http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/10/house-dems-reverse-obama_n_229551.html
I applaude congress for taking a stance on providing something that will reduce hiv/aids infections because it is truly needed. A latest statistic that I tweetered recently is that every 9 minutes someone in the USA is diagnosed with HIV. That does not include the cases that do not get reported. Just by the nature of not wanting to report a drug use habit I am sure there is a high number of drug users among those numbers. Just like HIV, drug abuse knows no social, economic or racial boundaries so Kudos to congress. However, there is one sentence that struck a nerve with me.
It is also, quite literally, a life or death question. “Thirty-thousand people a year get HIV or Hepatitis C directly or indirectly from intravenous drug use,” said Piper. “That’s 300,000 people that could be saved over the next decade.” (Grim, 2009)
What are they being saved from drug abuse, HIV or Hepatitis C. I know my judgment could be a little tainted because I am hiv +.
The current trend is that HIV is just another treatable illness through medication but this statement tends to contradict that since they need to be saved. For the most part that is true but there are so many quality of life issues that happen because of treatment and stigma that having HIV brings. As far as HIV goes that people who are HIV + do not need to be “saved” but just need to deal with it. So is that statement sending out a mixed message?
What are you thoughts?
The reverse of the needle exchange is good policy and I hope that it encourages more deeper looks into HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse Policy
