Addressing HIV Stigma and Promoting Change Discussion – Description
Reply to each post with 1-2 paragraphs including referencesPost#1- Diana In the film, And The Band Played On, some factors that inhibited the war against AIDS was poor funding and people thinking it was a “gay” disease. Many thought that if they weren’t a gay male they would be immune to the disease, but like we know now that is not the case. If people would have more concerned about the gay population, research would’ve been conducted in a timely manner. I don’t think the outbreak could have been stopped, because just like any new disease that emerges, research is very limited. Trials have to be ran multiple times until there is some progress which often takes a long time. Even with a lot of funding, research, tests, and trials cannot be rushed. I do think the amount of people that were affected may have been reduced if AIDS wasn’t dismissed as much as it was, but it cannot have been stopped. The COVID pandemic is a great example and comparison. Even with research that was available, it was not stopped. It sill affected millions of people. Advocacy plays a huge role in the film, starting with how AIDS is transmitted which is the most important part in how to prevent it. The film also shows advocacy for the gay community in which that it is not a “gay” disease. It is a disease can affect anyone that has been exposed. According to the CDC (2022), HIV/AIDS is no longer referred to as a “gay” disease, that kind of terminology is no longer included in research. Publicity for HIV/AIDS is focused on testing, prevention, and treatment. Celebrities living full lives with the disease are also used to encourage people to get tested and treated. HIV/AIDS can be a scary diagnosis, but it is not a death sentence. People can get treated and may never progress to a diagnosis of AIDS. There are also medications called PrEP that greatly reduces the transmission of HIV. Post#2- HannahThe factors that inhibited the early war against acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are that some people had symptoms and some did not. This is depicted in the film “And the Band Played On” when Dr. Guinan explains to Richard Gere’s character while collecting his specimens that some have the symptoms of AIDS but some people like Richard Gere’s character do not. In the earlier times they did not have medications like Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and prevalence of awareness of the disease, therefore I think it would have been quite difficult to stop. However, in present day, PrEP has shown to be highly effective, FDA-approved, and recommended by the CDC (Huynh & Gulick, 2022). PrEP is taken as two pills of tenofovir disiproxil fumarate/emtricitabine at least two hours, but up to 24 hours, before the sexual encounter and then once a day for two days after the sexual encounter (Huynh & Gulick, 2022). There is still a lack of public and community understanding of and support for people with HIV/AIDS which often leads infected persons to have to cope with their disease and the effects it has on their mental health and overall quality of life, independent of health care or other people (Green et al., 2020). In the 21st century, health-related stigma and discrimination have been shown to deter individuals from seeking information and support, thus affecting the uptake of services (Green et al., 2020). However, recently I have seen a more positive perspective when it comes to HIV/AIDS amongst health care workers and friends due to awareness and education of the disease. I have also seen more commercials for PREP which normalizes safe sex and removes the stigma behind preventing AIDS/HIV.
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