Monday, August 04, 2008

Countdown to exploitation

Mondays suck on principle. And this news doesn't make things better:

H.I.V. Study Finds Rate 40% Higher Than Estimated

MEXICO CITY — The United States has significantly underreported the number of new H.I.V. infections occurring nationally each year, with a study released here on Saturday showing that the annual infection rate is 40 percent higher than previously estimated.

The study, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that 56,300 people became newly infected with H.I.V in 2006, compared with the 40,000 figure the agency has cited as the recent annual incidence of the disease.

The findings confirm that H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, has its greatest effect among gay and bisexual men of all races (53 percent of all new infections) and among African-American men and women.

The new figures are likely to strongly influence a number of decisions about efforts to control the epidemic, said the disease centers’ director, Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, and other AIDS experts. Timely data about trends in H.I.V. transmission, they said, is essential for planning and evaluating prevention efforts and the money spent on them.

Dr. Gerberding said the new findings were “unacceptable,” adding that new efforts must be made to lower the infection rates. “We are not effectively reaching men who have sex with men and African-Americans to lower their risk,” she said.


Now here is the interesting question: just how long will it take before One News Now, Americans for Truth (in name only) and other so-called pro-family groups take the headline and add their own interesting details to the mix?

How long before we are inudated by comments about the "dangers of homosexual sex." Never mind that such stigmatizing comments contribute to the ignorance of and spread of AIDS. Far be it from our "worthy" opponents to miss an opportunity the demonize the lgbt community.

I say it won't take a day. Probably even as I speak, Peter and company are thinking of ways to spin this bad news for their own purposes.

I found that last sentence of the article (involving African-Americans) interesting in light of the fact that the African-American community in my state of South Carolina are in severe jeopardy due to the disease.

We have people in the trenches fighting hard to alleviate this problem. As a matter of fact, Dr. Bambi Gaddist (a tireless worker and educator) of the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Council was just featured as a CNN hero .

One News Now and their cohorts like to brag about their so-called Christian principles.

Bambi doesn't brag. She just does the work that needs to be done.