Several weeks ago, if asked what I could do to help in the prevention of AIDS, as any person would answer, my plan would have been as simple as distributing condoms or establishing a clinic where AIDS rate is highest. However, the core of the problem lies deeper than this superficial answer. The stigma associated with AIDS, the resistance that newly established clinics would face, the perception of every individual regarding AIDS, and the proposed policy’s conflict with current governmental laws all has to be taken into careful consideration. It is not just lack of healthcare or poverty that prohibits people’s ability to get tested or treated for HIV/AIDS, the factors foresaid also plays an enormous role in preventing the spread of the disease.
Targeting the high-risk group is substantial in taking measures for preventing HIV/AIDS. Nationwide, the African American population comprises of 13 percent of the US population yet they make up 50% of the newly diagnosed HIV in the United States (1). Meanwhile, Hispanics have the second highest rate of AIDS in the nation with 19% while only making up 14% of the US population. African Americans have particularly become a primary concern in preventing AIDS/HIV due the consistent belief in AIDS conspiracy within the government against African Americans. According to Washington Post, many blacks cite conspiracy within the government, “nearly half of the 500 African American surveyed said that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is manmade…more than one-quarter said they believed that AIDS was produced in a government laboratory…forty-four percent said people who take the new medicines for HIV are government guinea pigs, and 15 percent said AIDS is a form of genocide against black people” (1). African Americans possess the continuing belief that the government is participating in an AIDS conspiracy against African Americans. This belief is one of the major reasons as to why African Americans are not seeking HIV treatment nor are they using condoms. In a study of the effect of the AIDS conspiracy and AIDS rate by Bogart, “men who held stronger HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs had more negative attitudes about condoms and were less likely to use condoms consistently” (2). With this state of mind within the African American community, the nation faces a much deeper problem.
photo credited to: http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/2001/1101010212_400.jpg
