HIV/AIDS victims who were once stigmatized and marginalized and met with hatred and disapproval are now being widely accepted. In the US, the nation’s capital, Washington DC is said to have the highest rate at 3.2%. This is high considering that the World Health Organization considers a 1.0% infection rate to be an epidemic.
Anniversaries are a time to reflect and propose ways to move forward and many are doing just that at the disease’s 30th birthday. According to a staff member of the Whitman Walker Clinic, the HIV/AIDS timeline is as follows:
The first 10 years: People didn’t know much about it or what to do about it. This means people were being infected with the disease and dying rampantly.
The second 10 years: Thanks to research, people started to figure it out and develop drugs which were hard to take and had major side effects. This means there were fewer deaths, but victims still led very difficult lives.
The third 10 years: Treatment was refined and easier to take drugs with low side effects were developed and administered, and now infected people are living somewhat healthy and normal lives.
This is a time for serious reflection on HIV/AIDS. If you don’t have the disease, do everything humanly possible to stay away from getting it. If you have already contracted the disease, keep keeping your head up, love and respect yourself and live your life to the fullest.
A word is enough for the wise...
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