HIV/AIDS was brought to global attention back in the late 70s and early 80s after several instances of PCP or Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia infected several homosexual men. The concern over the infection began due to the fact that it was only found in those who had severely compromised immune systems. There had to be some reason that these individuals had compromised immune systems, but the cause was not yet known. The only findings at the time were that the infections arose after patients had sexual contact with those that were infected.
The transmission seemed to increase in the homosexual population, which caused a fairly rapid spread in the disease over several years. As more and more homosexual men became comfortable with their sexuality, an increasing number of them became sick. As more research was done to understand what was going on, they realized the HIV was going to an epidemic in the U.S and around the world.
In the United States specifically, HIV was seen as a shameful disease to incur because it was mainly contracted in the gay community, which created a stigma. As the HIV epidemic began to spread, President Reagan and other politicians refused to acknowledge that the disease was a serious problem in the nation and they refused to do anything about it. They censored educational products to help the public understand how to prevent it and this caused the disease to continually progress. Additionally, the morals of the public at the time did not favor homosexual interactions, so they refused to help anyone who was not in a heterosexual relationship.
After the U.S. realized what a burden this disease was creating for those living with it, activist groups began to do something about it. They passed out condoms in clubs, bars, and other gathering places in order to help prevent the spread. Other groups started needle exchange programs, which were against the law, but helped get clean needles to drug addicts so that they did not have to share needles and expose themselves to the potential for the disease. Often times, the activists would be arrested because of their work to help the drug addicts because having needles was illegal and the government thought they would be promoting the use of illegal drugs on the streets.
Overall, the U.S. culture has made significant progress in the last several decades in order to prevent the spread of the disease and establish a treatment that would slow the progress for those infected. After the government acknowledged it as a true problem in the country, they began to fund research in order to establish a treatment, which has proved to be significantly helpful for those that have become infected…the only issue was how expensive it would be to obtain the medications. Nowadays, there are screenings and tests that allow us to tell if somebody has become infected and what we can do for them before it progresses. Although the disease is not yet eradicated, we are on an upward trend to eventually eliminate the AIDS epidemic altogether.
HR: The Case Study PowerPoint, and the Documentary on HIV. No unauthorized aid was used.