The Social Phenomenon of the AIDS Epidemic

The AIDS epidemic that began in the United States in the 1980s prompted the development and implementation of education as the principle means for public health officials to prevent the spread of the disease. Because there is currently no cure for AIDS, prevention became the most salient means for eradicating the disease. Education campaigns included not only a greater push toward abstinence, but also the use of condoms for those wishing to have sex. Overall, these education campaigns seem to have worked as the Center for HIV Information (2006) notes that the number of new cases of HIV infection have dropped drastically since 1993. When the epidemic peaked in 1993, more than 23,000 new cases were being reported each year. Today, less than 12,000 new cases are reported annually. Clearly, the public education campaigns that were launched to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS were notably effective. As education and information about the virus was disseminated through the popular media, individuals all over the country were able to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves from the spread of AIDS.

While public health officials have been able to effectively reduce the number of AIDS cases in the US, current data on the prevalence of non-HIV sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) suggests that these infections are on the rise. Specifically, the Centers for Disease Control (2005) note the following with respect to non-HIV STDs:

- In 2004, 929,462 cases of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection were reported to the CDC. This case count corresponds to a rate of 319.6 cases per 100,000 population, an increase of 5.9% compared with the rate in 2003 (p. 1).

- In 2004, 330,132 cases of gonorrhea were reported in the United States. This corresponds to 313 cases per 100,000 population. (p. 2).

- In 2004, P&S syphilis cases reported to CDC increased to 7,980 from 7,177 in 2003 and increased of 11.2% (p. 3).

What the data clearly demonstrates is the since 2000, public health officials have witnessed notable increases in the number of non-HIV STD infections. Although notable declines in these diseases had been noted in the 1990s, most non-HIV STDs are currently on the rise.

With the realization the non-HIV STD rates on the rise, there is a clear impetus to understand why this has occurred. With this in mind, it is the central hypothesis of this research that the infection rate non-HIV STDs has increased because of a reduction in educational campaigns to use condoms and practice safe sex. In particular, it is argued that as the number of HIV cases reported in the US has dropped, efforts to promote safe sex have waned as well. As a result of this overall reduction in educational campaigns, fewer individuals are using condoms. This in turn is leading to an increase in the number of non-HIV STD infections. If changes are not made to increase awareness about the importance of safe sex, it is possible that in coming years the number of yearly HIV infections reported to the CDC will also begin to increase.

As the number of non-HIV STD infections begins to increase, the United States may again face a considerable challenge. Take for instance the case of gonorrhea. This condition is caused by a virus. Although the virus can be combated with penicillin, the reality is that as the number of gonorrhea cases increases, the opportunity for this virus to become resistant to treatment increases. The same situation could occur in the case of syphilis and Chlamydia. If this does indeed occur, the Centers for Disease Control and other public health organizations will find it difficult to provide infected individuals with a timely cure. In the end, the widespread outbreak of these diseases could lead to new epidemics and pandemics of incurable sexually transmitted diseases.

When placed in this context, the need for preventing these diseases becomes quite apparent. However, because this issue is not a pressing concern for public health officials at the present time-i.e. conventional treatments for non-HIV STDs are still effective-the government or public health officials will not address this issue. Only when the problem becomes one that is a potential threat to the mortality of the individual will policymakers take up the cause and institute a public health education campaign to prevent these diseases. This is what occurred in the case of HIV. As the potential threat of death for millions of Americans loomed on the horizon, the government had no choice but to intervene and develop education programs to reduce the spread of the disease. With this mission accomplished, the number of campaigns to promote safe sex have decreased.

Arguably, the threat of mutations in the viruses that cause non-HIV sexually transmitted diseases is not a pervasive concern for public health officials. Although this may indeed happen over time, what should be of concern to public health officials is the fact that increases in non-HIV STDs could signal the onset of a new wave of HIV infections. HIV/AIDS has a devastating impact not only on the individual, but also on public health resources. Individuals diagnosed with the disease can live productive lives; however in order to do so they require thousands of dollars worth of drugs each year. In order to afford these drugs, many with the disease must rely on Medicare and Medicaid. As such, it is in the public's best interest to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

With this in mind, it seems reasonable to argue that public health officials should take increases in non-HIV STDs as a signal that many Americans are not practicing safe sex. If the rates of non-HIV STDs are increasing, it only stands to reason that the number of HIV cases will soon be on the rise as well. Public health officials should bring back education campaigns for safe sex. This would reduce the number of non-HIV STDs. Further it would help reduce the chance for a resurgence in the number of HIV cases.

References

Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in the United States. (2006). Center for HIV Information. Accessed June 27, 2006 at: http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-01-03#S1X.

Sexually transmitted disease surveillance, 2004. (2005). Centers for Disease Control. Accessed June 27, 2006 at: http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/04pdf/Survtext.pdf.