I don't wish AIDS on anybody but, if you get it from anything other than a contaminated blood transfusion, chances are you made a conscious decision to engage in reckless behavior and pretty much did it to yourself.... SAN FRANCISCO -- The United States is at the forefront of a global response to HIV and AIDS but lacks a sense of urgency when it comes to the crisis facing African Americans, according to a report released today by the Black AIDS Institute.
The report, titled "Left Behind! Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic," shows that the number of African Americans infected with HIV exceeds the number of people with the virus in seven of the 15 countries served by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
In some U.S. cities, the HIV rates among African Americans are close to those of developing African countries. If blacks in the United States constituted their own country, that nation would rank 16th in people living with HIV, 105th in life expectancy and 88th in infant mortality worldwide, according to the report.
While the U.S. government gives billions to help fight the global epidemic, the domestic response is so weak that the country would not qualify for its own emergency AIDS relief program, the report says.
Of all the deadly contagious diseases it's possible to contract, AIDS is probably the most preventable. That we aren't fighting it here in the US like we are in Africa is because they don't have the education and information to grasp what constitutes risky behavior. They just don't understand, at a fundamental cultural level, the concept of disease transmission. Nobody in this country can make that claim. If you get AIDS in America, you either shared a dirty needle of illegal drugs or you had unprotected sex, with an infected person. Both are bad, risky decisions people make, knowing they are bad and risky. It's very easy to not contract AIDS. Don't be a drug addict, and don't have unprotected sex.
It's not about the US ignoring blacks. It's about the US recognizing that you cannot protect people from themselves when they are determined to commit suicide. Not getting AIDS in America is easier than not getting hit by a train. Just don't put yourself at risk. It's that simple. If you are a drug addict, you make a conscious decision to remain a drug addict each and every time you shove that dirty needle in your arm. If you contract AIDS from a sex partner, then why didn't you determine their status before choosing to not use a condom?
Again, don't misunderstand me. I don't wish AIDS on anybody, and I hate it for anybody who gets it but, if you get it in America, you kind of asked for it. If Al Sharpton wants to reduce the incidence of AIDS in the black community, get them off drugs and get them to stop having unprotected sex. It's not about treatment, it's about not getting it in the first place.
1 comment:
Unfortunately Ed, no one in America listens to stuff like this. They read this article and they think that they are invincible, that nothing will happen to them. Just look at Magic Johnson. What they don't know is that Magic forks over hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for medication to suppress it. He will eventually die of AIDS. It is only a matter of time.
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