we must all work together to reduce stigma and prejudice.

The most common mode of transmission of HIV infection remains the least protected sexual intercourse, while it is the second most common form of injecting drug use.

Most importantly, the infection should be detected as soon as possible and those infected with HIV should immediately begin to diagnose the treatment. Treatment with a combination of antiretrovirals now modifies the prognosis for HIV infection of a life-threatening disease in a chronically curable condition that can be successfully controlled.