The social dimensions of AIDS.

Abstract

Another aspect of AIDS epidemic is the public reaction or treatment of the disease and its victims and the potential for discriminatory actions. The issues of discrimination and treatment are compounded by the fact that AIDS is a disease transmitted sexually and that the disease has hit fringe groups such as homosexuals and intravenous drug users the hardest. The HIV epidemic itself is divided sharply by geography racial and gender lines. In the U.S. minorities and intravenous drug users are disproportionately represented according to transmission. Blacks and Hispanics while representing only 20% of the population make up 40% of all AIDS cases in the U.S.. Distribution of AIDS cases among the states is similarly lopsided. There is also a great gap between awareness and action. Although 90% of the respondents in a national poll understood that transmission could come through intercourse or needle sharing with an infected individual the same percentage believed that they were in a low or non-existent risk group. The prevention of the disease requires special attention to minorities; however the misconception that AIDS is a minority disease is an incendiary one. The public and the medical community must recognize that anyone who engages in risky sexual or drug-related behavior is at risk. AIDS has placed economic emotional and physical stress on our economy our work and our lives; the question of how we will deal with this stress and how as a society our attitudes will change still remains.