Comments on Whatever Happened to AIDS?

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what you read
As with most topics, what ou hear about depends on what you read.

Part of the reason HIV isn't talked about much is that, in the US, the affected populations are still primarily intravenous drug users and gay men.  Furthermore, CDC data from 2006 show that half of people living with HIV/AIDS in the US are black.  Drug users, gays, and blacks are already marginalized for other reasons, so it's not surprising that a disease that affects them would not be at the pinnacle of the media's radar screen.

However, President Bush just signed legislation that triples the budget to combat AIDS in Africa, so attention is indeed being paid to global AIDS.

posted by stonedead on August 2, 2008 at 9:52 PM | link to this | reply

FattyMcButterpants I LOVE your name BTW
interesting points you bring up here FattyMcButterpants. 

posted by mysteria on June 7, 2007 at 1:41 PM | link to this | reply

Indeed it is not the flavour of the day for the media anymore cos there are
other newer sensational things to talk about, I guess!

posted by Straightforward on June 7, 2007 at 10:22 AM | link to this | reply

I have steadily reported on AIDS since I've been on Blogit, mentioning
it fairly regularly.  But I admit that I have slacked off in the past year (in fact, I beleive the last time AIDS got barely more than a mention was with a Jimmy Carter quote. It is a shame that it is devastating much of Africa and is set to rage through Asia, partially because it has become a "forgotten" epidemic.

posted by saul_relative on June 6, 2007 at 7:56 PM | link to this | reply

Thought inducing post !!!

posted by afzal50 on June 6, 2007 at 6:19 PM | link to this | reply

Mac
I understand what both you and Troosha are saying.

posted by Enigmatic68 on June 6, 2007 at 6:06 PM | link to this | reply

Re: Mc
Well, I didnt take it as a "shot", so no worries there.  Of course I am aware that AIDS remains a death sentence (unless of course you are Magic), but my ultimate point is that even though it remains as lethal as ever, you just don't hear about it anymore.  This is the extreme opposite of the coverage it recieved 20 years ago.  It went from a world killer to hardly mentioned in a matter of years.  I suppose thats just the way it goes with diseases though.  Ebola, SARS, Bird Flu..., when you're the "in" disease you get all the coverage, and then you're gone when the next epidemic comes around.

posted by FattyMcButterpants on June 6, 2007 at 12:16 PM | link to this | reply

Mc
.... thought I should add that my comment wasn't meant as a "shot".  I agree you don't hear much about aids these days, at least on a local level, and that's pretty sad.

posted by Troosha on June 6, 2007 at 11:42 AM | link to this | reply

Mc

Aids might be burried on page 27 of your newspaper or only briefly mentioned in the news but it remains a death sentence for many.  Thought I'd take the liberty of sharing a few sites with you that offer up some rarely spoken about realities.

Aids in Africa     Global Aids

posted by Troosha on June 6, 2007 at 11:22 AM | link to this | reply