Although this chapter was helpful in better understanding HIV, I felt like I already had a good understanding of the disease’s spread and social impact in the United States. With news articles and movies like “Normal Heart”, many people are familiar with the origins of AIDS in American and have a good sense of it in today’s society as well. What many people are not aware of, and what I appreciated learning about was the way in which the disease entered and affected global societies.
I was amazed at the different ways countries viewed the disease and went about treating it. It was interesting to see that while some countries tried to downplay the impact of the disease, others confronted it head on. Several leaders, like those from African countries and Thailand, took an open approach to the disease. When the President of the United States talked vaguely, if even at all about the disease, these foreign leaders travelled around to engage with local populations and made AIDS one of their talking points specifically. This government support for the identification and treatment of the disease was incredibly important in slowing down the spread of the disease and also diminishing the stigma surrounding it. In Thailand, specifically, key movement leaders even went so far as to have campaigns dedicated to distribution of condoms, normalizing the activity that spreads AIDS most commonly. Brazil has taken a similar approach in that they are open about their treatment and prevention methods as well, offering the youth free vaccinations.[1] Again, in addition to diminishing social stigma, methods such as these decrease the spread of the organism in general.
AIDS has been a huge global campaign, both in terms of its original identification and treatment, and now its prevention and social impact. Regardless of a country’s population size, GDP, political system, or any other usually divisive characteristic, everyone is subjected to the AIDS pandemic, perhaps at just different levels. Countries would benefit greatly if there were an increase in global communication regarding not only research to cure HIV/AIDS, but also to handle the social impacts of it as well in their respective societies.
[1] New York Times article
Help Received: Class movie and provided articles