We Need to be More Strongly Committed to Ending AIDS

We need to do more to fight AIDS in America.

On July 23, at the 19th annual International AIDS Conference, held in Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Obama administration is committed to creating an "AIDS-free generation."

But we're a long way from that here at home - especially in the black community.

African Americans represent half of all new HIV/AIDS cases in the United States. And if black America were a country, it would have the 16th-highest HIV/AIDS epidemic rate in the world.

The biggest obstacle is the myth that AIDS is cured.

"No, I'm not cured. I'm taking my medicine the way I'm supposed to," Magic Johnson said on the recent PBS documentary, "Endgame: AIDS in Black America."

People with AIDS need to keep taking their medicine, as Johnson suggests. But even if you are taking HIV/AIDS meds, that doesn't give you license to have unprotected sex. We all need to know our status, get tested, get treated, practice safe sex, avoid dirty needles and stay informed. And at the policy level, our government can do more to educate the public about the risks of AIDS, which are still grave.

Now is no time for complacency. Only with knowledge, prevention, education and medicine will the AIDS-free generation be in sight.

 

Follow Akilah Bolden-Monifa on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Kiki_Thinks

Comments

[muguetdesbois]

02:31 PM on 07/31/2012

Amen. There is never room for complacency when it comes to HIV/AIDS. It remains a killer among us all.
Personal responsibility by abstaining from sexual activity prior to marriage is another effective measure of prevention. Parents and churches -- please get back to teaching the morality including biblical morality to our youth...their very lives depend on it.

[Maggotbrane]

08:23 AM on 07/31/2012

It is a fact: gay black men are the leading cause of the high AIDS infection rate in the black community. This not meant to be an attack on gay black men, it is just a fact. African-American homosexuals have got to take on a special responsibility to practice "safe sex," get themselves tested, and seek treatment; this goes for heterosexuals as well. The black community has got to be more open and accepting of the gay community, and allow them to take an active and open role in preventing the spread of AIDS. The path of AIDS infection is mainly spread by unsafe sex habits between younger and older gay black men. It is a myth that it is black men coming out of jail are spreading AIDS; the majority of black men who commit crimes, are infected before they find themselves in jail.

The spread of AIDS among black heterosexuals is spreading at an alarming rate where up 60% of women infected with AIDS are African-American( I do not understand why black women are not in the street raising hell about it?). The health community, the religious community, and the political community need to work in a joint effort with the gay community to slow down the AIDS infection rate.

[Ethan Cole]

11:38 AM on 08/01/2012

Black, down low, gay men simply won't get tested. They wont do it. I think they get some sort of sick pleasure infecting straight women. That is just my opinion, and not an attack on all gay black men.

[Chegg112]

06:35 PM on 07/30/2012

The truth is suppressed, not only about the real cause of AIDS, but also concerning many other things. The truth is suppressed in the media, the truth is suppressed in the schools, the truth is suppressed by governments, and the truth is suppressed in churches. Which truth? The truth about God. The truth about the value of morality. The truth about the terrible consequences of immorality.
There is no excuse for this suppression of truth. Please commit to telling the whole truth about Aids/HIV.

[Chegg112]

01:28 PM on 07/30/2012

Firstly we need to be committed to telling the whole truth about Aids/HIV, because that is the only way to prevent it. The Obama Admin. should not condone the sexual behavior's of a group that is at the highest risk for contacting Aids/HIV. Secondly, each person must begin taking responsibility for their own sexual behavior and habits. Seek the real truth, because for lack of knowledge, our people will perish