Course Evaluation

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the course. It was much more than I initially expected. I knew obviously I would be learning about HIV and AIDS, but did not know I would learn about all sexual transmitted diseases. I am glad it taught all of the above because knowledge is the best way to protect yourself. Also, one thing I did not expect to learn about was the unethical studies done in the past. I found this information very interesting and feel it is good to know about what happened and how things are different today. 

Learning about AIDS and its growth was very useful information. I went into this class thinking it would just be another bacc core to cover a specific credit, but I am coming out a much more informed individual. I am glad after taking this course and have learned a lot. I believe it is very important to have this course taught at the university letter. Looking into the future however, I can see that it is going to be something that will most likely need to be taught in high schools. HIV/AIDS is targeting younger victims every year and we must teach them the information they need to make responsible decisions and protect themselves. 

I didn't find any of this information really useless. I found it hard to focus on the science and microbiology of the disease, however I feel it is useful information to understanding how the disease attacks and grows within the body. I don't really see anything that should be changed. I enjoyed the course much more than I thought I would and am very happy I took it. I did more than just fill a bacc core credit. I informed myself on a huge issue that will most likely have a great impact of the future. 

Thank you very much Lisa for your awesome class!

Inside the Life of Bob Skinner

The presentation from Bob was a bit different than I expected but I did learn some interesting things. I have only met one other HIV+ person, whom was a friend of my step-mother, but I was young and didn't know much about the disease. I knew that obviously learning you are HIV+ would turn your life upside down, but I had no idea it was so expensive. When he began to talk about his daily pill regimen and how much each pill cost I was blown away! I mean $25 for one Sestiva pill is ridiculous. I was also shocked to hear that pharmaceutical companies are patenting everything so that generic brands can't be made for those who can't afford such expensive medication. Also, I had no idea these drugs had such severe side-effects. 

I feel that Bob experience is similar to many of those in the United States, however very different from those around the globe. In the U.S. we have much more research and development and funding for HIV/AIDS, where as places like Sub-Saharan Africa don't have the same resources. People in the U.S. are also generally more wealthy and have a greater chance of affording and accessing treatment. Those in other countries around the world drastically affected by HIV/AIDS don't have the same accessibility. Bob talked a lot about how he uses programs set up for people who can't afford their medications. This is very different from people say in Africa. There are few if any programs designed to help pay for drugs. Also, Bob's sex practices may be drastically different from the people that are contracting HIV today. He had multiple partners in a single night and usually did not know them. 

Bob explained that in rural areas heterosexual transmission is the most common. In these rural areas condom use is not taught as often and more people are uneducated about HIV/AIDS. Also, social inequality between men and women come into play. Women have little power in these regions and when trying to negotiate condom use, they are looked down upon. Also, women are often raped and abused in these regions. 

When living in rural regions you are usually the last to receive any education or news about anything. In the case of HIV/AIDS, you don't know how it is transmitted, what it can do to you, or how to protect yourself. These things are part of vital information you must know in order to prevent contracting HIV. Yes, these things are everywhere in the media, but in rural areas, less people have forms of communication with the urban world, like televisions, computers, or newspapers. News does not travel fast to them. Also, if one does become infected with HIV, being in those makes it difficult for you to get treatment. There are few if any treatment clinics. They could travel to the city, but sometimes they can be many miles away. Most can't even afford the medication, let alone frequent trips to the city. 

SIV to HIV

The theories I find most plausible are The Hunter Theory and The Contaminated Needle Theory. The Colonialism Theory relates to these. Being that HIV has been traced as far back as the 1930s, The Conspiracy Theory doesn't have much of a plausible base. Although I do find its content interesting. 

The Hunter Theory suggests that HIV was contracted by hunters eating and being exposed to chimps infected with SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus). The virus then adapted to its host's body when it was unable to fight it off and evolved into HIV-1. The evidence of different strains of HIV today would support this theory, since every time it was passed to the man it would develop in a slightly different way.

This then is extended into The Contaminated Needle Theory. When the use of disposable plastic syringes became customary and very widespread around the world as a cheap and sterile way to administer medication, people were taking advantage of the situation. However, with the huge amount needed it would have been far too expensive. They decided to completely throw out being sterile and would reuse needles without sterilizing in between use. So say a hunter came to get a vaccine or medication and was infected with SIV that had evolved into HIV-1. Anyone that had been injected with the same needle would then contract HIV-1 as well causing rapid infection in people all over the country and soon the world. This could have happened even if the SIV in the hunter hadn't converted to HIV yet. 

Another theory surrounding SIV evolving into HIV in humans is The Colonialism Theory. Basically people were being worked and kept in camps with very poor conditions like food scarcity, high physical demands, and little access to healthcare. This would have cause a weakened immune system in any person which would make it easy for SIV to infiltrate and convert to HIV-1. With the hiring of prostitutes to keep the workers happy, transmission was made easy for the virus and was very likely. Most of the workers died before developing AIDS due to the poor conditions, and so it was never noticed that people were infected with HIV.

I find The Conspiracy Theory interesting but not plausible. I mean after Tuskegee, how is the Black American population supposed to trust any thing monitored by the U.S. government. I am also somewhat offended that they think it is true. This is a bit off topic, but if we're supposed to be eliminating racism in today's world then there needs to be some trust. If they still think we are trying to secretly kill off their race and have them die horrible painful deaths then racism will never be eradicated. Yes, the things we are doing to keep racism alive need to come to a halt, however there won't be any respect for anyone of any race if no one can be the bigger man and forgive and forget. Trust is one of the keys to eliminating racism. 

Back on track, I believe it is very important to understand the origin of the virus. The more we know about a disease and where it came from, the more likely we are to find a cure or vaccine. We need to understand how HIV was transmitted to humans so that we can stop it from occurring. 

White Privilege

"I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group".

I ultimately agree with Peggy McIntosh. As much as I hate to acknowledge the fact that caucasians are more privileged than minorities, I do see this white privilege she explains. White privilege is an invisible means of racial oppression in which caucasians have advantages in many situations because they are white. She made a list of situations that stood out to her including things like buying band-aids that match your skin color to being able to go shopping without enduring harassment. 

I feel like this article may be a bit outdated, however these things are probably taking place in other portions of the world. I came to realize that just because I don't experience these things hands on and see them everyday does not mean they aren't happening. 

Honestly, this article somewhat opened my eyes. I never realized to the full extent the advantages I have because of my race. I am uncomfortable with her belief that caucasians are "carefully taught not to recognize white privilege". I know that racism is still alive and well in the U.S. today, but this statement makes it like we know it's there, we want it there, and we have no intention of changing it. I do see that it is there and we don't realize we have it, however it is hard for me to swallow the fact that we are being taught not to see it and to remain oblivious. But, it could be the reason why I have a hard time accepting the belief; because subconsciously I have been trained not to see my white privilege. 

I see this come into play with AIDS/HIV in a sense that most caucasians know they can get and afford treatment or testing for the diseases. They never once question whether those privileges will be available to them. Conversely, minorities question everyday whether they can even have access to a doctor, let alone a test or any kind of treatment for AIDS/HIV. A major issues that plays into this is obviously poverty. Caucasians are generally more wealthy than other races and can usually afford and have access to healthcare and medical centers. Minorities are generally less fortunate than caucasians and don't have any assurance of access. 

I think this issue needs to be addressed, but I'm not sure how and if it's even possible. If it's there and we are "trained" not to see it, and in fact don't see it, then how can we fix it? I mean, everyone could read this article, but the issue seems to be embedded into out culture. Obviously it is important to address larger systems of oppression. However, this is a major issue that needs to be eliminated if we ever plan on killing racism. 

HIV in Marriage

I was completely disgusted when watching the video in class. To see that married women in South  Africa are the prime victim of HIV was hard to watch when the reasons are for anything but them being promiscuous or unsafe. This has become very interesting to me because it is actually part of  my anthology group project. 

Married women aren't allowed to say no to sex for reasons other than menstruation or illness. So, if they can't refuse they try to be safe and use some form of protection against STIs and STDs then they are looked down upon and accused of being unfaithful and cheating on their husband. What make this more disgusting is that most women contract HIV from their husbands. I couldn't believe they would accuse their wives of being unfaithful when they themselves were the ones sleeping with other people. 

Women aged 15-24 make up 60% of new HIV cases. Factors affecting this go as far as biological factors (more exposed to infection than men), social norms (emphasizing female chastity and condoning make promiscuity), cultural factors discouraging condom use, gender inequality, violence against women, and economic dependence of women on men. 

I hope to learn more about how to fight the disease and how it is becoming such a discriminating disease. Knowledge is the best protection and weapon against infection. The more we know, the more we can help as well. I think the percentages of HIV/AIDS funding (90% in US and 10% in Africa/South America) need to be inverted with the majority going to the countries that don't have public health systems to focus on preventing more people from contracting the disease. 

North-South Divide

The North-South Divide is somewhat of an imaginary line that separates the "wealthier" developed countries (shown in blue) from the "poorer" underdeveloped countries (shown in red). It's divisions and socio-economic and political, but the prevalence of disease can also be seen as a difference between the two areas. 

This divide shows how things affect the spread of disease. Things like classism and racism can be seen in this division. In general, the countries in blue have lower poverty rates and the majority of the population is caucasian, while those in red have much higher poverty rates and have what are minorities in the United States as a majority of their population. 

When reading through the book about Global Prevalence and Incidence for Selected STIs (chapter 7) I found that the prevalence of most STIs are found in the countries shows in red. For example, there was a total of 340 million global STIs in 1999; 151 million of those are found in South and Southeast Asia, which is shown in red above. That's close to half (44% to be exact) the total amount! Reasons are simply because they have few resources for treatment or prevention, no system of public health, and terrible environmental issues. Meanwhile, the US had a mere 14 million cases, which we consider a large number. However compared to 151 million, it's a very low number (less than 5% of the total cases).

Overall, the causes of STIs are similar. Classism and racism can also be seen in  say the US itself as reasons to why people have STIs. Places like Africa and SE Asia just have them much more severe conditions. It's sad that these places are then labeled as "dirty" and people are stereotyped due to these factors. While people in the US still are highly stereotyped, I think people's perspective of places like Africa and SE Asia are much more stigmatized. 

Hey There Chlamydia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfTHio6WREc

I found a great parody of Hey There Delilah called Hey There Chlamydia on youtube. The video seems to portray mostly accurate information, except in one part where it is referred to as a 'nasty STD'. Chlamydia is actually a bacterial infection and is classified as an STI because it is curable. It was correct however when it states "it burns when I go pee". Burning during urination is an actual symptom of Chlamydia. 

This video is definitely aiming at a an age group of about 16-25 or anyone that has access to youtube and listens to this certain genre of music. Because this is somewhat of a 'girl song' it is targeting the people at the highest risk for Chlamydia: teenage women. 

I think using humor is somewhat of an effective way of reaching people and raising awareness of the STI, however a lot of people may not take it seriously since it is just a parody. Many people laugh it off and don't actually think about what it says. Fear is not really used much in this video because it is overcome by the humor. 

I do think it has good messages though. It talks about how he should have used protection and that he does now. It also states how he should have got her name. Knowing your partner and communicating with them is a great way to prevent STDs and STIs.

Here's another video I found just for fun! Pretty funny condom commercial from Argentina.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcc-QDGCfU