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On June 5th, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a
report detailing an outbreak of a rare form of cancer known as Kaposi's Sarcoma, which
was affecting groups of previously healthy homosexual men in large metropolitan cities
in the United States. In the following years, as hundreds, then thousands of individuals
became sick with Kaposi's and other equally debilitating opportunistic infections that doctors
couldn't cure, millions were then forced to grapple with fear and prejudice. While the
politicians faltered in calming the fear, science faltered in finding cures and preventive
medicine for this new epidemic called AIDS. Today, 18 years later, over 13 million men,
women and children worldwide have died of AIDS, and an estimated 30 million people are
living with HIV. AIDS impacts people of all ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations.
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AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, is caused by HIV - Human
Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus, which is transmitted from one individual to another
through the exchange of body fluids (such as blood, semen or breast milk), attacks helpful
white blood cells (called T4 lymphocytes), thereby weakening the immune system and causing
the body to lose its capacity to ward off infection.
In the last eighteen years, the disease has killed over 410,800 people in the United States
alone - 7 times the number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War. Though AIDS is a
communicable disease, indiscriminately affecting people regardless of their race, age, gender,
culture, or sexual orientation, gay and bisexual men remain the group most impacted by the
virus in the U.S.
Today, 18 years after the first reports of the Kaposi's outbreak, much progress has been
made in the medical field regarding the treatment of HIV. With the continuing development
of new medications, such as protease inhibitors, people living with HIV and their friends
and families have reason to hope the virus may eventually become manageable.
Although optimism is not uncalled for, it should not in any way deter from the fact there
is much work still to be done. Across the country 40,000 people will be infected this
year; 25% of the new infections will be among teenagers. Only 12% of Americans currently
living with HIV are under a doctor's care. 30% of individuals receiving the latest drug
therapies will not be able to tolerate them. Additionally, up to 50% and more may not
find such therapies effective over the long term. There has yet to be any confirmation
that new therapies have any long-term viability. In the United States alone, thousands
continue to die from the disease each year.
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