WORLD AIDS DAY DECEMBER 1
It has been 28 years since information about AIDS first hit the newspapers. No, AIDS has not gone away. Everyday there are 25,000 new infections in the world and over 50,000 here in the US every year! What have we learned? Where are we going? Who will be next?
We have learned a lot over the past 28 years. We have new treatments, new ways to test, easier ways to test, no blood needed for the oral antibody test. Our local heath clinic, Jamieson Clinic does free anonymous and confidential HIV testing, Special Health Resources also does HIV testing as well as in private clinics and physicians throughout the City and county.
The answer to where we are going is anybody's guess. We still have the stigma associated with the disease and the attitude that it can't happen to me and the NOT so safe encounters that increase the risk of spreading the infection. Tyler AIDS Services does stress abstinence in our educational outreaches but we also do get tough and down to the nitty gritty in certain other environments.
Who will be next? is a scary thought for those of us who work in the field of HIV/AIDS. Remember those 24,000 new infections daily. No, AIDS is still with us.
Maybe some day, Dec. 1 will be a remembrance day like Veteran's Day or Memorial Day as a thing of the past, instead of an awareness day.
