lastly, HIV is for homos and druggies amirite guyz hurr hurr
Actually, that is massively and grossly untrue. HIV is a retrovirus spread through exchange and contact of bodily fluids. What this means is that anyone, yes, even you, can become HIV-positive. What this does not mean, however, is that you can contract AIDS just by touching a HIV-positive patient's saliva. HIV generally only infects when it is directly released into the blood-stream, and therefore, short of a HIV-positive patient biting you in the arm, you are unlikely to contract AIDS just from normal day-to-day interactions. (And yeah, you can french-kiss a HIV-positive patient safely too.) Most of the time, HIV is spread via penetrative sex.
Unfortunately, because of the sexual nature of transmission, HIV patients are often ostracized by society. Common causes include misconceptions about the nature of transmission, with many afraid that even being physically close to a patient will cause infection, and moral condemnation for the lifestyle of most HIV patients.
(Now in my own opinion, religious groups that condemn AIDS patients as sinners and immoral people are disgustingly hypocritical. What these people need is acceptance, love, and concern. If you who claim to be a worshipper of Allah, Jesus or Buddha cannot even provide the basics of what your God preached, you're an utter failure. But that's just me.
)
Beyond the sexual nature of urban HIV patients, though, the single greatest HIV tragedy in the world today is Africa. Everyday, millions of children are suffering from a virus that has plagued them since birth, through no fault of their own. The general low hygiene conditions, low status of women and lack of sexual education has led HIV to become a virtual epidemic there. Kids are being born infected with the disease daily, with only a few years to live before they meet their end. The various widespread misconceptions about HIV only served to blur the true facts of the disease, and pretty soon it was a raging wildfire sweeping through the continent.
The saddest thing about this condition is that it is wholly preventable. HIV, while not curable, is certainly treatable. The appropriate medicine and treatment exists for the weeping mother who has infected her daughter with a disease that will end both their lives. So why is it not being distributed? The most common excuse is that it is too impractical and too expensive to facilitate the distribution of the treatment wholesale in Africa, but to me that's a whole load of fcuked-up sanctimonious lazy hyperbolic bullshit spouted by a bunch of hypocritical mofos. (Sorry, James.) Even in the remotest corners of Africa, you can still enjoy your icy cool can of Coke. Now if you can get pressurised tin cans of soda in there, why can you not get pills and injections? That's just an example of the kind of backward thinking that's crippling Africa's efforts to save her children.
It's sad, really. You'd think that in today's day and age, where you live should not decide whether you live.
