Modern medical breakthroughs in HIV/AIDS drug treatment and research has saved millions of lives — including perhaps the disease’s most famous survivor, Earvin “Magic” Johnson. However, as the nation commemorates World AIDS Day, some believe that scientific advancements are also a double-edged sword. Many people believe HIV/AIDS is now a manageable disease, therefore resist any sexual behavioral changes to prevent acquiring the disease in the first place.
This may partially explain that the atrociously high contraction rate for HIV and AIDS, particularly in the African American community, has reached Sub-Saharan Africa’s numbers — far out of proportion to the general population in America and the world.
“The biggest fight is just with complacency itself. The highly effective drug treatments have obviously saved lots of lots of lives. But it also taken the attention away from the illness itself and it is perceived by many people as a manageable, chronic disease,” says Tracy Elliott, executive director of AID Atlanta. “For some folks it is. But for many folks it is not. We still lose way too many people to this preventable disease. So I think our biggest enemy is indifference.”
The greatest enemy in the fight against HIV and AIDS prevention is what Elliott says is human psychology: the unwillingness to fight the urge for instant gratification.
“It is very clear that many people are motivated to enjoy momentary pleasure without regard to the long-term consequences. It’s just a human trait. This is just one of those situations, particularly with sexuality, which is a very basic part of us,” says Elliott, whose staff and clients will commemorate World AIDS Day by observing the pandemic’s deceased victims.
Elliott says AIDS organizations have to produce a more effective message that lets people know that safe sex can be just as pleasurable as un-safe sex. “In any case, the momentary pleasure is not worth a lifetime of disease, especially a shortened lifespan,” he says.
AIDS organizations know that, for all the lives lost to the virus, their work is vitally important in saving millions more lives.
“It matters. If we were not for AID Atlanta and other organizations working to fight the disease, how much worse would this be? … I see people every day who are helped by us and other organizations like us — who have housing because of us, who have food and nutrition, who have psychological counseling, who have access to care who otherwise wouldn’t have medical care and prescriptions and things of that nature. So that keeps me motivated, that doing this every day, day after day, that this is really necessary to provide the help that people need on an ongoing basis,” he says. –terry shropshire
