Where's the evidence?

I think the most plausible of the few are the hunter theory and the contaminated needle theory. I am I person of evidence, without evidence it would be hard to persuade me something is true. In this case there has been evidence that HIV came from SIV. They found that it was the same strand of virus. And since it is a blood disease, it would not be rare if your cutting open a monkey to accidently cut yourself and blood contact is made. I would explain how there are different strands of the disease. I also know that sharing needles can cause HIV to be transferred. Studies have shown this and proven this so it would not be unlikely that it was originally spread that way. There have also been evidence that IV user that share needles have had a greater rate of the disease as compared to clean IV users. Again there is hard evidence that HIV can be spread this way as compared to the conspiracy theory, there is just no evidence of this so it is hard to believe.
I think it is important to learn how the disease was transmitted to humans. I believe by knowing the source it would help finding a vaccine for the disease. Knowing that by injecting monkeys with the HIV does not have the same effects on them as humans, it would be smart to find out what in their bodies can cause the HIV virus to not advance to AIDS. There has to be something that is stopping it from advancing, and by finding the cause of the disease it would bring use one step close to finding a cure.

White Privilege

The article by Peggy McIntosh talks about racism. It was interesting in the fact that she refers to the word “white privilege” drowning what she really means. But in fact it really means how the white population has an advantage over minorities, because of this white people take what they have for granted and don’t fully appreciate it. She also made some interesting points by talking about how people buy band aids to match their skin color just so they would not be harassed. Although it seems like this article was written quite a while ago because some of the I can statements she has, you just don’t see any more.
I agree with some things she says. Since I am Chinese but born here in America, I can full relate to some of the points she makes. Some of the typical stereotypes I deal with are that the only thing I eat is rice. When you are applying for a job or university it seems like Caucasians have the upper hand. When you open the paper or TV you would usually see one race represented.
Points that I would disagree with are that when we hire people here in the United States, there has been a law put in place so that it has to be a fair hiring process. Although I believe that some people are subconsciously raciest. I believe that all people start out a non raciest but it’s the people around them that influence them to be who they are. Another thing I would not agree on is how she was saying we should lower the mens standard. Maybe it’s because I’m bias being a male, but why would you lower a standard to meet others? It does not make sense.
I don’t really see privilege of all sorts affecting the spread and treatment of HIV/AIDS. It seems like it is more of a social economical issue than a racial one because if you look at who has AIDS now, it’s all types of races. I agree with addressing it as a larger system will help talking about sexual health. Sometimes it is good to step back and look at the larger issue instead of just being narrow minded and only paying attention to only the details.

What I know about HIV/AIDS

As of right now I know the basics about AIDS like how it originated from chimps, and how it is a global issue. The kinds of information I have heard about AIDS are people first started showing signs of it in the homosexual community in San Francisco. It was not known that it was a disease that could be spread through the blood at first. The disease works by attacking the body’s immune system, by not having an immune system it would fall at basic everyday diseases. But what causes AIDS is the HIV virus. The disease as of today does not have a cure for it, but there are drugs that can suppress it. In basic health classes is where I learned this information. I am hoping to learn how AIDS affects people in different countries. Maybe in a geographical sense or a economical issue. What has already been surprising to me from the videos seen on Wednesday was how it really affects IV drug users. To me I keep forgetting that AIDS is such a big issue with drug users. It seems like there is a stigma that AIDS is passed along predominately by sexual contact but that’s not true, it can be from blood and IV users. The video seen on Monday really showed how it affects the people in different countries since they don’t have as much help as people that live in wealthy countries, they are really stricken by disease. I feel that as an American living in the richest country in the world, we have the best doctors and clinics that other third world countries only dream about having. By having such a superior resource, we should be able to cut down on the HIV positives people in the population with the education and resource available.

STI, greater than a geographical issue!

Most disease that happens in this world is distinguished in a geographical trend, which seems to happen mostly in the southern hemisphere of the world. Areas like Africa, and parts of Asia are the hardest hit when it comes to sexually transmitted infections. But why does it happen in that region of the world? Why does Australia not lead the way since it is more south than any of the other countries mentioned above? The answer is it has nothing to do with geography, but the class of the country. That is why diseases are prevalent in poor and developing countries and not in rich and prevailing countries like the United Sates. The ability of getting help for diseases is not easy for people in poor countries. It is just not available, there are few or even no clinics as well as doctors for struggling countries, therefore the rate as well of the possibility of sexual transmitted diseases are greater. What causes me to look at STIs differently than other around the world is mostly education. In other developing countries there is no education for STIs like here in the United States. It would not be on the top of their list to educate people about STIs developing countries have a lot more important issues to worry about. In the United States we can afford to educate our population on STIs, whether it’s through a commercial or through the public education system when you educate people and they have the knowledge to protect themselves, it is fighting the spreading of the disease. This theory is very true looking at the rate of diseases in rich countries vs developing countries.