The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has designated Saturday, February 7, 2009 as National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. As they state: 

Of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States, HIV and AIDS have hit African Americans the hardest. The reasons are not directly related to race or ethnicity, but rather some of the barriers faced by many African Americans. These barriers can include poverty (being poor), sexually transmitted diseases, and stigma (negative attitudes, beliefs, and actions directed at people living with HIV/AIDS or directed at people who do things that might put them at risk for HIV).  HIV remains a persistent threat to the health, well-being, and human potential of many African American communities. As the impact of the epidemic among African Americans has grown, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state and local public health agencies, and African American communities have stepped up efforts to address the crisis.  read full article…

The CDC also offers a few suggestions on what you can do: 

• Learn About HIV/AIDS.  Educate yourself, friends, and family about HIV/AIDS and what you can do to protect yourself. (Click here for relevant resources from WesWELL.)
• Get tested for HIV. To find a testing site near you, call 1-800-CDC-INFO, visit hivtest.org, or, on your cell phone, text your zip code to Know IT (566948). (At Wesleyan, HIV and other sexual health testing is available for students through Health Services. Click here to find out more.)
• Speak Out against stigma, homophobia, racism, and other forms of discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS.
• Donate time and money to HIV/AIDS organizations that work within African American communities.

In 2007, overall, 36.6% of adults aged >18 years reported ever being tested for HIV. For both men and women, the percentage of persons who ever had an HIV test was highest among adults aged 25-34 years and 35-44 years and lowest among adults aged >65 years. The percentages who had ever had an HIV test were higher for women than men in age groups 35–44 years and below, not significantly different for men and women at ages 45–64 years, and higher for men than women at ages >65 years. 

Or to put it graphically: 

This means that about one-third of college-age individuals have been tested for HIV.  And significantly fewer men than women.  As much as testing is promoted — not just for HIV — and as much as services are made available to students, the vast majority are not taking advantage of them.  And it also leaves everyone at increased risk since they do not know their HIV status. 

Wesleyan Resources

• Health Services recommends annual testing for HIV and offers Wesleyan students options for testing as does the Oasis Center in Middletown. Details can be found here. 
• WesWELL offers health information and resources on HIV and AIDS here. 

Discussion Questions (share your thoughts in comments below)

• What are some of the reasons why someone might choose not to get tested? 
• What impact, if any, does choosing not to get tested for HIV have on your sexual behaviors? 
• Why might the testing patterns be different for men and women? 
• Other thoughts? 

Not long after the virus that causes AIDS was identified, Margaret Heckler, then the U.S. secretary of health and human services, told a group of reporters that the discovery would enable scientists to develop a vaccine to prevent AIDS. “We hope to have such a vaccine ready for testing in approximately two years,” she declared proudly. It was 1984.

Government officials have certainly been spectacularly wrong on other occasions but rarely has a large portion of the scientific community been so overly optimistic as well. Twenty-five years after isolating HIV, we still have no effective vaccine. One year ago a major clinical trial of a candidate made by Merck was shut down because it became obvious that the vaccine was not working and might even be doing harm. This past summer another vaccine hopeful was shelved and its trial canceled before it could begin because there was no reason to believe its results would be any better.

After decades of struggle to make a vaccine against HIV, these events plunged the effort into disarray. We in the field have realized that if none of the classical methods of making vaccines works against this virus, then we need a new one—some unusual creative approach that has yet to be imagined or some new insight into the virus itself that might reveal a vulnerability. We have to go back to basics, but that is not to say we have learned nothing of value over the past 25 years. Indeed, every failure has revealed tricks this virus uses, suggesting new ways to go after it. Those lessons are already spawning fresh ideas and bringing scientists together to attack remaining unanswered questions about this unique virus. (read full article…)

The lack of a cure for AIDS also highlights the need for taking preventative measures — protecting yourself from coming in contact with infected bodily fluids — blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk – through sexual activity, sharing needles, etc. 

Best things to do?

• Educate yourself about how to reduce your risk for being infected with HIV and other sexuallytransmited infections. Start here for a variety of credible sources of information. 
• Use barrier protection such as condoms or oral dams properly during every sexual encounter where you come in contact with bodily fluids. You can pick them up for free at WesWELL.  
• Get tested on a regular basis to ensure you are not infected with HIV or other sexually transmitted infections.  Health Services offers testing for Wesleyan students. 
• Talk with your sexual partner(s) about using protection to reduce your risk of infection. Communication is the best form of prevention.