tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10396019.post113345005630669456..comments2023-09-22T03:30:22.978-04:00Comments on intermittent bright ideas: Today is World AIDS Daylarzmarshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10461136765568332306noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10396019.post-1133464930322509512005-12-01T14:22:00.000-05:002005-12-01T14:22:00.000-05:00To see where this inability or uncompassionate res...To see where this inability or uncompassionate response comes from, we need only look at those who are most susceptible to AIDS/HIV.<BR/><BR/>1)Intravenous drug users.<BR/><BR/>2)Promiscuous people with multiple sexual partners.<BR/><BR/>3)Male Homosexuals (pardon my illustration, but there is a lot of blood and semen involved with anal sex - skyrocketing risks of infection.)<BR/><BR/>4)Prostitutes<BR/><BR/>5)People in 3rd world countries who do not have access to or choose to utilize basic hygienic needs in hospitals and doctor’s offices. Do you know a surgical scalpel can be used on up to 12 different individuals sometimes in the poorest countries of the world without even being wiped clean?<BR/><BR/>6)People who smoke crack are now at risk, too, it’s been found. A lot of people who smoke crack use metal or glass pipes. These pipes become heated, and dry out the lips of individuals who frequent the drug. These lips crack, peel, and BLEED. Pass the pipe to the next person … viola! Welcome to HIV.<BR/><BR/><BR/>I’ve had to teach STD awareness classes to individuals where I work. Some of the atypical responses?<BR/><BR/>These are just a few …<BR/><BR/>“AIDS is God’s punishment on the world for being involved in sexual imorality.”<BR/><BR/>“You only get AIDS if you deserve it.”<BR/><BR/>“AIDS is a disease to kill homosexuals”<BR/><BR/>Great attitudes. <BR/><BR/>How many people, if they knew a person had AIDS or HIV would even offer to hold that individual’s hand? Give them a hug? … It’s so much safer to pray for them from a distance, yes? <BR/><BR/>I guarantee in this AIDS-educated society we live in, there are still people in our immediate lives who would not even want to be breathing the same air as the afflicted individual.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, medicine is also one of our worst enemies as well. Now, a person who contracts HIV can live a long life without worrying about the disease becoming full blown AIDS. This medicine is readily handed out and made available now to anyone in the US through various medical assistance funds, grants, Medicade, etc.. Now AIDS/HIV can be an American afterthought since it is now a 'liveable' disease.<BR/><BR/>Plus, we are dealing with a group of people who do not start to even show symptoms until YEARS later, but can still proactively spread HIV to others.<BR/><BR/>1980 - 31 people in the United States died of what is later determined to be complications of AIDS.<BR/><BR/>2001 – Worldwide, 40 million are infected with HIV. 21.8 million people have died from AIDS.<BR/><BR/> At the end of 2003, an estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 persons in the United States were living with HIV/AIDS, with 24-27% undiagnosed and unaware of their HIV infection.<BR/><BR/>Nearly a million more cases of AIDS were reported in 2004 than the previous year. Most of the increases are occurring in Eastern Europe and Asia, but the United States is having a resurgence of the disease as well.<BR/><BR/>Who is the most at risk? OUR YOUNG PEOPLE! TEENAGERS HAVE THE HIGHEST INFECTION RATE NOW!<BR/><BR/>- something to nibble on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com