Prevention of AIDS by Lifting the Stigma

Imagine living in the 1980’s when the HIV/AIDS epidemic started, having HIV back then was a death sentence, and that is how it was seen by everyone in the general public. Then, over time medicine and treatments would become more available, and people suffering from HIV would be able to seek help instead of being left to slowly perish. HIV or its more developed version of it known as AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease, but can also be spread through the exchange of bodily fluids such as semen, urine, and blood. Some big misconceptions about AIDS is that it really cannot be spread with saliva or sweat. The way the virus works is that it attacks the body’s T cell count, which is in control of the immune system. Once without an immune system, the body is pretty much vulnerable to any disease and the body cannot fight it. Revolutionary medicine was then developed to combat the HIV virus, which makes living with HIV better. In order to prevent the spread of HIV, the general public needs to become more aware of the false stigma surrounding the virus, parents and administrations need to do a better job of educating their students, and offer alternative help to people who are at risk of getting the virus through the use of injectable drugs.

One way HIV could be significantly reduced is by further educating the public, in order to destigmatize common misconceptions of the virus. Some easy misconceptions to make about HIV are very easy to make. One misconception of HIV is that it can be spread through saliva. Unless there is an open cut on the infected person, then there should be a very little chance of contracting the virus. Another misconception is the fact that HIV positive moms can still give their babies a chance of having HIV. Most people do not know that AIDS can be transmitted that way. HIV also made it easier to be able to hate on the gay community because in the 80’s it was believed that only gay people could get HIV and that was God’s way of punishing them. Realistically, everyone was able to contract it, but it was the lack of knowledge. In an article called, Stigma and HIV: The Current Situation by Kyle Cabarini, an HIV and sexual health research nurse states, “Poor knowledge of HIV has been found to be a major precursor of stigma and it has been identified that despite positive support for its inclusion within the learning curriculum, there is a lack of education on HIV.” (Carabini, P. 57). What this quote is trying to say is one of the major causes of the prejudice and stigma that people with HIV face is due to the lack of education towards the general public. The general public has a fear of contracting HIV from people who are positive for the virus. If the local governments tried to educate people more, the public would be aware of the safety procedures and therefore be better equipped with the information to handle someone who has HIV and be able to peacefully coexist.

This quote also talks about how the general public still wants to be educated on the subject further. Cabarini is not the only medical professional to come to this conclusion. Ronald O. Valdiserr, and David R. Holtgrave both deputy directors of the Division of STD/HIV Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control in their study called Ending America’s HIV Epidemic: Why the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Still Matters they state, “a recent analysis of over six hundred partners of HIV-positive individuals revealed that African American and Hispanic partners, both men and women, were less aware of PrEP, compared to partners who were white.” (Valdiserri and Holtgrave, P. 2033). This quote talks about a sample of six hundred partners, and how the minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics have less knowledge that there is medicine that the partner of an HIV-positive person can take in order to decrease their chances of getting the virus from their partner, also known as PrEP. This is important because it goes to show the lack of education on HIV that Hispanic and African-American people are subjected to. If PrEP was just common sense and known to all people and not just limited to a certain population of people, then we would be able to see the reduction of HIV positive populations.

To prevent the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus further, school administrations and parents should implement more support to their students. Students who suffer from HIV have to suffer with the ignorance of the school administrations and the general public will also need better education on the subject of HIV. According to an article called Health Administrator Perspectives on Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Prevention and Services at Historically Black Colleges and Universities by Lari Warren-Jeanpiere a public health administrator says, “Perceived barriers to more effectively providing services included negative student attitudes regarding HIV and lack of support from school administration and parents.” (Warren-Jeanpierre, Lari et al, P. 327). This quote talks about how school administrators and parents need to do a better job of informing the students about the general misconceptions. Not only does this alienate people who suffer from HIV. Students' perspectives on HIV can significantly affect those who are positive. Being a little more open minded and if school would implement different educational curriculums that genuinely go into detail and teaching students more on HIV, then this would also reduce the amount of people who contract HIV. Another piece of evidence that supports the claim is by Megan Nickels, a STEM assistant professor at the University of Central Florida states, “the regular classroom teacher may lack the required knowledge of the student’s disease, symptoms, and treatment to modify the curriculum to his or her academic, physiological, neurocognitive, and sociological needs (Irwin Elam, 2011).” (Nickels, P. 46). This quote talks about the miscommunication of a students and professors if the student is suffering from HIV, the professor might not know how to deal with the situation. The article also talks about how if the student is bed ridden due to HIV and cannot come to class, the professor may see the student as just making excuses, or think that it is an excuse. If the schools did a better job of coming up with procedures with a student who could he suffering with HIV. HIV is no longer only seen as a sexually transmitted disease but also as a disability.

Establishing alternative ways of dealing with people who are dependent on injectable substances can also decrease the spread of HIV. In the article An Outbreak of HIV Infection among People Who Inject Drugs Linked to Injection of Propofol in Taiwan states, “Several studies document that methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), can reduce HIV transmission and injection drug use.” (Huang, et al, P. 1). This quote talks about there have been multiple studies done that have linked alternative methods of dealing with substances to a decrease in the spread of HIV. The way it works is that the drug consumer no longer has to depend on a dirty needle and an illegal drug such as heroin, which has one of the highest rates of HIV transmission of all drugs. This is the most controversial of all the methods, this would require so much effort from the U.S. government and the amount of work that politicians and senate would pass. Marijuana which is legalized in some states still gets touch back from everyone.

Nothing really truly gets done on the federal level and in turn it would just be sweet talk from politicians. Clinics that have established treatments such as MMT use sterile needles therefore the drug consumer is no longer at as much risk of contracting HIV. This all according to the studies done in the observation done by Huang, Yu-Ching, et al. The article also states, “PWID revealed an outbreak of 82 in 2015, which then decreased to 43 in 2016 after propofol began to be regulated as a Schedule 4 controlled drug in August 2015. In a multiple logistic regression... ” (Huang, et al, P. 1). This piece of evidence talks about the study that was conducted with the drug propofol. According to the experiment, in 2015 there was an outbreak of 86 people in 2015. When they legalized the drug in 2016 and offered treatments to people who inject drugs (PWID), the amount of people that contracted HIV was only 43 people. That is exactly a 50% decrease in the amount of people that contract HIV who inject drugs. This is just a small experiment in Taiwan. In theory, if on the federal level the government can pass a new law that a drug like propofol can be used as a therapeutic and alternate way to deal PWID, then we would also see a reduction of HIV transmission.

In conclusion, in order to prevent the spread of HIV further, the general public needs to decrease the amount of stigma there is around the epidemic. The school systems and parents around the world need to do a better job of educating the youth more on safe sex practices. Governments need to set up clinics for people who inject illegal drugs into themselves, so they could be at less risk of contracting HIV through drug use. The United Nations plans on eradicating HIV by 2030. Today living with HIV has never been easier, medicine and emotional support groups have been made to also focus on the mental health aspect of living with HIV. That is a substantial difference compared to all the discrimination that people with AIDS had to live through in the 1980’s. These steps would in turn put the world at a better chance at defeating the virus that 39 million people have lost their lives to.