AIDS - 25 Years Later

June 5, 1981 is one of those dates that future generations will never forget. It was the day AIDS was first discovered. Twenty-five years later, we're still grappling with this disease. According to the World Health Organization, 5 million people were infected with HIV last year. There was estimated to be 40 million individuals living with HIV/AIDS worldwide in 2005. We have made great strides in prolonging life of individuals with HIV, but still remain rather stagnant in preventing HIV transmission. Unfortunately, the "abstinence only" programs pushed by our dear President are contributing to the transmission of HIV. Teenagers now believe that oral and anal sex do not constitute as intercourse, when in fact these acts are just as dangerous, if not more, in respect to HIV transmission. President Bush's first move in office was restoration of the Mexico City Policy. While he told the public he was pulling funding from clinics that provided abortions in Africa, he failed to tell the public that these clinics also provided condoms and HIV counseling. Another unfortunate reality of this epidemic is the stereotypes that still accompany the disease. These stereotypes are not only ethically wrong, but are helping to spread the disease. This propagates the "it will never happen to me" sense of security. In 2006, the individual most likely to contract HIV/AIDS is not a homosexual male, but a heterosexual African-American female. Let's hope that the next 25 years bring not only a loss of stereo-types but a cure.