Download - HIV Essay
Kerry Lewis HIV/AIDS DBQ
HIV/AIDS is a serious world epidemic. So far, 26 million have died, and that
number is only rising. HIV stands for Human immuno deficiency virus. It is a virus that
sets the stage for AIDS—acquired immuno deficiency syndrome. AIDS is a syndrome in
which the body’s T-cells, sometimes called T-fighter cells (the ones which ward off
disease) are compromised, and fall in numbers, leaving the body more susceptible to
infection and disease. The people of Africa are in the majority of those killed. In a
country where it is difficult to reach a health treatment center, and even then difficult to
get the medication used to treat HIV/AIDS, the people
In order to combat this epidemic, steps must be taken. To start, the governments
of countries that are suffering throughout their population—such as the United States—
need to acknowledge the problem that is sweeping the country. Although HIV/AIDS was
“declared a security threat” back in 2000 (HIV Timeline), there hasn’t been an effort
tangible by the public to make it seem like this is so. This could be done in a variety of
ways--- the foremost being raising awareness. We all see “Above the Influence”
programs on our TV; we all know the risks of drugs and alcohol. A program which
educated the public about AIDS, how to prevent it, where and how often to get yourself
tested, and the symptoms, through various TV programs, posters, and other publicity
methods is needed. The public needs to know that HIV isn’t something that you can ‘just
tell’ that you have. A poster shown in document 5 shows it well—at first, there are no
signs of HIV. Testing is often the only way to tell. Only a little more that 40% of the US
population has been screened for HIV (Document 1)—this number needs to change, and
education is always the first step.
Then, the government needs to pay attention to what comes forward. According to
Document 2b, the USA didn’t send their HIV/AIDS statistics to the UN. The US also
does not have a long term plan to combat AIDS. These are signs that make the US
government a good example of a government who needs to step up and acknowledge that
its citizens are suffering in great number, and then do something about it.
But it is not just the US that is suffering. As previously stated, in Africa there are
great numbers dying from this disease—numbers which are only greater because of less
opportunities to treat themselves, and also to prevent AIDS in the first place. Some
people in Africa would need to go 40 miles to get to the nearest hospital. While this may
not seem like much to us, they, unless us, are walking there. And even If they could get
there, the medications that they need are so unavailable to them because of poverty that
all the hospital can do is make them comfortable for a few weeks and then let them go
home to die. This is not right. People have an equal right to live, someone with AIDS in
the US can go to a hospital and get treated, and this should also be the case in Africa. To
combat this inequality, I would propose a program put together through the UN or some
other alliance in which countries all stepped forward to create clinic stations throughout
Africa, supplied with medication, and the materials needed for testing and prevention.
The doctors would then volunteer to transfer and work in Africa, perhaps if given good
incentive (such as a higher income), and they would have all the materials that they
would have at home to treat an HIV/AIDS patient.
In other countries, such as India where women have a much lesser status than
men, the problem would have to be approached differently, and would require slightly
more drastic change. Because AIDS is often spread to women because of a husband’s
sleeping around and unwillingness to use a condom, there need to be more serious
consequences for such actions. It should be a law that any woman has the right to say no
to sex without a condom, and it should be easy for women to report infractions of this
law. If it turns into a matter of breaking the law, the woman would be looked down on
less for reporting the problem, and the knowledge that this could happen would help
scare the husbands into complying with what his wife wants.
For AIDS spread by drugs, the best option other than trying to prevent drug use (a
whole new topic) is to implement, like Russia has already, a clean needle program where
people can exchange their used needles for sterilized ones. Because sharing needles is a
major part of drug related AIDS infections, this lowers people’s chances of acquiring the
disease drastically. The only problem with this is that it is in a way making drugs less
scary—taking away the risk of infections—and so there is the risk of more people
beginning to use.
There is also the matter of children with AIDS, and for this one can only prevent
before their birth—something which also should be readily available in countries like
Africa and India (India because women, no matter if they have HIV or not, are expected
to bear their husband a child). Once a child is infected though, the only this to do is to
start testing them early as this will help them live longer. And then there must be a place
where they can rest, and get treatment.
Everyone in fact who is infected with AIDS and not in a country like the US
where they can have a hospital bed to sleep in fairly easily, needs a place to rest during
there treatment. To satisfy this demand of combating the epidemic, I propose a system of
hospitals that are purely for those with HIV/AIDS across Africa, and India, and even the
US. In countries with less transportation, such as Africa, there could be a system of
transportation from the clinic stations mentioned earlier. And India builds many buildings
across the country—it is time for them to build some that will help all of their citizens.
In conclusion, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is not going to go away overnight, or even
within years. It is going to take time. Having this said, the time to start fighting against
this epidemic is now. Our world needs to work, both as a whole through programs like
the United Nations, and as individual countries to fight for the lives of out citizens. When
drugs to treat the disease cost $500, and the majority of those afflicted are living in
poverty, you know that there is a problem. A problem that must be addressed. This
epidemic will, if left untreated, continue to spread, and spread, until there is not only no
social class which isn’t at all effected, but all levels of society are effected in equal and
great numbers. No one can say that they aren’t at risk, because we all are. Human rights
activist and author Susan Sontag puts it best when she says, “AIDS occupies such a large
part in our awareness because of what it has been taken to represent. It seems the very
model of all the catastrophes privileged populations feel await them.
Works Cited
"AIDS." Google Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2010. <https://health.google.com/health/ref/AIDS>.
"Aids Quotes." Famous Quotes and Quotations at BrainyQuote. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/aids.html>.
"Susan Sontag." The Susan Sontag Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://www.susansontag.com/SusanSontag/index.shtml>.