By Jordan Morris
Perspectives Editor
Most of us cannot pretend to remember the chaotic outbreak of AIDS in the early 1980s, when the world was thrown into an international neurosis. Nor can most of us pretend to understand the devastation the disease wreaks on its victims — the marauding of the immune system, closely followed by untimely social and physical deaths.
After all, why should we?
Advances in scientific research have categorized HIV as relatively difficult to contract — as long as those at risk practice safe sex. According to the media, it’s moved beyond our borders to Africa and Asia and is no longer considered an urgent issue. The rate of AIDS-related deaths has steadily declined since more than a decade ago when scientists developed a variety of advanced medications (“cocktails”) to delay the onslaught of the disease and improve the lives of those infected.
But to the surprise of many, the Centers for Disease Control Prevention reported in July that, for the first time in a decade, the number of new AIDS cases has increased among young people, not just in Africa, but in the United States.
How is this possible if we, as Americans, have it under control?
According to Dr. Harold Jaffe of the CDC, it’s a combination of factors — the more comprehensive HIV testing during the past year and the difficulty of HIV patients following their complicated treatment regimens, among others.
But most compelling is this attitude of ignorance and apathy that has allowed the disease to rebound. Sexually active college students often act with a feeling of complacent invincibility, usually practicing safe sex, but sometimes not. The general impression among these unknowingly at-risk young adults is that if they do not associate with anyone who is openly HIV-positive, they are obviously not in danger.
What is left of the AIDS prevention material in the media is often lost among the cacophony of other pervading issues. In the spotlight are the abnormally healthy, impressive physiques of those in the top percentile — Magic Johnson and Greg Louganis, for example, both of whom have battled the disease for more than a decade. Where is the embodiment of the typical infection — the sickly, emaciated patient who wastes away within a span of two years? Furthermore, are the tens of thousands of dollars spent on adequate medication and the plethora of painful side effects included in the fine print?
While advances in science were originally intended to improve the quality of life of the afflicted and gradually stamp out the disease, it now appears the reverse is imminent, as many are given the impression that contracting HIV is not so severe if such powerful medication is available. An increased number of young people said they were inclined to take part in risky sexual behavior, according to a recent report by the CDC.
Meanwhile, the international crisis continues to spiral out of control. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is quickly running out of funds; in 2001, it pledged a mere fraction of the $7-10 billion called for by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during the next five years. The Joint United Nations Programme for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) reports that more than 16,000 new infections occur each day, 90 percent of which are in the Southern hemisphere. Whereas the global focus was once on Africa, the countries of Russia, India and China are experiencing an influx in reported cases, and with the exception of a yet unfounded $133 million Russian government promise to combat the disease, national governments have not been pro-active on this issue.
The Bush Administration appeared to take an active step to counter the international outbreak when the House passed the AIDS Spending Plan in May, but many see this as an measure that will spend too little, too late. By 2005, the plan proposes to spend only $1.5 billion on international AIDS efforts, a mere fraction of Annan’s plea. A sizeable portion of this amount, too, is geared toward abstinence education, which analysts believe to be irrelevant in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa.
The reality is that while all signs point toward an eventual resurgence of the 1980s hysteria, many remain disinterested bystanders — or in many cases, ignorant contributors.
Granted, an individual’s priorities are indefinitely erratic, depending on the pervading issues in his or her life at any given time. Without knowing someone who is HIV-positive or witnessing a loved one die of AIDS, there is little motivation to get involved.
For many, it’s still not an issue. The fact that it’s a universal life or death situation isn’t an issue. The fact that it affects the population of the world — whether acting as an impetus for national genocide in uneducated, third-world countries, or as a silent killer in the churning blood stream of a naïve, sexually-charged teenager — isn’t an issue.
And perhaps most important, the fact that there is still no cure isn’t an issue.
Such is the current logic of American society.
October 30, 2003