Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - Wednesday, June 6, 2001
In the United States the rate of infection seems to have stabilized but remains disheartening. In Miami-Dade an estimated 24,600 people -- one out of 90 -- carry the precursor HIV; in Broward, 12,800 -- one out of 127. Worse, half of all new HIV infections occur in people under 25. Statewide 4,987 new cases of AIDS were reported in 2000, and in 1999 AIDS became the leading cause of death among black men and women ages 25 to 44.
Why? Ignorance, sexual taboos, politics and personal recklessness play a part -- much of which can be changed if we insist upon it.
AIDS is no longer a disease ravaging just gays, as thought in 1981. It is an infectious disease sexually transmitted between men and women of all colors, as well as by intravenous drug use, blood transfusions and through the womb.
Research has produced new drugs and rigorous treatment regimens that, for many, hold the fatal disease at bay. Yet, in a chilling irony, that blessing seems to have caused many young people to ignore caution. Glossed over is the expense, $12,000 to $15,000 a year per person, and the fact that treatment comes with debilitating side effects. Medical researchers hope for a vaccine, but it appears to be many years away and once introduced will take decades to eradicate HIV.
Abetting this pandemic is the stigma attached and the unease people the world over have about sex education, habits and health. That's especially bewildering in this country where sex and sexuality are promoted in pop music, TV, movies and advertising. Yet parents are still unaccountably reluctant to talk to their children. Sex education is left to public schools, which must regularly overcome woodenheaded campaigns to eliminate or emasculate the programs. Only recently have black ministers -- considered critical to quelling the spread of the disease -- and Hispanic community leaders organized to deal with the taboo subject. Politicians, meanwhile, shun needle-exchange programs, which are known to reduce its spread.
One wants to believe that HIV and AIDS can one day be vanquished.
Yet the first steps toward that goal are still the most difficult: We must end the stigma of AIDS/HIV, face the reality that all are vulnerable and take responsibility for preventing its spread.
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Copyright © 2001 - Miami Herald. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Miami Herald, Permissions, One Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132-1693 TEL: (305) 376-3719. http://www.herald.com.
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