Kerry Lewis HIV/AIDS DBQ

HIV/AIDS is a serious world epidemic. So far, 26 million have died, and that

number is only rising. HIV stands for Human immuno deficiency virus. It is a virus that

sets the stage for AIDS—acquired immuno deficiency syndrome. AIDS is a syndrome in

which the body’s T-cells, sometimes called T-fighter cells (the ones which ward off

disease) are compromised, and fall in numbers, leaving the body more susceptible to

infection and disease. The people of Africa are in the majority of those killed. In a

country where it is difficult to reach a health treatment center, and even then difficult to

get the medication used to treat HIV/AIDS, the people

In order to combat this epidemic, steps must be taken. To start, the governments

of countries that are suffering throughout their population—such as the United States—

need to acknowledge the problem that is sweeping the country. Although HIV/AIDS was

“declared a security threat” back in 2000 (HIV Timeline), there hasn’t been an effort

tangible by the public to make it seem like this is so. This could be done in a variety of

ways--- the foremost being raising awareness. We all see “Above the Influence”

programs on our TV; we all know the risks of drugs and alcohol. A program which

educated the public about AIDS, how to prevent it, where and how often to get yourself

tested, and the symptoms, through various TV programs, posters, and other publicity

methods is needed. The public needs to know that HIV isn’t something that you can ‘just

tell’ that you have. A poster shown in document 5 shows it well—at first, there are no

signs of HIV. Testing is often the only way to tell. Only a little more that 40% of the US

population has been screened for HIV (Document 1)—this number needs to change, and

education is always the first step.

Then, the government needs to pay attention to what comes forward. According to

Document 2b, the USA didn’t send their HIV/AIDS statistics to the UN. The US also

does not have a long term plan to combat AIDS. These are signs that make the US

government a good example of a government who needs to step up and acknowledge that

its citizens are suffering in great number, and then do something about it.

But it is not just the US that is suffering. As previously stated, in Africa there are

great numbers dying from this disease—numbers which are only greater because of less

opportunities to treat themselves, and also to prevent AIDS in the first place. Some

people in Africa would need to go 40 miles to get to the nearest hospital. While this may

not seem like much to us, they, unless us, are walking there. And even If they could get

there, the medications that they need are so unavailable to them because of poverty that

all the hospital can do is make them comfortable for a few weeks and then let them go

home to die. This is not right. People have an equal right to live, someone with AIDS in

the US can go to a hospital and get treated, and this should also be the case in Africa. To

combat this inequality, I would propose a program put together through the UN or some

other alliance in which countries all stepped forward to create clinic stations throughout

Africa, supplied with medication, and the materials needed for testing and prevention.

The doctors would then volunteer to transfer and work in Africa, perhaps if given good

incentive (such as a higher income), and they would have all the materials that they

would have at home to treat an HIV/AIDS patient.

In other countries, such as India where women have a much lesser status than

men, the problem would have to be approached differently, and would require slightly

more drastic change. Because AIDS is often spread to women because of a husband’s

sleeping around and unwillingness to use a condom, there need to be more serious

consequences for such actions. It should be a law that any woman has the right to say no

to sex without a condom, and it should be easy for women to report infractions of this

law. If it turns into a matter of breaking the law, the woman would be looked down on

less for reporting the problem, and the knowledge that this could happen would help

scare the husbands into complying with what his wife wants.

For AIDS spread by drugs, the best option other than trying to prevent drug use (a

whole new topic) is to implement, like Russia has already, a clean needle program where

people can exchange their used needles for sterilized ones. Because sharing needles is a

major part of drug related AIDS infections, this lowers people’s chances of acquiring the

disease drastically. The only problem with this is that it is in a way making drugs less

scary—taking away the risk of infections—and so there is the risk of more people

beginning to use.

There is also the matter of children with AIDS, and for this one can only prevent

before their birth—something which also should be readily available in countries like

Africa and India (India because women, no matter if they have HIV or not, are expected

to bear their husband a child). Once a child is infected though, the only this to do is to

start testing them early as this will help them live longer. And then there must be a place

where they can rest, and get treatment.

Everyone in fact who is infected with AIDS and not in a country like the US

where they can have a hospital bed to sleep in fairly easily, needs a place to rest during

there treatment. To satisfy this demand of combating the epidemic, I propose a system of

hospitals that are purely for those with HIV/AIDS across Africa, and India, and even the

US. In countries with less transportation, such as Africa, there could be a system of

transportation from the clinic stations mentioned earlier. And India builds many buildings

across the country—it is time for them to build some that will help all of their citizens.

In conclusion, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is not going to go away overnight, or even

within years. It is going to take time. Having this said, the time to start fighting against

this epidemic is now. Our world needs to work, both as a whole through programs like

the United Nations, and as individual countries to fight for the lives of out citizens. When

drugs to treat the disease cost $500, and the majority of those afflicted are living in

poverty, you know that there is a problem. A problem that must be addressed. This

epidemic will, if left untreated, continue to spread, and spread, until there is not only no

social class which isn’t at all effected, but all levels of society are effected in equal and

great numbers. No one can say that they aren’t at risk, because we all are. Human rights

activist and author Susan Sontag puts it best when she says, “AIDS occupies such a large

part in our awareness because of what it has been taken to represent. It seems the very

model of all the catastrophes privileged populations feel await them.

Works Cited

"AIDS." Google Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2010. <https://health.google.com/health/ref/AIDS>.

"Aids Quotes." Famous Quotes and Quotations at BrainyQuote. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/aids.html>.

"Susan Sontag." The Susan Sontag Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://www.susansontag.com/SusanSontag/index.shtml>.