John Stiles January 14, 2012 AIDS and Society Journal Assignment

This class has imparted on me a great deal of information and awareness that has changed how I perceive and understand AIDS and HIV. I suppose my attitude towards HIV before the class was more than a bit nave. Being a young person I viewed HIV infection as an extremely remote possibility on the same level as being struck by lightening. After learning the facts and hearing the stories of those who have been infected has made me realize how easily one poor decision could drastically alter my life. On the whole, this class has changed my perception of HIV, but a portion of the information was review for me. The modes of HIV transmission, prevention methods, drugs, and the FDA drug approval process are topics that I have been taught in earlier years. Learning the prevalence of HIV in Philadelphia was new and utterly shocking information that has made me more cautious. Fortunately I have not had any personal experience with HIV, but if I had known someone at some point in my life that was infected I would believe it would have had a positive impact on my life. As a graduating film senior I would be very interested to make a documentary or a short film about a day or week in the life of a HIV+ person. The early history of HIV really underlines societys tendency to be consumed in fear and hysteria while ostracizing an entire group of people. The fact that the mainstream media did not cover the AIDS story until it started to infect heterosexual

people reflects how society on the whole viewed homosexuals subhuman. This undue amount of discrimination, misinformation, and irrational fear that surrounded the early AIDS epidemic has taught many not to fear the infected and that in most situations they cannot infect you. In addition, the lengthy FDA drug approval process that kept life saving drugs from those who needed them was reformed due to the outrage expressed by HIV/AIDS activists. This change now allows new drugs to reach patients in a much more timely fashion saving lives. ACT-UP accomplished much for those living with AIDS and HIV. Through direct action and protest they pressured the FDA allow HIV/AIDS drugs to hit the market without going through the traditional approval process that takes up to a decade. Although they produced results I do not necessarily agree with their extreme methods. During a protest against a church in NYC in 1989 ACT-UP activists interrupted a mass to protest within the church. Although they were exercising their 1st amendment rights they were encroaching on others rights to free assembly. This extreme activism is still very much necessary today and is still very visible globally (Arab Spring/Occupy). Throughout history whenever a small minority oppresses the majority extremism is usually justified. I believe education and information will be the key to help stop the spread of HIV globally. As for needle exchanges, I have no issue with them. They help stop the spread of HIV, which benefits us all, and it seems the main argument against them is that they promote drug use. I have a hard time imagining a person contemplating trying heroin because they were offered a free needle. I was not aware of how prevalent HIV infection was globally or even nationally. In my mind HIV was an 80s thing; not something I should be worried about today. The

figures speak for themselves. I surprised to learn that Obamas HIV bill just now allowed those infected with HIV to travel to the US; I was completely unaware they had been banned at all. As a global issue, I feel that the US has a responsibility to allow those to travel here to seek medical care, visit family, or for whatever reasons on compassionate grounds. I feel that is the extent of the USs global responsibility in combating AIDS. In regards to general education and direct assistance in the form of medical care or money, the UN should facilitate this support as this is a global issue and the burden should be shared amongst all able nations. Also the mass circumcisions performed in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the globe to help stymie the spread of the virus was also surprising to learn about. By far the most impactful piece of information I learned in this class was the HIV+ rate in Philadelphia. To think I am more likely to get HIV here than I am in LA or NYC really opened my eyes to the possibility of transmission if I decided to engage in risky behaviors. Before this class I thought the AIDS epidemic had been long over, but I have come to realize that it was only the medias attention that had changed. When the epidemic came to national attention collective fear kept eyes all around the country glued to their TV sets the media acted accordingly. As the years passed society began to understand AIDS/HIV and the hysteria subsided and so did the media coverage while more and more people become infected and die every year. Today the crisis is not over, but those who are infected are not doomed with a death sentence like those in the earlier years. Incredible medical breakthroughs now allow an HIV+ person to live a relatively normal life with some adjustments but without compromise.