First Impressions

HIV- AIDS is a global epidemic that has cut a path of heartbreak through the United States without regard to gender, race, income, age, or sexual orientation.

- The Washington Post

As a child, I wondered what it would be like to live with a life shortening disease. Knowing one person with AIDS was enough to know that it was an illness that no one wanted. I noticed the many pills that she had to take and the frequent visits to the doctor; her son was a victim to her disease because he had to visit the doctor every six months for a blood test. I hate to get a blood tests and I can only imagine what it must have felt like to go to the doctor and not knowing the reason why. As I got older and began to understand what the disease was, I have to come to realize that there are few people like myself within my neighborhood who really know about the disease and how it is transmitted.

I cannot say that I remember an AIDS case being on the news or on the radio. I recall my parents talking about someone once and referred to the disease as “monster”. Aside from my parents, I remember taking the train and there were some people who were giving out condoms and pamphlets that mentioned the risks of unprotected sex. There are also NYC condom advertisements in which advocate sex, but also safety. New York City also helps to promote AIDS awareness by having an annual AIDS walk, there are famous actors and singers to come and bring attention to the walk, which then brings in more people from all over the city and even the tri-state area. The Gap a clothing company also takes pride in raising money by selling product (red) items. The clothing is geared towards AIDS in Africa and is sold through clothing, laptops, pins, and even shoes! It is a great cause because Americans have the means of creating medicine or buying medicine for AIDS, mean while those in Africa have to suffer through the AIDS like symptoms.

In reference to my education, the health courses I took in high school never went into much detail and for the most part the conversation on AIDS lasted about fifteen minutes. Then it went on to another sexually transmitted disease. Surprisingly, I came across an article in which spoke about the way AIDS is being taught in a school right next to mine. It was shocking to find this article because my school is so small, and the school that is described, School for Community Learning and Research, is even smaller. (Daily News 28)After conducting my research, I realized that the number of people living with AIDS today is alarming, and its time for a wake up call.

My research definitely helped to open my eyes. I cannot believe how much I did not know about the Bronx. My community is made up of African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and few Caucasians. For the most part, the Bronx is predominantly made up of African Americans and Hispanics. Hispanics make up four times more AIDS cases than the rest of the population (Impre). African Americans are only 2 times more than the rest of the population. According to one article from the Daily News, The current rate of AIDS cases is 75 in the Bronx per 100,000, which happens to be the second highest next to Manhattan. The Bronx is also responsible for having the highest death rate of people living with AIDS. The facts I have learned has allowed me to view my community much differently.

In order to lower the rates for the Bronx, the department of health has announced for a new program to run throughout 40 locations in the Bronx, from clinics and hospitals to churches and community centers. There are approximately 250,000 people of all ages living in the Bronx who have yet to get tested to HIV/AIDS. Their goal is to get that population tested within the next three years. They believe that this may help in the prevention of the spread of HIV/ AIDS. Now, you may ask yourself, how are people going to persuade others to take the test? There was an article from Drug Week in which claimed to find new methods such as video counseling as a substitute for face-to-face counseling. When experimented on a number of students, the results showed that the rate for the video group versus the normal face to face group worked best. Maybe that will be in society’s near future.

The diverse amount of minorities living in the Bronx allows for reasons to believe that migration and income might be reasons why the rates are high. Migration might cause a problem because doctors are unable to identify whether or no they are contracting the disease from a person within the area or from the place that they came from. Income, if there is little income the population will not have the means to get tested and will find out at a later date when the person has already full blown AIDS.

Another issue surrounding the “ferocious epidemic” is age. Most of the older people believe that they are not able to contract AIDS or just that since they are going to die sooner or later there is no need for them to feel worried or nervous. Statistics show that thirty-one percent of the population is over 50 years of age, this is a major problem. This is an important issue because the drugs used to treat patients is generally experimented on younger people and doctors will not know what the side effects are going to do to the patients. There is one thing that doctors know for sure which is that it may increase the risks for heart disease.

After being exposed to the media surrounding AIDS, I cannot help to think how much racism surrounds the issue. While doing my research, I came across articles that stated that the Bronx has the highest death rate (Univision), but it just does not stop there. The Bronx is also responsible for having 75 people out of 100,000 people living with AIDS (Daily News 1); the borough with the second highest amount of people living with AIDS, with the first being Manhattan. The statistics are disturbing because one could imagine that if the government knows how high the rates are then why not try and stop it ahead of time, when it starts affecting more and more people. New York City does receive all the luck, it has been reported that the city cannot afford to pay “$17 million to fight AIDS and treat people infected with HIV” (Daily News 386). There is also a bill is at court debating whether or not the government should continue to fund AIDS medical research and medical treatment, especially for those who are unable to afford it. This is a major issue because there will be more deaths and less advancements.

To conclude, I must say that being politically active or just being aware of what is going on in your community is important. I realized that there are more people than you think living with AIDS just outside your window. When I return to my hometown, I just know things will be different. I will see people differently, especially when looking for a boyfriend amongst other things. You can just never be too sure. The little that I know about AIDS now, will grow immensely during this course. There is no doubt in my mind that I will promote getting tested and awareness to my friends and family because this is a very serious disease in which will greatly hurt our nation if a cure or awareness is not found nor promoted.