How Has AIDS Affected Our Society? Essay, Research Paper

How has AIDS affected our Society?

Today more Americans are infected with STD’s than at any other time in

history. The most serious of these diseases is AIDS. Since the first cases were

identified in the United States in 1981, AIDS has touched the lives of millions

of American families. This deadly disease is unlike any other in modern history.

Changes in social behavior can be directly linked to AIDS. Its overall effect

on society has been dramatic.

It is unknown whether AIDS and HIV existed and killed in the U.S. and

North America before the early 1970s. However in the early 1980s, “deaths by

opportunistic infections, previously observed mainly in tissue-transplant

recipients receiving immunosuppressive therapy”, were recognized in otherwise

healthy homosexual men. In 1983 French oncologist Luc Montagnier and scientists

at the Pasteur Institute in Paris isolated what appeared to be a new human

retrovirus from the lymph node of a man at risk for having AIDS. At the same

time, scientists working in the laboratory of American research, scientist

Robert Gallo at the National Cancer Institute, one of the National Institutes of

Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and a group headed by American virologist Jay Levy

at the University of California at San Francisco isolated a retrovirus from

people with AIDS and from individuals having contact with people with AIDS. All

three groups of scientists had isolated what is now known as HIV, the virus that

causes AIDS. In 1995 HIV was estimated to infect almost 20 million people

worldwide, and several million of those people had developed AIDS. The disease

is obviously an important social issue.

AIDS has caused many to rethink their own social behavior. People are

forced to use caution when involving themselves in sexual activity. They must

use contraception to avoid the dangers of infection. Many people consider HIV

infection and AIDS to be completely preventable because the routes of HIV

transmission are so well known. To completely prevent transmission, however,

dramatic changes in sexual behavior and drug dependence would have to occur

throughout the world. Prevention efforts that promote sexual awareness through

open discussion and condom distribution in public schools have been opposed due

to fear that these efforts encourage sexual promiscuity among young adults.

Similarly, needle-exchange programs have been criticized as promoting drug abuse.

Governor Christine Todd Whitman vetoed a bill in New Jersey that tried to create

a needle-exchange program. She was accused of being “compassionless”. She

replied that she could not allow drug addicts to continue to break the law. By

distributing needles, she felt that she was, in fact, encouraging them to break

the law.

Prevention programs that identify HIV-infected individuals and notify

their sexual partners, as well as programs that promote HIV testing at the time

of marriage or pregnancy, have been criticized for invading personal privacy.

Efforts aimed at public awareness have been propelled by community-based

organizations, such as Project Inform and Act-Up, that provide current

information to HIV-infected individuals and to individuals at risk for infection.

Public figures and celebrities who are themselves HIV-infected or have died

from AIDS-including American basketball player Magic Johnson, American actor

Rock Hudson, American diver Greg Louganis, American tennis player Arthur Ashe,

and British musician Freddie Mercury-have personalized the disease of AIDS and

have thereby helped society come to terms with the enormity of the epidemic. In

memory of those people who died from AIDS, especially in the early years of the

epidemic, a giant quilt project was initiated in which each panel of the quilt

was dedicated to the memory of an individual AIDS death. This quilt has traveled

on display from community to community to promote AIDS awareness.

The U.S. government has also attempted to assist HIV-infected

individuals through legislation and additional community-funding measures. In

1990 HIV-infected people were included in the Americans with Disabilities Act,

making discrimination against these individuals for jobs, housing, and other

social benefits illegal. Additionally, a community-funding program designed to

assist in the daily lives of people living with AIDS was established. This

congressional act, the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act,

was named in memory of a young man who contracted HIV through blood products and

became a public figure for his courage in fighting the disease and community

prejudice. The act is still in place, although continued funding for such social

programs is under debate by current legislators. The lack of effective vaccines

and antiviral drugs has spurred speculation that the funding for AIDS research

is insufficient. Although the actual amount of government funding for AIDS

research is large, most of these funds are used for expensive clinical studies

to evaluate new drugs. Many scientists believe that not enough is known about

the basic biology of HIV, and they recommend shifting the emphasis of AIDS

research to basic research that could ultimately result in more effective

medicines.

Most people agree that AIDS is a very important issue and cannot be

ignored. Personally, I believe that the country and society is to blame for the

spread of AIDS. We let it get out of control. The modes of transmission have

been known for a considerable amount of time, yet the disease still continues to

spread. There are few people who can honostly claim not to know the ways in

which AIDS is transmitted. Similarly, there are very few people who don’t know

the ways to prevent the spread of AIDS. These methods are very simple and easy

to follow. Yet, thousands will be infected this year alone.

Another aspect of AIDS that up until very recently was a serious problem

is the treatment, or mistreatment, of those who are HIV positive, but do not

have AIDS. One of the most famous stories is the treatment of Ryan White. He

was not allowed to attend a public school because he had AIDS. His story was

told and people began to realize that those with HIV can lead “normal” lives and

must be treated equally. Fortunately, conditions have improved.

It is hard to know what society might be like had it not been for AIDS.

It might be fair to assume that society in general would be much more sexually

promiscuous had AIDS not curbed this trend. Another effect that isn’t usually

noticed at first glance is the creation of jobs. AIDS has made it necessary for

thousands of workers in the pharmaceuticals industry as well as research. Also,

people have been hired to counsel AIDS patients and write literature about the

causes and the methods of prevention. Even the arts have changed since AIDS

came about. Songs have been written. Movies have been made, such as ‘The Band

Played On’.

In conclusion, the effects of AIDS on society are very far-reaching.

They stretch from social behavior changes to a change in art and music. AIDS

has caused all Americans to think about their lives and how fragile life is.

They must be careful and use caution. Hopefully, all of society will one day

know the causes of AIDS and the means of prevention. They will take knowledge

and apply it. With a cure and an end to the spread of this disease, society

will survive and prosper.

Lorusso 6 Bibliography

Martelli, Leonard J. and others. When Someone You Know Has AIDS.

Crown, 1987. Shilts, Randy. And the Band Played On. St. Martin’s, 1987. ?

?Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic?. Weitz, Rose. Life with AIDS.

Rutgers, 1991.