As a teenager in the 90s, HIV really was promoted as being that deadly disease that would wipe out humanity if left unchecked. There wasn’t as much focus on Hepatitis (which is much more contagious and scary, to me) or other diseases. Yes, we were told to use condoms, and all that jazz. But I wasn’t really that scared of HIV. I lived in a small town and I don’t think there were really any cases of HIV – at least, none that we heard about. Of course, some high-risk people might have it, but in a middle-class town, there aren’t really that many high-risk people. I mean, there were no major drug addicts (aside from booze and pot), no prostitutes, no needle users, and certainly no flagrantly gay folk, aside from the one I knew about. He was an older guy who did hair – Lionel – although he might have just been a very early-for-his-times metrosexual who came across as flaming. I don’t know for sure, I never asked him about his sexual preference.
None of that HIV scare really mattered to me, though, because I wasn’t sexually active in high school – my first sexual experience came when I was 18 and in a committed relationship. Of course, since then I’ve had numerous partners (shhh!) and I admit, once in a long-term relationship (I’ve been in a few), the condoms got left in the drawer. Bad me, I know…but I’ve been tested, and managed to avoid all STDs – somehow. Lucky me, huh?
In any case, I live in a fairly insular world when it comes to HIV/AIDS. I live in a larger city now, with a population of under 500,000. Yes, there are all manners of high-risk people here, and prostitutes, and tons of gay men. It seems kind of odd that I only know one person who is HIV positive, doesn’t it? I mean, shouldn’t I know a whole whack of people, if it’s as bad as they all said? So I thought maybe the HIV situation was all blown out of proportion.
That was my mindset, until just the other day I started doing some research and wrote a piece on HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Shockingly enough, the country Swaziland has such a high rate of HIV that, if left unchecked, the “longer term existence of Swaziland as a country will be seriously threatened.” (Country programme outline for Swaziland, 2006-2010) Holy crap! 19 percent of the country is infected – including nearly 50% of all adults over the age of 20, and 39% of all tested pregnant women. Most of the inhabitants are dead by the age of 32. How terrifying and depressing. The major problem there is education, or lack thereof. Secondly is the lack of condoms and condom use. It’s just a sickening situation.
Given my recent research, I’ve come awake to the issue of HIV and AIDS in the world. I’ve been living in a bubble, apparently, and that needs to change. So from now on, I’m going to see how I can get more involved and do what I can to help.
What do YOU do to help?
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