Oh my word: Aids, Aid, Aide

It is the responsibility of the society and the government to aid those with AIDS? Who will aide them?

AIDS is an abbreviation for ‘Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome’, and should be written in capital letters only. As a result of AIDS, the immunity of the body decreases, making it susceptible to infections and diseases. Medication to control AIDS is available in the market but is expensive.

AIDS is not a disease but a medical condition while Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus responsible for that condition. The virus is found in the body fluids of an infected person and it is transmittable through intercourse, blood transfusion, and also through contaminated needles (hypodermic).

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has set up an exclusive department called National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to deal with the AIDS/HIV in the country.

Often the AIDS patients are victimised and ostracised in the society.

“The haunting image of Kirby on his death bed, taken by a journalism student named Therese Frare, quickly became the one photograph most powerfully identified with the HIV/AIDS epidemic that, by then, had seen millions of people infected (many of them unknowingly) around the globe.”

Aid is a verb and noun. As a verb, its derivatives are aids, aided and aiding. Aids means to help, assist, support, give relief to someone as a result of someone’s helping hand.

Who aids the children when in distress?

Newspapers function on the basis of team work, aided by every individual contributing to a particular task.

Aid as a noun refers to financial support. It also means a device such as a visual aid (my cousin cannot see without visual aid), or hearing aid.

“Long-lost diary of top Hitler aide offers window into Nazi soul.”

Many developing countries including India often rely on the aid of international donors.

An aide is a person who gives advice to someone in a position of authority and responsibility, and also an assistant.

According to Prime Minister’s aides, the Prime Minister is a workaholic.

Aide-de-camp (plural – aides-de-camp) is an assistant who assists senior officers usually in the military.

Aide memoire (plural aides-memoire) is a document or book that reminds somebody of something.

The aides of the government should aid the Chief Ministers and the Prime Minister in tackling AIDS, obesity, and other non-communicable diseases in the country before it turns into an epidemic.