Growing Public Acceptance Of Hiv / Aids Patients Essay

Ever since the first cases of what eventually came to be known as AIDS were diagnosed in the early 1980s, people with HIV/AIDS have been stigmatized. Over time, there have been many misconceptions about this disease. Even though there have been many discoveries, and treatments for HIV have improved over time, there are still many people who understand very little about this disease. This lack of understanding, along with fear, misinformation about how the disease is transmitted, and “moral” judgments made about the types of people who contract HIV, all have led to stigmatization of, and discrimination against, people who are living with HIV/AIDS. Understanding the stigmatization of people with HIV/AIDS is an important social justice issue because that stigmatization can result in people with HIV being insulted, rejected, gossiped about, excluded from family and social activities, fired, and even jailed. People with HIV are no different from people suffering from other chronic diseases. Instead of being alienated, they have a right to be treated with fairness, respect, and dignity.

Unfortunately, the number of HIV infection still lingers and thrives on a global scale and in the US. In Los Angeles, approximately 60,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS, and more than 9000 are unaware of their infection status (Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 2015). Even with HAART/PrEP and the availability of condoms, more than 1800 additional HIV cases have been reported in 2013 (LACDPH, 2015). The most striking is the presence of HIV positive youths in Los Angeles. LA County Health estimates that 1700 people between ages 13-24 who have HIV/AID, along with another estimated 350 teens who are HIV positive but do not know their status (LACDPH, 2015). The purpose of this proposal is to

Carriers of the viruses of HIV and AIDS have been silenced for far too long. It is time to speak out. In Mary Fisher’s speech “A Whisper of AIDS” she helps her audience to understand that the topic of HIV and AIDS should no longer be silenced. Fisher stood before an audience of her peers and used many forms of persuasion available to her in order to evoke a positive significant response from her audience.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus is HIV that develops into AIDS, which is Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. This virus starts to break down white blood cells, as a result the immune system starts to deteriorate and our greatest shield cannot fight any longer (Mayo Clinic, 2016). The CDC (2015) states, that over 1.2 million people live with HIV in the United States and most who are infected are oblivious of their disease. Healthy people 2020 has declared HIV a public health crisis in the United States, and continues to sweep the nation with more than 500,000 new cases each year (HealthyPeople2020,2016).

In the documentary “The Age of AIDS,” FRONTLINE examines the outbreak of AIDS since its first diagnosed case in 1981. The film investigates different medical, political and social environments under AIDS pandemic in the US and worldwide. The film not only focuses on the scientific research and progress in treating the disease, it also looks at the social stigma, government strategies and public campaigns around different countries.

In today’s world we seem to put aside things that we consider no longer a threat. Well we are wrong to do this, because HIV/AIDS still affects over 5.4 million people that are walking around with this infection or full blown AIDS. They are friends, Criminals, neighbors, and even children attending school, etc. So, why do we think it is ok to not worry about a problem that does not have a cure, but only a life time of meds? Within this qualitative research method, we will explore Sexual risk, there or the Measures, Sexual risk, method, demographics, HIV/AIDS risk and may add other areas as they relate to this study.

Popular culture and mainstream media offer misleading and erroneous explanations for drastic dissimilar impact of HIV/AIDS in minority groups. One

With the help of government programs such as the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) as well as multiple other methods of sociological research and social justice work, there have been shifts toward better understanding this disease, those which are living with it, and the societal impact one’s own prejudices can make toward an individual living with AIDS. However, discrepancies still exist within how to properly educate others on the disease, how to recognize it as a disability within the context of our society, and how we must reconcile stigmas that play a role in plaguing any sort of positive conversation on the topic. With well-informed citizens on the issues of HIV and AIDS patients, not only can we reduce the stigma associated with the illness, but also work toward medical advancements that assist those living with HIV in a nondiscriminatory manner.

Ever since the early 21st century, there have been many stigmas and discrimination towards individuals who have contracted certain viruses such as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). According to studies, HIV traces back to the 1920s in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as AIDS. By the 1960s, HIV had made its way to Haiti by transport routes and workers who had been temporarily staying in Congo returning to their homes. Those who had the virus dealt with extreme discrimination, as well as racism and stigma. Soon enough, the deadly disease had arrived to The United States of America, and its bountiful population did not react well. People began to associate HIV and AIDS with gay men,

Though the disease is still infecting many, new technology and medical techniques that include medication have made it possible to live a normal life after being infected with the HIV virus. Doctors are now far past the era in which they would deny care to an HIV-positive patient and that is because they are aware of the disease and are not afraid. Being afraid of something can unknowingly turn a person into a monster. Since being educated doctors and other healthcare professionals have been able to turn a new leaf and hop over to the supporting side of AIDS. Other than being under a doctor’s care, successful strategies for combating AIDS include “increasing awareness about prevention strategies such as using clean needles and condoms and, most recently, promoting male circumcision” (Conley 442). All these biological measures combating the chemical nature of AIDS work hand in hand to reform the social structure of the disease. Those living with AIDS in the United States today are not looked at as if they are lepers, instead they are view as survivors and

In the 1980's the HIV/AIDS epidemic devastated many communities, growing panic over the incurable disease that many people were dying from. In the past, there wasn't a lot of information on how HIV/AIDS was contracted or spread, and thus the epidemic instilled much fear over fatal sexually transmitted diseases. In today’s times I fear that our communities have become distance from HIV/AIDS and other STDs because of large advancements in modern medicine the United States have been able to achieve. Americans don’t seem as worried as they once where about contracting devastating STDs and this is a luxury other areas of the world don’t have. I am aware that in sub-Saharan Africa there are millions of people who are living with HIV, and although more and more adults and children are reported to die each year from this devastating illness (nearly one million in Africa alone) the population grows still, estimating to grow into the millions by 2050( Population Reference Bureau, 2013). This Illness is so disheartening to hear about as it can even be passed down to the infected individual’s children.

One of the main goals of my study is to examine the impact of status disclosure from HIV positive individuals to their sexual partners and the affects associated with the disclosure. Mary O’ Grady (2011) Mary O’Grady measured a sample of 60 individuals (30 men and 30 women) and examined the disclosure of their HIV positive statuses to their sexual partners and the ethnics’ behind the disclosure. She investigates the rights to self-preservation, privacy and confidentiality. The study found that such disclosure could result in negative impacts, including stigma and discrimination towards individuals who are HIV positive. This study was done in order to protect individual’s right to privacy, to show how prevention behaviors should be practiced more widely and how to promote public health with the goal of a decreasing the spread of HIV in the future. While examining the disclosures of these individual’s showed results, In the future I would suggest more research on the specific health guidelines that protect individuals who are HIV positive from disclosing their status. “Only by understanding why this is the case can public health practitioners, legal professionals, and others working on the response to the HIV epidemic globally have greater effect in protecting the rights of PLHIV and achieving the goals of increased positive disclosure and decreased spread of HIV.” (p.79)

In the last three decades HIV/ AIDS has become the one of the most notorious and widely spread diseases in the modern world. Its discovery in the late seventies prompted worldwide concern. The one thing that has become the most bothersome thing about the HIV/ AIDS epidemic is prevention. Prevention or stopping the transmission of the diseases is hindered by factors such as: denial or non-acceptance by infected persons, unsafe sex, and non-disclosure by infected persons to their at risk sexual partner(s). According to Alghazo, Upton, and Cioe (2011):

HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. A member of a group of viruses called retroviruses, HIV infects human cells and uses the energy and nutrients provided by those cells to grow and reproduce. AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disease in which the body's immune system breaks down and is unable to fight off certain infections, known as "opportunistic infections," and other illnesses that take advantage of a weakened immune system. When a person is infected with HIV, the virus enters the body and lives and multiplies primarily in the white blood cells. These are the immune cells that normally protect us from disease.

HIV, or the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a virus which damages and kills cells of the immune system. It attacks the T-cells, key cells of the immune system, and uses them to make copies of itself. After being infected with the virus it progressively interferes and eventually destroys the immune system's ability to fight the anti-genes. HIV may develop into the syndrome AIDS, the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. HIV is an STD - a sexually transmitted disease - and therefore most commonly it is spread through sexual contact, and the virus mainly enters the body through the penis, mouth, lining of the vagina or vulva during sexual activity. HIV can also be spread through sharing syringes or needles with someone who is infected with the