World AIDS Day: Scott Hinkley

No year has World AIDS day been more significant. As America sits at attention as the fate of collective heath insurance is hashed out on the senate floor, larger questions about moral implications related to health-problems are lurking at every corner. It seems to me that, more than ever, we need to maintain a strong public image about our efforts to fight AIDS. When we talk of diseases which plague our planet, AIDS is one of the biggest killers, and yet the methods by which it is contracted mire the actual problem in social and personal judgments about the behavior of those who suffer from AIDS, or it's initial infectious state, HIV.

I feel it is of paramount importance that we begin to address the social stigmas which are still attached to the idea of STDs, especially when the stakes of infection are so high. I hope that as we continue to try and raise money and awareness, that we can also try to work ourselves away from the embarrassment we project onto all topics of a sexual nature, so that we can actually discuss the real threats and means of curtailing the spread of HIV and AIDS. We have come a long way in the discussions of condoms and other contraceptives, but there is still an overall interest in many to conceal the details of sexual interaction, and I am fairly certain that this will leave a large enough undereducated group to maintain the level of epidemic for many years to come. Give money, give time, but most of all, give knowledge and preach understanding.

Email Scott