Kelly's Blog

The HIV AIDS Pandemic

You may ask yourself–how did this all start?  Where did HIV come from?  According to WebMD.com, “AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since 1981.  That’s about half the number of people who died in World War II.  And it’s not over.  1.1 million Americans are among the 33 million people now living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.”

Somewhere around the start of the 20^th century, scientists believe a hunter in West Central Africa killed an infected chimpanzee, and in the process, the virus entered into the hunter’s bloodstream.  The virus spread among human hosts, but the deaths were associated with other diseases.  By 1981, the disease was first identified among gay men in the United States, but the HIV AIDS Pandemic was soon recognized as impacting all genders and sexual orientations.   In 1985, the term “HIV” was internationally recognized as the accepted term for the infection.  Sadly, this is also the time of some of the greatest panic and prejudice directed towards people living with HIV.  In fact, it has only been this year, 2010, that the federal government has lifted the ban against allowing citizens of other nations who are HIV positive,  to freely enter the United States.

image courtesy of healthday.com

Between 1996-1997, a new type of drug intervention reduced the death rate of Americans with HIV by more than 40 percent.  Sadly, the HIV AIDS Pandemic continues to ravage other national populations that cannot afford the new drugs.   By the start of this decade, AIDS became the world wide number one killer of people between the ages of 15-59.

image courtesy of momspharmacy.com

The HIV AIDS Pandemic has also recently been reflected in a soaring of infection rates in the United States.  In 2008, new HIV rates were up by 11 percent from what they were in 2003.

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MyHIVAIDSAWawareness was created to meet the needs of people newly diagnosed with HIV and people who have been living with HIV for a significant amount of time and need to have an easily accessible overview of the current updates and options in living with HIV.

Remember—you don’t have to be infected with HIV to be affected.    Just so, MyHIVAIDSawareness  was also designed for people who care about someone with HIV, even if they aren’t HIV positive themselves.

For everyone, there is a lot to learn, and as science advances, knowledge can change, requiring updates.   This is one of the challenges of the Internet—when you do searches on HIV and AIDS awareness, you may find information that is no longer current or accurate.  MyHIVAIDSawareness has a committed staff active in providing you with useful and accurate information.