Xefaq is a unique service on our islands which offers pre-test as well as post-test counselling related to HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted infections (STIs). The HIV virus (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) for which there is no known cure, although treatment is available.
Usually, this STI initially manifests itself as a symptom-free HIV infection. Although the STI is there and the person is a “carrier,” the person does not necessarily sense any pain or inconvenience whatsoever while the infection is still at this stage.
Usually, this period is eventually followed by symptomatic HIV infection where a number of possible complaints could be reported by patients to their doctors. Generally speaking, in most cases, it is only after the passage of a number of years that full-blown AIDS will be seen to develop in HIV positive persons. The current treatment for HIV/AIDS elongates the overall time-period from when one contracts the HIV infection to when one develops AIDS.
Other STIs that are virally transmitted include hepatitis, genital warts and genital herpes.
Sometimes symptoms of STIs are not visible for a certain amount of time and this is why it is important that counselling is sought and medical tests are then undertaken. It is well-known that infections such as syphilis, for instance, may remain latent for a long while, possibly years. If left untreated, syphilis can cause irreparable harm. More often than not, in its untreated condition, it will eventually result in people’s deaths. Fortunately, for certain STIs, there is both a treatment and a cure. This is why it is all the more imperative that the correct advice be sought as quickly as possible. Unnecessary delays in being assigned the correct medication to counteract certain diseases can result in unnecessary health risks and complications that could have been avoided had the appropriate medical help been reached out for on time.
Xefaq considers every possible mode of STI transmission. It extends itself to drug-users and thereby, by implication, to needle-sharing (by drug-users) which can be another source of the transmission of certain diseases ordinarily classified as STIs, including HIV and certain types of hepatitis. In cases of pregnancy, in the developed world, mother-to-child transmission of STIs is much less likely with today’s medical assistance.
Generally speaking, today’s medical procedures are usually highly effective in preventing the mother from transmitting the STI to her unborn child.
Through pre-test and post-test counselling, the Xefaq service aspires to provide factual information about how STIs are transmitted and to instil hope in people as well as to provide the necessary data and details of persons to be contacted, when necessary, as when one registers a positive result to medical tests for certain STIs.
Should the client request it, Xefaq counsellors can be called upon to empower clients to break bad news to partners or family members.
The strictest levels of confidentiality are maintained at all times.
Anyone who has any questions, doubts or fears related to HIV/AIDS is encouraged to phone Caritas (Xefaq service) on 2123 3933 or 2590 6600 where professional counsellors are available to discuss any issues raised in a strictly confidential manner.