Afraid to know the truth Essay -- essays research papers fc

Afraid to Know the Truth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   AIDS is an extraordinary kind of crisis that is both an emergency and a long-term development issue. Despite increased funding, political commitment and progress in expanding treatment, the AIDS epidemic continues to outpace the global response. No region of the world has been spared. The epidemic remains extremely dynamic, growing and changing in character as the virus exploits new opportunities for transmission. The UNAIDS/WHO global overview of the AIDS/HIV epidemic has reported in the year 2003, almost five million people became newly infected with HIV, the greatest number in any one year since the beginning of the epidemic. At the global level, the number of people living with HIV continues to grow. In the year 2001 the number increased from 35 million to 38 million in 2003. In the same year almost 3 million people have died of AIDS; over 20 million have died since the first cases of AIDS were identified in 1981 (5). According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 850,000 to 950,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the United States one quarter of which are unaware of their infection (par.6).Based on these statistics it is an obvious fact that this is a growing problem which continues to get worse year after year. The AIDS epidemic has been established as not only a national problem, but just as well as an international problem. In 2003, young people (15-24) accounted for nearly half of all new infections of HIV worldwide; more than 6,000 became infected everyday (par.3). I become very dismayed to find out that the majority of people that are infected with this terminal disease are at the ages where many at this age go out in the world to make a life for themselves. But, because of lack of responsible actions they must live with this disease for the remainder of their lives. Even though there are many types of treatment for those infected with this disease and with treat ment AIDS/HIV patients can live a lot longer than 20 years ago when the first cases of AIDS were identified, the fact still remains it is an incurable disease. The most vital factor that will have to come into play to make a significant difference in slowing down or possibly stopping this epidemic is prevention. But, despite the seriousness of this problem there are many factors that come into play that... ... the reality of the truth appropriately. A CDC( center of disease control and prevention) study interviewed 2370 HIV-negative or untested people, 25% of those who were tested and 23% of those who delayed testing said the fear of a positive result was the main reason why they delayed testing (par.2). The biggest step in stopping this epidemic before it continues to have an even bigger impact on the world is obviously prevention. People need to become more aware of the risks and must become more responsible in protecting themselves. A crucial factor that would help the prevention of this epidemic even more is getting tested. I must quote the infamous lines that are said in ‘getting tested’ commercials that are frequently aired on MTV and VH1, â€Å"Knowing is Beautiful†. WORKS CITED 1.) UNAIDS/WHO 2004 Global Report on AIDS epidemic   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2.) Fleming, P.L. et al. HIV Prevalence in the United States, 2000. 9th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Seattle, Wash., Feb. 24-28, 2002. Abstract 11. 3.) http://www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/record.html?record=25 4.) www.forrealease.com 5.) http://www.critpath.org/wtp/fastfax/ff210.htm Afraid to know the truth Essay -- essays research papers fc Afraid to Know the Truth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   AIDS is an extraordinary kind of crisis that is both an emergency and a long-term development issue. Despite increased funding, political commitment and progress in expanding treatment, the AIDS epidemic continues to outpace the global response. No region of the world has been spared. The epidemic remains extremely dynamic, growing and changing in character as the virus exploits new opportunities for transmission. The UNAIDS/WHO global overview of the AIDS/HIV epidemic has reported in the year 2003, almost five million people became newly infected with HIV, the greatest number in any one year since the beginning of the epidemic. At the global level, the number of people living with HIV continues to grow. In the year 2001 the number increased from 35 million to 38 million in 2003. In the same year almost 3 million people have died of AIDS; over 20 million have died since the first cases of AIDS were identified in 1981 (5). According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 850,000 to 950,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the United States one quarter of which are unaware of their infection (par.6).Based on these statistics it is an obvious fact that this is a growing problem which continues to get worse year after year. The AIDS epidemic has been established as not only a national problem, but just as well as an international problem. In 2003, young people (15-24) accounted for nearly half of all new infections of HIV worldwide; more than 6,000 became infected everyday (par.3). I become very dismayed to find out that the majority of people that are infected with this terminal disease are at the ages where many at this age go out in the world to make a life for themselves. But, because of lack of responsible actions they must live with this disease for the remainder of their lives. Even though there are many types of treatment for those infected with this disease and with treat ment AIDS/HIV patients can live a lot longer than 20 years ago when the first cases of AIDS were identified, the fact still remains it is an incurable disease. The most vital factor that will have to come into play to make a significant difference in slowing down or possibly stopping this epidemic is prevention. But, despite the seriousness of this problem there are many factors that come into play that... ... the reality of the truth appropriately. A CDC( center of disease control and prevention) study interviewed 2370 HIV-negative or untested people, 25% of those who were tested and 23% of those who delayed testing said the fear of a positive result was the main reason why they delayed testing (par.2). The biggest step in stopping this epidemic before it continues to have an even bigger impact on the world is obviously prevention. People need to become more aware of the risks and must become more responsible in protecting themselves. A crucial factor that would help the prevention of this epidemic even more is getting tested. I must quote the infamous lines that are said in ‘getting tested’ commercials that are frequently aired on MTV and VH1, â€Å"Knowing is Beautiful†. WORKS CITED 1.) UNAIDS/WHO 2004 Global Report on AIDS epidemic   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2.) Fleming, P.L. et al. HIV Prevalence in the United States, 2000. 9th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Seattle, Wash., Feb. 24-28, 2002. Abstract 11. 3.) http://www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/record.html?record=25 4.) www.forrealease.com 5.) http://www.critpath.org/wtp/fastfax/ff210.htm