DISCUSSION POST- HIV / AIDS

The authors of chapter 8 discussed disclosure of HIV/AIDS status in regard to human rights. They posed these questions, which serve as starters for discussion: “Do individuals have the right to self-determination, the right to have access to health education and medical treatment and/or nursing care? Is freedom to live without fear of stigma, discrimination, and violence a right that should be expected and protected? What, if any, obligation do resource-rich countries and governments have to respond to disease and poverty in resource-limited regions? Acknowledging the overwhelming data that link HIV/AIDS-related stigma, discrimination, and punitive sanctions to the spread of HIV infection (UNAIDS, 2007b, 2008c), does the need to stigmatize and isolate those who are viewed as “other” serve the global public health?”
In the 1990’s HIV/AIDS was a topic of great concern to people in the U.S. As information was disseminated, fears about HIV/AIDS decreased. Many people in the U.S. no longer consider HIV/AIDS a serious health threat. What do current statistics reveal? Has HIV/AIDS been eradicated in the U.S.? Are those with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. today only those considered marginalized? What would health care in the U.S. today be like if HIV/AIDS had become the pandemic it is in other countries?