This post is part of an event focusing on HIV/AIDs for World AIDs Day, titled “Bloggers Unite.” Learn more about this initiative by clicking here.
I still clearly remember when I first started paying serious attention to HIV/AIDs. It was in the mid-1980s and I had just finished reading a great educational brochure focusing on the disease. I decided to read the pamphlet because I was very confused and needed some unbiased and accurate information about the condition.
In those days there was a lot of confusion about the HIV. Would kissing someone spread HIV, many wondered. What about sharing utensils or living in the same home or apartment? Uncertainty and fear caused many unfortuante problems.
There was also the problem of prejudice and hopelessness. Countless people stricken with the illnesses were ostracized by many of their friends and family. In addition, because HIV/AIDs was thought of as the “gay disease,” there were some who argued that homosexuals were getting what they deserved.
I am happy that things have gotten a lot better today. A diagnosis of HIV is no longer considered an automatic death sentence. Partly because a number of celebrities, including Magic Johnson, have reduced the stigma associated with the condition, it is a lot harder to view people with HIV/AIDs as “The Other.”
However, we still have a long way to go. In some communities HIV/AIDs is still a silent epidemic and people who have the condition are heavily stigmatized. The pharmaceutical industry and many researchers in the public and private sectors have helped turn HIV a chronic condition. However, this has resulted in a dangerous amount of apathy. Finally, we pay a lot of attention to HIV/AIDs education and prevention overseas, but not enough at home.
This is why I am happy to participate in the Bloggers Unite project. Through new (and old) media channels, we can focus needed attention on this continuing epidemic and ensure that we do not lose precious ground.
Let us continue the struggle against HIV/AIDs so that we quickly find a cure and that fewer people are lost to this insidious disease.
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