The Epidemic Of The Aids Epidemic

The numbers of people were dying of this disease and the Center for Disease control first started describing the symptoms (Goosby87). Scientist began to study homosexuals because they were dying of this disease. In the year of 1984 Dr.Gallo discovered the causes of the disease of AIDS and it is responsible for the virus HIV.Once the diseases were identified, HIV and AIDS quickly became an epidemic in the country. By 1994, AIDS was the leading cause of death among Americans ages 25 to 44(Gill44). This disease started to impact

As decades pass, it becomes evident that medical research plays a vital role in saving lives and containing deadly epidemics. Without the advancement of modern medicine, these lethal diseases could undeniably erase mankind in its entirety. AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, was the fire that medical researchers were trying to contain since the first reported case of AIDS swept across American headlines on June 5, 1981 (“Timeline”). As mentioned in the Billy Joel’s song “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” AIDS played an influential role in shaping modern medicine and treatment. Acquired immune deficiency puzzled researchers from the start, however, physicians discovered the origin, method of transfer, treatment, and containment methods for

It is often cited that the HIV/Aids epidemic that hit the United States in the 1980’s (though there is some evidence that it started even before then), came into light due to several high profile incidents and the eventual loss of several thousand lives. Many believe that due to

inevitable that AIDS would be defined in political and cultural terms as well as medically, and

Throughout the Age of AIDS film many topics that were related to AIDS were brought up that I did not know anything about before. I did not know that there could so many strings attached to a disease and have such an influence in people’s lives whether it was negative or positive.

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.

The AIDS panic seems unbelievable in retrospect but was all too real in the 80s; people were forced off their jobs, children were barred from schools, and anyone who belonged to the "4-H club" (homosexuals, hard-drug users, hemophiliacs, and -- incredibly -- Haitians) were treated like pariahs. The secrecy and denial in dealing with the crisis helped it to spread persistent.

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 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 order to fully understand the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., we must consider the following determinants of health: biological, psychological, and sociological factors. These three factors had determined the spread of the disease in the late twentieth century, and they still affect the global distribution of AIDS today. In the documentary-film And the Band Played On (1993), director Roger Spottiswoode effectively showcased all three factors. The film is a chronological story of the AIDS epidemic from the 1980s. The story of the epidemic garners attention when gay men in both the west and east coast of the U.S. develop this mysterious disease in large numbers. Scientists at the Center for Disease Control and private labs fiercely work toward understanding the disease and trying to come up with a solution. The film is an epidemiological story, where the viewer sees prominent diagnoses, scientific discovery, political turnovers, psychological turmoil, and societal revolutions as developments in unraveling the AIDS mystery. The viewer is shown the journey involved in discovering the biological basis for the disease, the psychological effects due to the epidemic, political and societal conditions during the time period, and the overall implications of the epidemic.

The film And the Band Played On illustrates the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. In 1981, Dr. Don Francis notices an increase in deaths due to an illness among gay men in cities. As the number of deaths rapidly grows, Dr. Francis is forced to do his work with little money and outdated equipment as he tries to find possible causes of this rapidly spreading disease. Doctors, the Center for Disease Control, and citizens try to figure out if the disease is spread sexually, through blood or bodily secretions. The film And the Band Played On shows the reaction from the government, the Center for Disease Control, and normal citizens of the United States when this mysterious disease emerges. For example, in 1985 hysteria broke out across Queens when the New York City Board of Education announced that children with AIDS could attend public schools with healthy children. Parents protested against this in fears their children may contract this deadly disease with no known cause. Parents believed that their parental instinct and community control should trump what little known information about the disease that the NYC Board of Education was using. This event is described in Jennifer Brier’s article “‘Save Our Kids, Keep AIDS Out’: Anti-AIDS Activism and the Legacy of Community Control in Queens, New York”. At the end of this article and the film, citizens gain a better understanding for this disease and how it is transmitted. As hysteria broke out in Districts 27 and 29 of Queens, parents

The 1980s were a historic decade in the United States. While the American economy may have been doing relatively well at this point, this decade actually served as a turbulent one in American society. This tension was triggered by the discovery of the AIDS virus in 1981. Soon it rapidly spread all over America and the world, leaving a trail of death and despair in its wake. One such victim of this tragic disease is Paul Monette, a gay man who documents the AIDS virus in his 1988 memoir Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir. From a surface reading, one would think that this is all the memoir has to offer: a simple documentation of the AIDS virus as it affects his partner Roger. However, a historic closer reading of this memoir ultimately reveals a hidden, much deeper disconnect Paul has, one involving the religious aspect of the AIDS crisis. When read in this regard, one may become able to see how this disconnect affects Paul and Roger and further complicates the AIDS crisis.

Many people criticize the biomedical model in relation to AIDS. First, we cannot state that AIDS is real, because nothing is “social and/or culture free” since society has created every idea (Whelan, 2015b); this means that AIDS must be a social construction. Social construction is that human beings make the world they live in (Whelan, 2015b). The people who developed knowledge and science about AIDS has to decide what was relevant and non-relevant, based on their own ideas and personal biases. This may lead to misinterpretation of the information to favor a particular direction in society (Whelan, 2015a). There is also a social construction in the film that AIDS is a homosexual disease; thus, making homosexuality something not natural or healthy because it deviates from normal

The first cases of AIDS that were reported in the United States began in the early 1980s. Today, more than 1.1 million people are living with HIV. In response to this HIV epidemic, at least 35 states have implemented HIV-specific criminal laws that penalize HIV-positive people for exposing others to the virus. These laws impose criminal penalties to HIV positive people that knowingly and potentially expose others to the virus. The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, also known as the CARE Act, provides states with funds for AIDS treatment and care. In 1990, the CARE Act required every state to certify that its “criminal laws were adequate to prosecute any HIV-infected individual who knowingly exposed another person to HIV.” Criminal laws regarding potential HIV exposure vary largely from state to state. Some federal legislation addresses the criminal penalties for intentional exposure such as through blood donation. CDC and Department of Justice researches found that, “ by 2011, a total of 67 laws explicitly focused on persons living with HIV had been enacted in 33 states… In 24 states, laws require persons who are aware that they have HIV disclose their status to sexual partners and 14 states require disclosure to needle-sharing partners.” The criminal laws vary as to what behaviors are criminalized or result in additional penalties. The criminal statutes regarding intentional exposure to AIDS for Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama ,Georgia, and