The Aids Epidemic By Daniel Halperin And His Coauthor, A Johannesburg Washington Post Reporter, Craig Timberg

HIV/AIDS has been responsible for one of the worst epidemics in history. In her book “The Invisible Cure” Helen Epstein details why Africa in particular was so devastated by the disease, which countries failed and which succeeded in the struggle to contain the virus, and why this happened. Epstein highlights a particular phenomenon, that first took place in Uganda, but which can be translated to many countries and situations, and which she calls “the invisible cure.”

This history of HIV/AIDS as a blurry timeline before the 1980’s since that was around the time reports came in which eventually become an HIV report. The origin of HIV can be traced back to the early part of the century. Some believe that in the 1920’s chimpanzees from the Congo came into contact with humans (Avert, 2016). Though reports were not identified as HIV until the 1980’s, the belief that HIV was already scattered throughout four other continents may have been incident (Avert, 2016). Even though for the past 30 years the world has been diligently working to find a cure and pushing prevention, we are still struggling each year with increasing diagnosis. The beginning of HIV did end with lots of death, but now with our improved antiviral medication there is hope for many.

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.

Did you know “AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa” (Quinn, online). Twenty percent of Africa’s population has died from AIDS. Poverty is a big problem in Africa. Men have been forced to become migrant workers in urban areas. And antiretroviral treatment at this time is not available to African people. AIDS is a big problem in Africa today that is now requiring help from the world.

When the AIDS and HIV virus crept its way into the human-race, it quickly, and without warning, claimed the lives of millions. Then when its destructive wake had finally been abated, it left behind several untold mysteries. Throughout the course of this class, all the new material we have been exposed to has added some unique piece to the puzzle of the AIDS epidemic. Each puzzle pieces have ranged from speculations on how the AIDS epidemic had begun, to what exactly has the epidemic done. We have also tackled the question and how it forced a change in society. Our newest piece of the puzzle is the documentary “The Age of AIDS,” by William Cran. Although this documentary did not surprise me in its content, it did, however, affirm certain types

According to a report published in the February 1998 edition of “Nature”, scientists identified what they believe is the earliest case of AIDs in a man from the Congo in 1959. (Lerner and Hombs 39) By the end of the year 1980, 80 men would have been diagnosed with at least of the opportunistic infections that are a characteristic of AIDs. (Lerner and Hombs 40) AIDs cases in the 1980s increased dramatically not only around the world but in the United States, primarily in larger cities like Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco. The numbers of AIDs diagnoses and deaths spiraled out of control throughout the 1980s and towards the end of 1989 there were 117,500 cases of AIDS reported and 89,000 related deaths.(Lerner and Hombs 54) In the

In The Invisible Cure, Helen Epstein talks about why HIV/AIDS rate is so high in Africa compared to the rest of the world. Through the book, she gives us an account of the disease and the struggles that many health experts and ordinary Africans went through to understand this disease, and how different African countries approached the same problem differently. Through this paper, I will first address the different ways Uganda and Southern African countries, South Africa and Botswana in particular, dealt with this epidemic, and then explain how we can use what we have learned from these African countries to control outbreaks of communicable disease elsewhere around the world.

In the 1980s, a mysterious disease began to take the lives of Americans. With the cause unknown, a fear grew among Americans. An unusually high rate of people was becoming sick with strange and rare diseases. When experimental treatments failed to work, people died. This mysterious disease is what we now know as HIV–Human Immunodeficiency Virus. In the past thirty-five years, the HIV has taken many turns in history. Although we do not hear about HIV and AIDS now, it is still a prevalent issue in the United States and in the world.

In Ronald O. Valdiserri’s article “Thirty Years of AIDs in America: A Story of Infinite Hope,” it is said that we have data that shows we have improved in our prevention of AIDs/HIVs diseases over the years. However, Valdiserri’s article also points out that these statistics contained data resulted from inadequate or incomplete information, which makes me question how much do we really know about the improvements being identified.

Africa has a history of facing many challenges, including starvation, poverty, Ebola and AIDS. AIDS, however, has become Africa’s biggest hurdle. Botswana, located in Southern Africa, has been hit the hardest by the AIDS virus with over 23% of its population contracting AIDS. In order to help fix the AIDS epidemic in Botswana, multiple things need to be reviewed, such as understanding how AIDS spread throughout Botswana, where the region currently stands on the AIDS virus, and the three solutions on how to prevent the rise in the spreading of the virus within the area. According to the website Avert, studies have shown that the most effective ways to help stop the spread of AIDS includes testing centers, intervention centers, and the distribution of more protective measures.

In 1920 a disease would enter the world in change lives of many people around the world. The most powerful scientists and researchers tired to find answers regarding the strange disease but unfortunately they will spend years with unanswered questions. In this research paper, I decided to look back and discuss evidence about the origin of HIV, and find out where, how, and when the disease first began to cause illness in humans. However, this paper will mainly focus on how HIV impacts the community worldwide.

In the late 1970’s AIDS was just introduced, others knew it as the “gay plague.” In Manhattan, the government was thought to have made HIV later introduced as the main leading cause of AIDS, to use it as a weapon of genocide against gay men.

In “Only your Calamity”, author Joe Wright discusses how those affected by AIDS either directly or via someone close to them, started and built AIDS activism has it is known today. Wright uses the personal experiences of Bobbi Campbell and Michael Callen, who are also mentioned and cited in Victory Deferred, to explain their drive to become AIDS activists. Wright details how AIDS acted has a form of “social death”, once a person had been diagnosed they were often seen has dead to their peers. So people with AIDS grouped together and at the national AIDS convention in Dallas, declared their rights. These people demanded to be treated with basic human respect by medical professionals and their peers. Most importantly their brave statements gave hope to other people with AIDS. The story of the activists during the epidemic was innately human. These people rose up to advocate for their rights not to become statistics, to be seen as more than their disease. Wright is able to connect their stories with contemporary activist working in places like Africa, where people with AIDS are being treated much like gay men here during the early 1980s. The stories of these activists allow historians to make direct connections to causes and effects. These are the people who change the

The beginning of the AIDS epidemic started in 1981 when the first case of an unknown disease was publically announced. Since its publication the human immunodeficiency virus and its autoimmune deficiency syndrome have sparked many concerns, medically, ethically, and socially. The following documentary and films expressed awareness to the public, they are:

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world that is most affected by HIV/AIDS. The United Nations reports that an estimated 25.4 million people are living with HIV and that approximately 3.1 million new infections occurred in 2004. To put these figures in context, more than 60 percent of the people living with the infection reside in Africa. Even these staggering figures do not quite capture the true extent and impact that this disease causes on the continent. In 1998, about 200,000 Africans died as a result of various wars taking place on the continent. In that same year, more than 2 million succumbed to HIV/AIDS (Botchwey, 2000).