The third H, hemophiliacs, was innocent victims of the AIDS virus, but that did not mean that they did not suffer discrimination. The CDC motioned for blood banks to refuse accepting blood from people with AIDS in order to stop the spread of the virus, but this motioned was overlooked. Men, women, and children receiving blood were at risk of getting the AIDS virus. One of the most famous hemophiliacs who had AIDS because of blood transfusion was Ryan White. He was banned from going to school, like many other children, because of the fear that physical contact could catch the AIDS virus. Ryan White soon became a spokesperson for the research and education of the AIDS virus until the day he died. There was no “immoral” reason for Ryan White or another hemophiliacs to suffer discrimination because of AIDS virus, but that did not stop America from ignoring their disease and making them outcasts of society.
Americans also shunned Haitian immigrants, another innocent victim of AIDS; many Americans believed that these immigrants helped bring the disease into the United States. Many AIDS cases involved Haitian immigrants, so all Haitian immigrants were assumed to be carriers of this disease. If a person was black and spoke French Creole then it must be assumed that he was a Haitian immigrant, who was a carrier of the AIDS virus. Many Haitians immigrants said that after they were listed as individuals with the high risk of the AIDS virus their life changed in America. They suffered mistreatment in every walk of life; rather it was on the street corners or in the work place. The AIDS virus could not be transferred simply by physical contact but that did not stop the mindset of many Americans. They saw any individuals belonging to one of the four H’s must have had the AIDS virus and vice versa; they were seen as the viruses themselves infecting the United States.
Individuals who had the AIDS virus in Africa also faced discrimination because of their health condition. The AIDS virus was mostly spread because of sexual networks along major highways and the disease soon became known as the “slim disease”. Since there was such a high number of cases that involved the AIDS virus and sex networking, woman who had this disease were considered to be whores working along the streets. If a woman was asked for a man to put on a condom before intercourse, she would face discrimination or even physical violence for fooling the man and not admitting she was a whore. Men with the AIDS virus also faced discrimination and their basic rights as citizens were threatened. These individuals faced problems when it came to them trying to receive their inheritance and they also received inadequate health care services. People with the AIDS virus are required to be tested regularly and then report it to their boss, which could have a negative ramification on their professional careers. These laws fail in comparison when it comes to what homosexuals face because of the AIDS epidemic.
Countries like Senegal, Malawi, Gambia, Kenya and Uganda are just a few African countries that demonstrate harsh homosexuals laws. Senegal, for instance, jailed nine homosexual men for eight year because of their homosexual acts. The courts of Senegal placed these men in jail for “indecent conduct and unnatural acts.” Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh has promised to make stricter laws than that of Iran. Uganda has recently proposed a new anti-gay bill that will include the following conditions: life in prison for gay sex, execution for people having HIV and homosexuals having sex, prison for anyone knowing about homosexual activity and the prevention of homosexuality promotion. These incidents are just a few of the many extreme measures that African countries have taken against homosexuality.
One of the reasons behind these horrifying laws against homosexuals is to put a stop to the spread of the AIDS virus. “Sub-Saharan Africa is more severely affected by HIV/AIDS than any other part of the world, with the United Nations reporting between 25 and 28.2 million people infected in 2003—between 50 and 75 percent of the worldwide total. Malawi claims that by that an “inclusion of gay men will help in the fight against AIDS”. Kenya is trying to form a census of all the people who are gay in the country, so they can provide condoms and safe sex information. However, as stated early, homosexuals can be thrown in jail for up to 14 years in Kenya. African leaders do not approve of this lifestyle, so they are place the blame of the number one killer in African countries on homosexuals. The AIDS/HIV health issue is effecting African countries the most, but these countries leaders are going about the wrong way to hinder this disease from spreading. Individuals with AIDS in African countries face discrimination in their personal life and also their professional life, the stigma against homosexuals has justified horrible laws that threaten the life of innocent and uninfected homosexuals.
The discrimination of AIDS in America put a hold on government involvement when it came to the research and education of the AIDS virus. In the beginning of the epidemic, the United States government completely ignored the AIDS virus, as if it did not exist; when the White house was questioned in 1982, the response was “What is Aids”. This was because of whom the disease was associated with homosexuals and drug users, the corrupt people of America. Since the government was ignoring the AIDS virus, non-government organizations began to educate Americans on the AIDS virus and how to prevent it. Educators created a gay man health brochure, which informed homosexuals about safe sex; however after Senator Jesse Helms demanded that there be no government funding that dealt with any sinful homosexual activities.. In Boston Massachusetts, John Parker ran a needle exchange program; this illegal operation was created so that drug users would not have to share infected users which would cut down those that were infected.
President Regan finally acknowledged the AIDS virus at a press conference in 1987. AIDS activist hoped that he would dismiss the fears that physical touch can transmit AIDS to the American people; however this was not the case. President Regan told the American people that the country was going to scream immigrants closer and ban those that had the AIDS virus, which did not calm the American people. The country was uninformed about AIDS; Americans did not know how the disease could be transferred or prevent. Since majority of the people were ill informed about the disease, they placed the blame on individuals, mostly homosexuals and drug users. Government official could lobby against homosexuals rights and use the AIDS virus as their main point. Other government officials, like President Regan, straddled the fence in hopes of not upsetting any of the American people and losing popularity among the American people. Government officials turned this disease into political issue instead of what it really was, a deadly virus destroying the lives of many innocent people. However, as time passed so did governments opposition of AIDS activism; in 1994 President Clinton publicly praised AIDS activism. Now the American government is focusing on making people aware of HIV/AIDS and finding a cure.
The government in African countries, however, took a different approach when it informing citizens about the AIDS virus. The model for the fight against AIDS in Africa goes to Uganda’s government. In Uganda, Yoweri Museveni came up with a program known as the ABC initiative in 1987, which stood for abstain, being faithful to ones partner and using a condom. People traveled the country in order to inform more citizens. Abstain programs began to develop and condom supply started to increase all over the country. The country started to improve more grants and funds towards HIV/AIDS. There was a rapid decrease of the number of people with AIDS in Uganda.
Another African country, South Africa, government took a forceful approach when it came to the prevention and education of the AIDS virus. Close to 50,000 children in South Africa were infected with AIDS each year due to poor prevention of mother to child transmission; the country leaders decided to take an approach to decrease this appalling numbers. Pregnant woman who had the virus began to take treatment in order hopes to reduce the spread of the virus to the unborn infant. South Africa also increased education about AIDS and the prevention of AIDS in the country along with increasing HIV testing. Another approach that South Africa took was male circumcision; “several large studies of male and HIV have produced firm evidence that the procedure reduces by 60 percent the risk of sexual transmission of HIV from women to men.” Preventing AIDS from spreading around the citizens was one of South Africa’s top properties’. Instead of placing the blame on innocent people, African governments were more concerned in stopping this killer.
When the AIDS virus first appeared in the 1980’s, no one knew what to make of this disease. There was no information or past records dealing with anything like the disease, no one knew how or why it suddenly appeared. The virus origins were traced back to Sub-Saharan Africa. The stigma of AIDS had grown too strong in the minds of people when information about the virus surfaced. Even though anyone could get this disease, many were discriminated against because sexuality, addictions, past health problems, and origins. This discrimination took place both in the United States and African countries. The AIDS virus in the United States and Africa had the same origin, stigma, and discrimination; however, when it came to handling the situation African government took a positive approach whereas the United States government took no approach. As years passed and more information about the virus has surface, and now one of the main goal of mankind is finding a cure to this fatal virus.
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