Last Blog! *tear*

This term went by FAST. And I like taking classes that outside of my major. I have learned about STIs and HIV/AIDS in middle school and high school. But they only taught how it was spread and all of the biology aspects. It didn’t cover statistics or risky behaviors. So this class was interesting to get that perspective.
I definitely was not expecting all the guest speakers. They were all informative and fun. It also changed up the routine of lectures.
Next time…I would suggest making the group size a tad bit smaller….it was hard to get everyone to meet at the same time with 6-7 people. Even though our project came together in the end…it was very stressful.
…The most useful would probably be the quizzes! Surprisingly, they helped you know what to expect on the midterm. And it was nice to have similar questions from the quiz show up on the midterm.
And well I like all the subjects we had for our blogs….But I didn’t fancy writing them. The topics were interesting…but maybe they could be incoperated someother way besides blogs.
This course is important I think for not only awareness for risk of STIs here in the United States, but also in other countries. I think this course or something similar to it should be taught to a younger audience. People are having sex well before college and a lot of young adults don’t even go to college after high school. I think this course would be beneficial in public schools.

1. What did you learn about what it is like to live with an AIDS diagnosis?

All I really learned from Bob Skinner is that if you’re a recovering drug addict then it will be easier for you as an HIV/AIDS indivual to take all the medication. I’m not sure if I believe this…
But he did go over how expensive all the medication is, which ranges to 1,000 to 3,000 dollars a month. He also seems very privileged to have been given the opportunity to spread a message about HIV. They sent him to school and everything so that he could teach others about living with AIDS. AIDS is very serious and I guess it shows that your life isn't over and you can still accomplish things.
It nust also be very intense to be told you wont live for 3 months, but then on to live almost 10 years.

3. How do you think Bob’s experience is similar or different from people living around the globe?

Bob is the stereotypical type to be infected with HIV. He is gay and middle aged. When in reality, heterosexual women are the ones with an increase rate of HIV infection. He also was not deprived by any social structure. Women in Africa can’t ask for their husbands to wear a condom. Bob Skinner I’m sure had more authority in the decisions that he made. I don’t find him to be similar to other people living around the world.

4. Bob indicated the HIV is transmitted in rural regions via one particular route. What is that route and what social factors limit prevention for that route of transmission in rural regions?

Risky behaviors like unprotected sex. It can be expensive to have the education and resources to provide a means of contraception. Bob pointed out how important money is in stopping HIV in the United States. He even tried to start a debate about the government spending that goes to HIV relief in Africa should stay in the United States. Education and equal rights play a role in the prevention of HIV. Women can’t always ask for a condom. Or people don’t know about the transmission of HIV from unprotected sex.

5. How does living in a rural region make treating HIV difficult?

Medication again is very expensive. Rural regions are generally not thriving economically. Also, with the high infection rate of HIV it is difficult to treat everyone and to suppress the rate of infection. There are more risky behaviors that occur in rural regions like the nonexistent use of condoms. Hopefully more money will be pumped in rural regions so that the HIV rate can be reduced.

Theories

The Hunter Theory and the Colonialism Theory are the two theories that seem the most plausible. The theory has good support. It brings in evidence of the SIV in primates, which is transferable to humans and develops into HIV. This seems reasonable because hunters could easily cut their hands and get infected primate blood on them. The Colonialism Theory also talks about the SIV in primates, but it offers a setting that favors the spreading of HIV. Laborers were poor, which meant bad health. They were easily susceptible to disease. There was also a poor usage of syringes, which added to the spread of the virus. The timeline of the theory also lined up with the first sightings of HIV. The two theories are very different even though both use the idea of SIV from primates. The Hunter Theory doesn’t allow for any blame or lesson to be learned from. Hunting is legal and no one could have been aware of the dangers of a disease transfer. The Colonialism Theory had a lot social structure causing the spread of HIV. The colonists only cared about money and what was cheap. They did not take care of their laborers and as a result the spread of HIV happened. The colonists knew disease was susceptible because they did give smallpox vaccines. But they chose to ignore any other precautions.
Knowing how the disease was transmitted to humans is important to discuss in today’s world. Knowing where it came from helps to understand how a cure could be found or even how it is spread. It would also be useful information because then humans would be more aware of how humans can contract other diseases from animals. This HIV epidemic is a huge lesson learned.
The Conspiracy Theory is a very unfortunate theory. This means that people aren’t getting tested for HIV because they have a lack of trust. This lack of trust increases the mode of transmission of AIDS.

Oppression and the spread of HIV/AIDS

This article is about hidden oppression that occurs in society. There are advantages that a dominate race receives without even noticing its benefits. These advantages are harmful to the individuals who do not receive the same advantages due to their race or sex. The article is written in a style that pleas for the reader to acknowledge the oblivious advantages and to take action to diminish them from society. It goes on to say how the country may sound and say it is based on a foundation of freedom, but in reality there is still a lot of oppression occurring. Apparently, men have privileges that go unnoticed, which oppresses women in society because they do not receive these privileges. This is made in comparison to the oppression that exists between races.
I disagree with Peggy McIntosh. I recently went to the east coast for the weekend for the first time in my life. The first thing I noticed was that my skin color, white, was the minority in most the areas that I went. Sure I noticed it, but it didn’t make me feel any less privileged. Even as a woman, I don’t feel less privileged. I vote, I work, I say what I feel. Parents always teach you the golden rule of treat others the way you want to be treated. But they also teach you to not worry about what other people think. Meaning, I should not be afraid to stand up and say something just because of my race and I fear what others will think.
I don’t agree with a majority of her privileges, like “I can turn on the television or open a magazine and see people of my race widely represented.” I don’t think any one race is more exposed than another. Diversity has made a huge impact on media. You don’t see blonde white people, it is always a variety of different races. What makes me mad is, no one ever picks on the Spanish Channel, you don’t see any diversity there. But all other channels on television have a variety of shows of different races and diversity.
I do agree with her that men are privileged. But I believe they are only privileged in a the sense of genetics. They have more muscle, which allows them to be more athletic and they don’t have to wear a bra. But you can’t change someone’s genetics.
But because I disagree with doesn’t mean that I don’t think there isn’t any oppression that occurs within society. HIV/AIDS spread is more affected by a ethnocentric culture and society. For example, society believes that heterosexual orientation is the correct way. Since, HIV/AIDS have are this association with homosexuals, people do not want to get tested in fear of society’s opinion. Unfortunately, the first outbreak of AIDS gave HIV/AIDS that connotation.
Public health’s mission is to make sure people are healthy in means of physical, mental, and social. Oppression can limit a person’s ability to establish any of these. Oppression can be a cause to the spread of HIV/AIDS. If a poor person can’t get a condom, they are risking the chances of contracting and spreading. And like in several countries that are very poor and sex is a affordable entertainment can also cause the spread.

AIDs... for real? or government fabricated...

I have heard from friends that have studied AIDs in other classes that it came from someone doing the bump and grind with a monkey in Africa. Whether the validity of the information is correct…I do not know and I doubt that it is. I have had health classes in middle and high school that discussed HIV/AIDs. They all mention that it destroys the person’s immune system. There seems to be this idea that homosexuals are the highest percentage of individuals infected with AIDs. I do not believe that this is right. I don’t think it depends on the sexual orientation of an individual in transmitting the virus. The virus is transmitted through blood on blood contact.
I’m hoping to learn the truth about where the origin of AIDs started. How the virus came about. Also, I have heard a lot about people having immunity to AIDs or there actually being a cure that comes from a shark’s skin. I would really like to know if those are just rumors or if there’s any truth to them.
The video we watched on Wednesday really made ma mad. The blood bank of America refused to believe that the blood had been contaminated. They claimed there was no evidence. WHEN! A doctor found a baby with AIDs that had received blood from a transfusion and the doctor traced the blood from the transfusion to a person who died of AIDs. I don’t know what the blood bank of America’s problem is…maybe they didn’t want their image to be tainted. But a lot of people were innocently infected like people with hemophilia.

Structural Violence BAD

Structural violence plays a major role in the spread of STIs. Economic status is only one of the more prominent problems. Poverty is a huge global killer. The hardship of having little money also affects the availability of treatment. The Tuskegee Study is a prime example of structural violence. The study used African Americans that were at a disadvantage due to lack of education and money. All around the globe there are communities that do not have enough money to fund treatment or education of STIs. Here in the US it is easy for me to dismiss the problem of STIs. The presence of an STI breakout is not as prevalent and publically shown. If I was surrounded by the environment of a poor community in Africa then of course of perspective would be different.
No boday really feels sincere about an issue untill they see the evidence with their own eyes. Trying to eliminate structural violence will be an almost impossible feat. But it isn't uncommon for a person to think that 'society' should be something that benefits everyone. STIs are spreading and structural violence is not helping to mitigate it, but to increase it. It is time to think outside the box!

<3 Herpes Online Dating Service <3

Online Ad Referencing A STI
http://www.prescription4love.com/main.cfm?id=herpes-singles

"Herpes Singles and Dating
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Herpes singles must know what to expect from their condition. Many advances have been made in the treatment of herpes (see the link below for more information). You can also consult your doctor about the treatment options available to you and the doctor can help you understand the precautions that should be taken when you are in a relationship. Then, feel free to browse our herpes dating service to seek others for support and friendship."


This ad targets people who are infected with herpes. I think in a social aspect this is beneficial. People who are infected with Herpes do not have to live alone for the rest of their lives. This online dating will help promote people to do their own routine even if they are infected. This could help eliminate any bad stigmas. This ad doesn’t suggest that herpes could have prevented if blah blah. It focuses on the positive side of how you can still live your life.
The advertisement is also very honest and sincere. It tells you that there are treatments, information, and people out there who want to help. I really like that it states that you have to be honest about your condition to others. This is something that could be very hard to do. The online dating service that targets those with herpes helps ease that hard ache.
I think the media could play a role in helping to prevent STI’s. When I think about it, I have never seen an advertisement on TV. All I see are drug, alcohol, and treatment advertisements. There might still be a stigma that STI’s are associated with something sinful and not be shown on TV.

A-P-O-L-O-G-Y

Former President Clinton’s apology for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study seemed very sincere. He made the effort to reach all the people affected by the study. Clinton was able to admit that the Government had failed and the mistrust that evolved from the study needed to be ended. He made four proposals to help ensure that “medical research practices are sound and ethical, and that researcher’s work more closely with communities.” The first was to have a fund that allowed for the study of bioethics in research and health care. The second involves the government being more active in the community, so that the mistrust can be ended. The third is to increase the researcher’s knowledge in bioethics. The fourth proposal is to allow for minority groups to gain knowledge of bioethics.
I found it interesting that Clinton towards the beginning of his speech, called the White House the “people’s house.” During the Tuskegee Study this was obviously not true. An apology by the government was long overdue. He also mentioned how medical people are “supposed” to help you. That is why the need for funding the study and research of bioethics is so important. There is a lot of trust that is put on the medical profession.
The government also started the regulation of needing full consent for any federally funded research. It seems like this should have already been made a policy after Nuremberg Trials.
Making sure that medical research practices are ethical is very crucial and all his proposals are justified to enable this. But it feels like the community of Tuskegee as a whole is ignored. The community is described as being a low-income area with a high mortality rate. The community was also poorly educated. The government should also try and make a fund that goes to help poorer communities with minorities. To make sure they are getting an education and are receiving the opportunity to be healthy. Had the Tuskegee community been educated more on Syphilis then the people could have rebelled instead of trusting a deceitful doctor.

( The poster of “don’t kiss me” I think shows how desperate medical institutions were in trying to stop the spread of TB. )

Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) is a scary thought. This disease can take up to 2 years to treat verses the 6 months of regular TB. It is also believed that MDR TB is man made. When the treatments for TB were not being properly followed it caused for MDR TB. This definitely had consequences and it changed how treatment and management of other diseases are controlled. New programs like DOT are costly, but they help to make sure treatment is being done correctly.

The podcast talked about ways to protect your self from MDR TB like having better TB control and rapid diagnosis. But yet the outbreak that happened in Thailand, occurred in an area where it was crowded and poorly ventilated. This made it easy for the disease to be transmitted. What should be proposed to help protect the areas that are not economically stable? Having a costly treatment program is not realistic.

The policy to screen immigrants and refugees for TB coming to the United States might make your back yard feel safe, but it mostly likely wont be 100% safe. The disease is powerful enough to be a “global epidemic” and should be taken seriously. A vaccine is still being researched while outbreaks continue to occur. MDR TB will be a concerning issue for many generations to come. Since it takes so long to treat MDR TB it will be harder to stop any major breakouts. If a serious outbreak ever occured in the US, I wouldn't be surprised if fear drove people to start wearing face masks. The diagnosis of TB is already difficult and having a strong form of it like MDR TB only increases the need for a vaccination.

This website had some interesting information on TB, the map posted is also from this site. It looks like the US is fortunate to not have as many cases as the other countries, but it might just be because of the wealth or even maybe the screening policy.
http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/177