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Why Americans Are Ignoring HIV and AIDS

divinecaroline.com — Frika Chia Iskandar’s stature and personality suggest she’s more likely to be a bubbly seventeen year old than a twenty-six year old HIV-positive activist. The Indonesian woman was barely able to see over the podium at a recent conference while retelling stories about her family’s reaction to her positive status, including a story about them buying

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 23, 2008

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  • imLissy, on 07/23/2008, -10/+84Yes, enough people in the US have HIV/AIDS for it to be scary, but it's not the death sentence it used to be. The truth is, if you're careful, you have a very low chance of even getting it. They are still teaching about the dangers of the disease in schools and the importance of safe sex practices.

    It isn't being ignored. People are just more concerned with things that have a higher chance of killing them, like heart disease.
  • KatoHamatsu, on 07/23/2008, -7/+31Great reminder that us Americans can't afford to get lax about HIV.
  • VyPR, on 07/23/2008, -7/+28Very few people get AIDS that couldn't have avoided it. Often lifestyle choices are a major factor. On the other hand, cancer can hit anyone, even small children. I have two small children who don't share needles or have unprotected sex. Which disease should I care about more?
  • meandnips, on 07/23/2008, -3/+23I think this sort of mindset is what leads to HIV/Aids not being wiped out yet in the US. While drug therapies are available and treatment is worlds away from when this epidemic started (I saw many of my close friends suffer and die) the truth is that the drug cocktails available today are expensive, time consuming and the side effects can be hard to live with. HIV/Aids may not kill you they way it used to but its not just like having to take a pill and you don't think about it anymore. Additionally, the behaviors that lead to infection are also the behaviors that lead to STDs such as Chlamydia, which can go unnoticed for years, seriously affecting a woman's reproductive health. Again, it may not kill you, but the toll on your life and your community is huge. We can stop HIV/Aids infections, and we should not ever treat this dreadful disease lightly.
  • toconnor, on 07/23/2008, -2/+21Because there are only so many death threats that you can worry about at once. This month's winners are heat waves, hurricanes and jalapeno peppers.
  • tinafey, on 07/23/2008, -1/+20It certainly hasn't gone away, science and medicine has made it easier to live healthier lives while treating AIDS, but we still need to be constantly reminding our youth about the importance of protection and detection.
  • GuitarHeroDenn, on 07/23/2008, -3/+21Because cancer is the cool disease now
  • Stupidumb, on 07/23/2008, -1/+17Vampirism
  • xsecretfiles, on 07/23/2008, -4/+20I thought everyone had Aids?
  • AmyWhere, on 07/23/2008, -4/+19great! then you should have unprotected anal sex.
  • digiguy, on 07/23/2008, -2/+17What is sex?
  • digiguy, on 07/23/2008, -0/+14can you get aids from that?
  • esteskid, on 07/23/2008, -0/+14unfortunately, until you can stop crazy meth addicts from getting stoned and ***** anyone they can find on craigslist without protection it will be a lot more than a mindset problem
  • tapeworm77, on 07/23/2008, -6/+18Aidsburger in paradise!!!
  • jpate86, on 07/23/2008, -0/+12Is this serious? Americans ignoring HIV/AIDS? Just like many other diseases and disorders, America does more research regarding these issues than any other nation. Medical research is just about the most expensive research one can do. America is no longer the economic superpower it used to be. We cannot cure these diseases on our own. It is going to take a worldwide effort of nations willing to take it as seriously as we do. Instead of people simply saying it is our fault, why not blame nations that are not contributing to the solution, yet they will reap the benefits once we do find the cure. People just have to face the fact that there are certain problems in our world that will take a worldwide effort to solve. America can't do it all anymore.
  • Stupidumb, on 07/23/2008, -0/+12I think so, but only if you do it really violently.
  • inactive, on 07/23/2008, -6/+18The most important thing is that this is still a killer - and the sooner we re-educate everyone the better.
  • futureisours, on 07/23/2008, -0/+10if you have aids you can.
  • Stupidumb, on 07/23/2008, -0/+10It's when you touch yourself
  • thelif, on 07/23/2008, -0/+10Would she care about the disease if she didn't have the disease?
  • bawitback, on 07/23/2008, -1/+10i'd hit it, wait nvm
  • rblancarte, on 07/23/2008, -1/+10I have to say that this is way wrong. HIV/AIDS is not ignored in the US. I would just say that protection at this point is common place. I would never think of having sex without a condom. We all know that sex has risks (even beyond HIV/AIDS), and we prepare for it.

    Though I will say, it should be of concern that we (the United States) has a higher than average infection and transmission rate than other developed countries.
  • Egress99, on 07/23/2008, -3/+12Because banging without a bag is so much more fun.
  • homedaddy, on 07/23/2008, -1/+10someone who has sex ocassionally?
  • inactive, on 07/23/2008, -1/+10"The Indonesian woman was barely able to see over the podium at a recent conference..."

    No, she was easily able to see over the podium--she was standing on it. It was the lecturn that was giving her trouble.
  • alperea, on 07/23/2008, -0/+8indeed... the gays, the straights, the whites and the spades
  • KyloOb, on 07/23/2008, -5/+13"The largest number of new HIV/AIDS cases in American women is now among those between the ages of fifteen and thirty-nine" -- Surely the number between 15 and 40 is larger? I don't understand things like this, someone explain?
  • VyPR, on 07/23/2008, -0/+8You're right. That's why I'm going to educate them and hope that they're wise enough to make the same good choices I made that have kept me HIV free. My job is to raise them to be independent, productive human beings, not to shelter them from responsibility and personal accountability.
  • FadieZ, on 07/23/2008, -4/+12AIDS is so '90s, cancer is way more awesome.
  • CptBuck, on 07/23/2008, -0/+7I think you two are basically saying the same thing, it's not that we've forgotten about HIV its just that we now view it as part of a broader spectrum of sexually transmitted/blood transmitted diseases. While a number of states in the U.S. are still, unfortunately, quite resistant to sex ed there's still been a great improvement in the past 30 years. imLissy is right though, you're much much more likely to be killed by cancer or heart disease in this country than HIV. I think there's also a perception at this point that people are aware of these things and that at this point individuals need to be responsible. When the HIV epidemic first emerged there were a lot of tragic cases where, say, a blood transfusion patient contracted the virus, but today it seems more like people know the risks of what they are doing. If you're an intravenous drug user and you contract HIV from sharing needles, well, tough *****.
  • buddyw, on 07/23/2008, -5/+12"Wow, You have Aids? That's so retro."
  • tuffie, on 07/23/2008, -1/+8As a 26 year old male whose contracted HIV I can personally attest to the amount of 'it's not something I have to worry about here in America' responses I've received from people when I've told/they've found out I'm positive.

    Too many of our youth no longer see HIV/AIDS as a death sentence but nothing more then a maintainable disease/condition such as diabetes, and it's not. It's so much more then that and if you think it won't impact every facet of your physical and mental life, the lives you share with friends, family, and coworkers then continue to think 'it's not something you have to worry about' until the day you wake up and it's all you worry about.
  • CobaltBlue, on 07/23/2008, -1/+8I don't see how demanding a full range of contraception, as mentioned in the article, has anything to do with preventing AIDS. I'm pretty sure most forms of contraception don't do anything to prevent AIDS.
  • ledmonkey, on 07/23/2008, -0/+6When the nipple makes it's first appearance.
  • FredFredrickson, on 07/23/2008, -0/+6The U.S. needs to stop teaching abstinence-only sex ed to its youth, and start working on educating them on how to have sex safely instead. Thinking that you are going to stop young people from experimenting with sex is just plain ignorant.
  • mercimadam, on 07/23/2008, -1/+7I really hope Science finds an answer and we can look back upon these last few decades as unfortunate.
  • Stupidumb, on 07/23/2008, -1/+6If you ignore it, it will go away.
  • inactive, on 07/23/2008, -3/+8Another ***** headline and unprofessional assessment of a scientific subject by a non scientific pop culture magazine. No country in the world does more research or gives more aid to foreign countries for AIDS than the US. I would like to know how the lady contracted aids in this story. Dos she share any personal responsibility for her own sexual promiscuity? Or is she just gong to blame it on the big bad US for not doing enough for the "world" to spend the billions of dollars for her benefit?
  • bffoley, on 07/23/2008, -0/+5Oh dear. Someone get a hot dog and a doughnut.
  • WiretapStudios, on 07/23/2008, -0/+5Your children are using condoms already, nice work.
  • FeloniusMonkey, on 07/23/2008, -0/+5Even though I've never heard of a vampire dying from a disease, they can probably still carry diseases. Always practice safe bloodletting, folks.
  • clickwir, on 07/23/2008, -0/+4My theory is that most people either 1) don't hear about the negative aspects of it enough... or 2) are just plain tired of hearing about all the "breakthroughs" that come across big media, yet none of them seem like real progress.

    I'm in group 2. They might be making the slowest progress ever, but I've not heard of any real breakthroughs.
  • cam0man, on 07/23/2008, -0/+4While I might not be as frank as you, the bottom line is the victims of this disease are spreading it. The cure is prevention and comes in the form of condoms. Stop spreading the disease and once all the victims pass away, it's been eradicated. The bottom line is that A=ACQUIRED, aside from random needle pricks, most victims have put themselves in a position to increase their chances of getting AIDs.

    Stop having unsafe sex and let the disease die off. IMHO, I'd much rather focus time, energy, and money towards illnesses affecting innocent children/victims than something which is an acquired illness.
  • RedHeadedFreak, on 07/23/2008, -1/+5Education only works when the people you are trying to educate are intelligent and are able and willing to learn. Unfortunately, many people will still act like irresponsible animals when it comes to sex. And also, I've read many articles on the decline of AIDS, at least in America, which could also contribute to the apparent or perceived apathy.
  • aolshove, on 07/23/2008, -1/+5I think the article should state, "The American Media No longer cares about AIDS". I think that the rest of the world considers mass media's interest level in a topic to be equal to the nations interest level. We all know that the media beats sensationalist stories into the ground until they can't squeeze one more cent out of the story and then they move onto something else. This doesn't mean that American's as a society don't still care in our individual lives.
  • Stupidumb, on 07/23/2008, -0/+4"Those poor unfortunate people of the past. Looking back makes me appreciate all the nameless, wild sex that we enjoy daily in the streets."
  • NonLeftistDiggr, on 07/23/2008, -1/+4Ignoring it? There is quite a lot of our tax money dedicated to AIDS.
  • inactive, on 07/23/2008, -0/+3But what about balding? Balding people should get cancer sympathy
  • Hetman, on 07/23/2008, -0/+3What I find disturbing is the disaporinaite amount of female african americans who have HIV/AIDS. That seems to get ignored just as much as AIDS in general does. Not that there is much you can do about HIV. People know about it and they know how to prevent it.
  • Halgy, on 07/23/2008, -1/+4AIDS only kills you if you come in contact with infected fluids, and therefore can be contained. Cancer can kill pretty much anyone, anytime. While AIDS education is important, it should not take precedence over everything else.
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