Mar 18 2009
The modern HIV epidemic
When the gay & bisexual community talks about the HIV epidemic, they talk about it in past tense. They talk about it as something which plagued the gay & bisexual community during the 80′s and early 90′s. Claiming the lives of countless friends, sons and loved ones.
At the time conservative hard-liners cackled with glee at this gay-plague which in their mind was cleansing society of the sodomites. Meanwhile we watched with sadness and despair as our friends battled with and died from a disease that society didn’t seem to care about.
25 years on and the world is a very different place. In the western world we understand very well how HIV is transmitted, that it isn’t just a risk for gays and bisexuals but for the whole world. Anti-retroviral treatments (where available) have proved effective in prolonging both the duration and quality of life of those suffering from HIV.
Yet we have become complacent.
HIV epidemics are springing up the world over and infection rates are continuing to soar. This is particularly true in Africa, (where the Pope has recently reiterated the Catholic Church’s shameful opposition to condom use) but epidemics are not limited to developing countries. Washington DC has just reported that 3% of over 12′s are infected with HIV/AIDS. This puts the US capital on a par with Uganda for HIV/AIDS infection rates.
Everyone who is sexually active has a duty to behave responsibly. To be aware and to consider the possibility that they or the person who they are sleeping with might carry the virus. This is irrespective of your sexual orientation, though we have to acknowledge that those of us who regularly engage in unprotected anal sex are most at risk.
Remember whilst HIV is no-longer the death sentence it was in the 1980′s. Living with HIV is not easy. The slightest infection, even a common cold can complicate itself into a life threatening condition.
Still, there is hope. Whilst where antiretroviral therapies are available, such as in the UK. A person diagnosed with HIV aged 20 can expect to live another 49 years. Not bad when you consider average life expectancy in the UK is 80. However, this statistic only holds true for those who have their HIV infection diagnosed early, not for those who remain oblivious to their HIV status for years.
The solution:- get tested – know your status. You stand the best chance of living a long and healthy life that way.
Meanwhile in Africa where antiretroviral drugs are not freely available, people are dying needlessly and the epidemic is getting worse.
If you enjoyed this post. Please share it with others by adding it to the following social bookmarking sites. This is greatly appreciated and doesn't go unnoticed. Just click the graphics below.
6 Responses to “The modern HIV epidemic”
Leave a Reply
Please write in good English, using correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. Please also capitalise your sentences correctly.
The SHIFT key is your friend.
Bi the Way,
Good post. Drugs treating AIDS symptoms are a godsend to the world, and the tragedy is that more people do not have access to them. (Perhaps we have big business and big religion to thank for that.)
Despite the successes of anti-AIDS drugs, people seem surprisingly cavalier about contracting HIV. Anti-AIDS drugs may mute the effects of HIV, but spending a lifetime tethered to the pharmacist carries problems of its own. Will world politics and economics always afford ready access to the medication? Will one have to limit travel to countries with modern-style pharmacies? How will AIDS medications interact with other drugs as the body gets older?
I agree with you that people are naive if they think anti-AIDS drugs represent a free pass from worry about safe sex. Of course medications come as a blessing to those who need them, but the best option seems to be avoiding the need to medicate in the first place.
Tiresias
Very well said on both accounts. To use an analogy -
Better fire engines and other equipment are of course a good thing, but this doesn’t give you free license to smoke in bed willy nilly and other such stupidities.
I have yet to have sexual contact with a person of either gender, but I have already been practicing with condoms. Partly out of curiosity, partly out of saving effort in clean up after (well you know….), and partly for preparedness. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything from either perspective sexually without protection. At least not unless I had been in a very long term relationship akin to marriage, and we had both been checked out thoroughly.
Actually Anon
A so called “posh wank” is a good idea. Everyone should know how to put on a condom properly, and you don’t want to be trying to figure it out whilst you are about to lose your virginity. Pausing to read the instructions on the back of the packet kinda kills the mood.
I agree, it’s useful to have tried condoms on by yourself, to be sure you know what you’re doing. But don’t just see it as good practice for the ‘real thing’ – I’m a great believer that masturbation should not be seen as a poor substitute for something more fun.
I refer you all to the song ‘Sodomy’ from the musical Hair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&v=TzwGfP98vGM
Very true, I find it quite enjoyable actually. There are certain advantages to condoms I won’t go into here, at least in my opinion. That song gave me a grin if nothing else though, laugh.
That said being visually impaired reading the back of the packet isn’t much of an option. That’s partly also the reason I’m still a virgin at 25, try finding anyone when there is little to nowhere to go out to in your town and you’ve no clue how to get anywhere else by bus. Ah well, things are about to change hopefully, and hopefully it will help me work out my bi tendencies on some level.