Posts Tagged ‘sexually transmitted diseases’
Irresponsible BBC reporting on the state of HIV therapy
I found the latest article on HIV and STDs on the BBC website extremely irresponsible and offensive. I realise that the point of the article was to encourage those with HIV to see a doctor and be treated, but the message does not come across that way.
It did state that the main focus of prevention is on the use of condoms. But this statement was made at the beginning. For the rest of the article, it was never mentioned again. In fact, the writer seemed to imply that condoms were completely unnecessary. The story’s focus was on how good anti-HIV treatment has become – so good, that the person could be considered no longer infectious. Because of this, the likelihood of the person passing on the virus was close to nil.
Never mind the fact that people have been shown to pass the virus on to their partners. The article passes this off as few and far between. Should this complacent attitude be what experts are advising?
There is no cure for HIV at this time, but antiviral therapy has helped to slow down the spread of the disease. Because the epidemic has been stopped, is this reason to say that we can all relax our vigilance?
It is no wonder that the younger generation shows no fears about sexually transmitted diseases.
Have advances in medicine caused people to become complacent?
We always greet advances in medicine with enthusiasm. We hope and pray for new treatments for serious health problems. We are grateful for technology that saves lives. Yet, there is a downside to all this technology.
We have extended lives and in doing so, we have created new problems, new illnesses. Take Alzheimer’s, for example. When people started living longer, we began to see a rise in what was initially thought to be senility. Now we have multiple diagnoses for dementia, one of which is Alzheimer’s. We have machines to keep people alive. Now we’ve run into ethical issues regarding end-of-life and right-to-die. When is it permissible or ethical to turn off the ventilator or remove the feeding tube? But another serious issue is that people start thinking that they can ignore serious health consequences because there are means of overcoming them.
I read an article about an HIV/AIDS survivor who expressed his concerns that young people are taking chances with their lives because they are no longer scared of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Had they witnessed first hand all the horrific side effects of HIV, they would not be so complacent. As it is, HIV treatment has allowed many survivors to live normal lives. Of course, this only applies to those who are being treated. But it is rare for young people in developed countries to see the consequences of AIDS. Perhaps, they need to visit Africa and see the devastation there.
Now, I’m not saying that medical advances are bad. They’re not. It’s great that we can conquer illnesses, but the fight is never won. The battle is never over. There will always be obstacles. Unfortunately, we shouldn’t have to keep fighting so many battles. If people could take responsibility for their actions, we might prevent disease, rather than have to tackle them afterwards. HIV/AIDS is still a major issue, but it does not attract attention as it did in the 1980s. People have forgotten how scary it was when we first heard about it. Young people today were not around to experience it. So, they ignore it. If they were to receive the diagnosis now, they probably would shrug it off and ask for the treatment. Their complacency means that they might not be compliant with the treatments.
Yet, I wonder if behaviour would change if young people knew first-hand about the seriousness of sexually-transmitted diseases. Would there be the same rate of unprotected sex and teenage pregnancies? Would there be any changes in attitude towards sexual activity? Is it really the advances in medicine that have produced this complacency or is it a generational attitude?
The threat of HIV and STDs is still very real
HIV and AIDS seem to have become backburner issues in recent years. Though there are continuing efforts in research to create new and better antiviral agents to replace those that are now ineffective due to resistance, much attention has been focused elsewhere. This is partly due to the fact that, for the most part, known HIV and AIDS cases are under good control. Because of this, the public has become rather complacent about the disease. There are fewer ads addressing the issue of unprotected sex, which can lead to various sexually transmitted diseases, HIV included. Sex education in schools is supposed to include material on contraception. Yet, the rate of teenage pregnancies has really not declined, so it’s easy to conclude that kids are not getting the message. What’s even clearer is that adults are not getting the message. These adults are supposed to understand the risks they take with unprotected sex – that is, unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Over the last few years, STDs such as Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have been on the rise. Yet, little is said of HIV. In the US, STDs are reportable to the state and they keep a list of those who have been infected. But because HIV is such a highly sensitive topic, it is not reportable. However, those with HIV who knowingly infect others are liable for a criminal offense. I do not know the status of reporting for STDs in the UK, but I do know that HIV-infected persons can be charged as a criminal if they knowingly and deliberately attempt to infect others without that person’s knowledge. A recent police report in the Devon and Cornwall area highlights this ruling. Though I believe that the supposed HIV-infected person is criminally liable, if indeed he did such a thing, I think those women should have shown some sexual maturity. He did not prey on youngsters. These were young women. Why did they have unprotected sex? Why did they have sex with someone they did not know well? Though I would not put the onus on the women in a court of law, I still feel they should learn some responsibility. It’s too easy to blame someone else for your own mistake. Next time, don’t have sex with someone you can’t trust. And don’t have unprotected sex. HIV is not dead and gone. It is still out there and scientists are still working on it. Don’t be fooled into thinking that no one gets it anymore. And, even if you are not concerned about AIDS, think about the other STDs. These are just as harmful as they have always been.
