Canadian HPV commercial

The video I watched was a Canadian commercial for HPV. The commercial warned people how HPV can be transmitted even if you have one partner you can still contract the virus and not see any signs. It was also mentioned in the video that HPV can lead to genital warts and cervical cancer and can be spread through interment contact, which matches what we the CDC had about HPV. I feel it does use fear as a way to grab viewers attention. By saying the word cancer, since it is such a deadly disease, it really tells the viewers that this is not to joke around with, and it could lead to cancer. In the 30 second clip it did not really give false information, everything said seems to be correct based on what the CDC has to say. This commercial is aiming at college students. The people shown in this video are in their early to mid 20’s and looks like they can be regular college students. I think this is an effective way to reach the college (mid 20’s) age range since they watch lots of TV. I think launching commercials is a great way to spread the word about STI prevention. By doing that people who are not as well educated about STI’s would get a little 30 second clip about the disease. By effecting one person to get checked that can save a whole group of people from contracting the disease, as showed in class how fast STI infections can spread. It has also shown on college campuses that spreading the word really does help in preventing and getting checked for STI’s. It would be a wise choice to spread the word before it’s too late.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgd4J8-Pem8

Clintons apology to the Tuskegee victims

The Tuskegee Syphilis study was a study done in the mid 1900’s that targeted southern African Americans by the United States government. The participants knowingly had Syphilis and were kept in the dark about the cure for it when it became available during World War II. The participants were told they had “bad blood” and they were tricked into the terrible experiment since they had the trust of their local Tuskegee hospital. The reason for it was so scientist can see what the long term effects of the disease was. Eventually in the 70’s this was uncovered by journalist and therefore put to a stop. On May 16, 1997 president Clinton give a formal apology speech to the family, children and the men themselves saying how the government betrayed their own citizens and they study was racial and unethical for them to do. Clinton announced five steps to try and repair what has been done. First was apology to the family and the men and to build a Tuskegee memorial. Second increase community involvement so the government can again regain the trust of the community. Third strengthen the researchers in bioethics. Fourth enhance understanding of ethical issues and clinical research. extending the charter of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission to October of 1999. My reaction to the apology was it was long over due. The study was ended in 1972, and the apology was given in 1997, that’s 25 years later! I felt that an apology should have been given a lot earlier. If someone had an horrific experience they had to live through, they would want to forget as soon as possible and not bring up the memories anymore. But having it 25 years later, would bring up terrible memories again. I felt Clinton did a great job listing the 5 different things that could be done to try and mend the wounds caused by the United States government. Not only building a memorial for the victims but also awarding grants to the school where all of this happened. Overall it was a great apology speech and the ending was excellent and true saying how the men and their families only they had the power to forgive, and saying this was a lesson for America will never forget.

Small Pox used as a weapon???

I think small pox can indeed be used as a weapon in these modern times. With small pox eradicated since the 1970s and vaccinations no longer done, the world’s population is very vulnerable to a bio-terrorist attack by the use of small pox. There are 2 heavily guarded locations around the world that still carry this deadly strain of virus one is the United States and one in Russia. The reason of having the deadly virus still around is for research and creation of new vaccines purposes. Scientist have found that small pox can be reversed engineered from small pox victim’s DNA to its deadly from and then re introduced to a living host, to where that person would spread it to the community. Since it’s an air born disease it would be hard to stop from spreading. This will affect the wellness of the world’s population making it a Public Health issue. Although this sounds scary, I believe that the chances of that happening is very tiny. These places with the virus are heavily guarded and terrorist are not likely to break in and steal the virus, but this is not a “small” matter, prevention steps should still be taken to prevent a catastrophic event like small pox to be used as a weapon.