Feburary is "National Wear a Condem Month". Around the Washington DC area awareness and publicly available condems are placed outside of reception desks and offered for everyone. One clinic focusing on educating the community on risks and dangers involving unprotected sex is the Sasha Bruce Youthwork Center located on Barracks Row at 714 8th St. While the District of Columbia has a high rate ration of HIV infected citizens, it is not as severe as New York, California, Florida and Texas. These four states have the highest diagnosis rate in the country. Yet, the largest hit population is is Aferica. Progress in the past 30 years to fight against the HIV and AIDS virus has taken medical research and a concerned governing body of Congress.
While outbreaks started in 1979 and 1981, research to the medical opionions would not reach its peak until 1992. In it's history the AIDS virus has taken the lives of 35 million people world wide. According to the book, "AIDS in the World", " In 1992 12.9 million were infected world wide." In the same year " 1,167,000 are infected in North America, and 7,803,000 are infected in Sub-Saharan Aferica." Between the years of 1982- 1992, " over 5.63 billion dollars were spent on AIDS research world wide." Today, the CDC's website has linked in with statehealthfacts.org to provide statistical data that shows the total people living with HIV and AIDS in the US is only 871,846. For the District of Columbia, in 2010, the rate of persons infected living with HIV is 16,087.
From what has been learned in 32 years of AIDS research, deaths can be prevented for thoose who are infected. Additionally research efforts focused on prevention, education and awareness. Knowing the main causes of commicating the virus which causes HIV which leads to AIDS is sexual activity brings about the need to educate safe sexual activity. Having unprotected sex with risky partners which are not monogimously commited are one of the main causes of the virus. Homophobic interactions of only male partners was first explained as the cause of the beginning of the disease, along with the spread of one rumor of wild Aferican brain- eating elitest ape killers in the 1980's. It is known today that there are 3 main causes of unsafe sex, sharing unclean neddles by introvenous drugs, and contact directly to blood from a wound of another infected person.
While it is easy to fall in love at first sight, the long lasting bite can be the end of your life. Beauty and intelligence are not always friends. Yet knowing your friends are not infected means they know. Just as each person should know about their partner before taking a risky asumption that it is safe to trust the other's person's health. Getting tested only takes an easy few minuets. Don't be afraid to take precation and get tested regularly. At the Sasha Bruce Youthwork Center. young persons up to age 24 are incentive to be given a reward of a gift card for taking the HIV test. Their clinic can be contaced at a 24 hour hotline: 202-547-7777, or at sashabruce.org.
Sources Sited
Mann, Jonathan M. "AIDS in the world"* The impact of an epidemic. * Achievements in Research. 1992 by the President and Fellows of Havard College. United Steas of America. Print
"Estimated Numbers of Diagnoses of HIV infection, All Ages, 2012" statehealthfacts.org. cdc.gov. kaiseredu.org. 20 Feb. 2013. Web
"Sasha Bruce Youthwork" sashabruce.org 20.Feb. 2013 Web
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