Stopping the Spread of HIV

This week the QOTW revolved around ways in which to stop the spread of HIV. I guess my age is showing, once again, as I took it as a social, interpersonal issue, whereas many of my classmates suggested concrete methods such as billboards and making this HIV class mandatory. I see the spread of HIV as a social issue that can mostly be changed by a change in societies attitude. First, we have to change societies attitude towards those who are already infected. Then we have to change our own attitudes about life and how we live it. We have to change our priorities too. Rather than worrying about whether or not we can afford the newest cell phone or IPod, we need to worry about being responsible for ourselves and those around us. When I say responsible I am referring to financially, medically, emotionally and personally. Once we take responsibility for ourselves, we will change much of our risky behavior that has gone rampant over the last 30 years. Now I know sex has been around for a long time, even longer than me, but there has been a trend towards "sex in your face" attitude. It is everywhere; TV, radio, magazines, books and CD's. You can't turn your TV on without hearing a commercial about Cialis, Viagra, and erectile disfunction, but no mention of STD's, pregnancies, and HIV. Why because it doesn't sell. This is the attitude that needs to change. We are obsessed with things and money, and having a life of leisure, sports and partying. We prefer to not take life too seriously.

I think some of my classmates had very good concrete ideas for helping with the spread of HIV, but putting condoms or needles in someone's hands will not guarantee they will use them. Yes, maybe they will and it will help, but it will not change the way society thinks about HIV and it will not help us to deal with the stigmas associated with HIV. This was my soapbox moment!

I'm growing in this class because I am enjoying all of the little tidbits of HIV/AIDS information that we are sharing each week. As part of the blog I think this is some of the best information as it is not so lengthy that you get bored or bogged down with statistics, but just enough information to make you stop and think about what you have read.

My tidbit for this week is from the AMA Morning Rounds dated, Tues, Nov. 17, 2009, STD rates continue to rise among American women, men. The CDC has indicated that "sexually spread diseases continue to rise" (Web: AMA, 2009). Many of the new 19 million cases are HPV. Unfortunately much of the data on HPV is from 2000 and although this data shows an increase, the CDC is concerned because they know it is outdated and that the numbers of "6.2 million new cases of HPV" (Web: AMA, 2009), is not accurate but under estimated. Much of the CDC's concern is from chlamydia and how it is mostly young women between the ages of 15 to 19 who are becoming infected. This will have an impact on fertility as well, (Web: AMA, 2009).
And you know that if sexual diseases like chlamydia and HPV are spreading that HIV is also spreading.

Web: AMA, 2009, STD rates Continue to rise among AMerican Women, men, Nov. 17, 2009, retrieved from http://webmail.att.net/wmc/en-US/v/wm/4BO2C84D00039294000006DB....