December 1, 2009
Break the taboos; it's World AIDS Day!
Today, December 1st, is World AIDS Day. On this day each year, people wear red ribbons and educate themselves and others about the global AIDS epidemic. The problem is indeed global, and the issues surrounding it reach far outside the boundaries of health concerns. A major factor in the spreading of AIDS, in the US and in lesser developed countries, is the taboo that is associated with the disease. Social factors such as connotations with race, sexual orientation and economic status, affect how we view the AIDS epidemic.
AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is the final stage of the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection. HIV is considered an STD because it can be passed from person to person through bodily fluids and mucous membranes, but HIV can also be passed through blood. Because of the nature of the virus, HIV/AIDS came to be a prominent issue when large populations of drug users and gay men were contracting the disease. Today, millions of people all over the world have AIDS. Some get it from having unprotected sex or from taking drugs from unsafe needles, but millions of those people are guilty only of being born to infected mothers. AIDS can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy, creating a whole second wave of the population that has become infected with AIDS. Many people become infected with HIV and don’t even know it. HIV can stay dormant in the body for years before any symptoms of the virus begin to show. If people are not active in protecting themselves and regularly getting tested, HIV can be spread from unknowing individuals to their sexual partners, who can spread it to more people, and so on.
This year’s World AIDS Day focuses on Universal Access and Human Rights. The Obama Administration’s plan to fight this global epidemic includes a push on overcoming the taboos that restrict people from being tested or treated for AIDS. Obama has lifted the 22- year ban on travel into the United States for HIV positive individuals. This is a major step in lifting the AIDS taboo, but it is also long overdue.
Many people have misconceptions about AIDS. Especially in poorer communities in Africa or Asia, testing is difficult to get and a luxury for many families who cannot afford other healthcare. In India, where child prostitution is a major problem in the brothels of large cities, women are not educated properly about the dangers of forgoing condom usage. Especially for women in the prostitution industry, the risk of getting AIDS may be worth the extra money she will receive by not using condoms with clients.
The problems are real in the US and the UK as well. Just as people in the wizarding world call Voldemort “You-Know-Who,” we may be afraid to admit the problem of AIDS. It’s “you-know-what,” the disease that only affects “you-know-which” people in our world. Break the taboo; say the name. 1 in 70 people on the island of Manhattan have AIDS, and that is not counting the people who have been infected with HIV and don’t know it. Tell people today that you support AIDS education, tell people to get tested and protect themselves, because it is not just gay people and drug users who are affected by AIDS.
Today you can also tweet #red and turn your twitter updates red in support if World AIDS Day.
You can also watch President Obama’s address to the US about AIDS.
And, also very interestingly, see the AIDS activist side of things. AIDS activists express disapproval of President Obama’s AIDS policies.
