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Act Against Aids and Let’s Stop HIV Together
This post is made possible by support from the Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign. All opinions are my own.
I grew up in the 80's and this is the time when AIDS really came to the forefront of American culture. We were scared. We didn't know what to do but we knew that AIDS only affected gay people. We were clearly misinformed.
As more and more information was made available, it became clear that AIDS had no boundaries and could affect anyone.
Mothers. Friends. Brothers. Sisters. Fathers. Dreamers. Activists. Partners. Best Friends.
Repeat after me: AIDS can affect anyone. Once I learned this, I changed my mindset. I began to take precautions in my 20's and in fact, I was tested for AIDS a few times by my gynecologist. She said that it couldn't hurt to test just to know for certain. In fact:
Did you know that more than 1 million people in the US are living with HIV?
Did you know that approximately 50,000 Americans become infected with HIV every year?
Did you know that 1 in 5 people living with HIV don't know they have it?
But did you also know that living with HIV doesn’t mean giving up on your hopes and dreams of becoming a mother? That's right. Many people live with HIV every single day and live normal, productive lives. In fact, there is probably someone you know who has HIV. These people look like you and me. These people could be any of us.
Have you heard of the Together network? Participants of the Together network include mothers from all walks of life. These women have moving stories to share – about the lengths they went through to protect their babies or children, the stigma they endured, the strengths they drew upon when they found out about their diagnoses.
WATCH THE CDC VIDEO LET'S STOP AIDS TOGETHER
GET SOCIAL AND KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING
Visit the CDC website to: Get the Facts. Get Tested. Get Involved. Get Materials.
Tweet with Act Against Aids on Twitter @talkHIV
Like Act Against Aids on Facebook
Use the hashtag #StopHIVTogether to join the conversation
This post is made possible by support from the Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign. All opinions are my own.
Good job Stacie.
Kisses
Maggie D.
The Indian Savage Diary
It’s amazing how far treatment has come with this disease. It doesn’t have to be a death sentence anymore and there are less limitations than ever. Now if only everyone had access to the treatments in the countries where it continues to be an epidemic.
I have heard that one of the fastest growing AIDs patients are seniors. I think younger people are more aware and take precaustions but that older folks might not be . AIDs can affect anyone!
Wow I did not know that many people live with AIDS. It’s so important to get tested. They have had so many advances in this disease.
I’ll be honest in saying I don’t know a lot about HIV. I did actually learn some interesting facts this weekend from someone that works closely with people affected by HIV, though!
I grew up in the 80’s, too, and I remember when AIDS first started and it was scary. I was young, but it seemed like it was running rampant back then. Thankfully we are much more informed these days.
They have made such progress in fighting this disease, but you are so right that more needs to be done.
I lived in a community that protested against a child affected by AIDS attending the local public school. My family was one of the few who stood in support of him and his family, and were friends with him before the news crews learned where he lived. He passed away a few years ago, after living well over fifteen years with AIDS. It’s amazing the strides that have been made in fighting the disease, and the stigma, of AIDS.
Wow, those statistics are truly astonishing! This sounds like a really amazing campaign. Awareness is half the battle.
What an important cause and awareness. We have come so far over the last decade.
I’m so glad that you were tested often by your doctor! It’s so sad that some people don’t even know that anything is wrong. I’m so glad that modern medicine has been able to give people a chance at LIFE now!
I’m glad the campaign is still active and going strong for fighting AIDS. You don’t really hear about it nearly as much as you did when we were growing up.
We really have come a long, long way from when we first heard about the disease. There’s a long way to go, but woohoo to the strides we’ve taken.
Yes, I remember the 80’s when it was such a taboo subject. I am glad we are all more informed now! We gave definitely come a long way, and I do hope there will be a cure some day!
It’s all about education. Being a part of the theatre community, I’ve participated in and helped support Broadway Cares: Fight Aids. Great article – I wish more people would read this. (And how could you NOT want to comment on this – it’s so important!)
I remember in the 80s when it was first discovered, it was called GRID – Gay-related immune deficiency. I was working in the ICU at a busy hospital in Los Angeles and we saw a large cluster of cases come into our unit. Thankfully medicine has come a long way in treating HIV and AIDS and many patients never see an ICU. Prevention is so important and so is your message.
Thank you for bringing awareness to this. I did not know those statistics!
We must be about the same age. I remember those days all too well.
Great campaign. For as much as we’ve learned and as far as we’ve come we still a long way to go.
My husband was just reading to me about the HIV epidemic in Africa and it got us to talking about how far we’ve come. Of course we’ve still got a long way to go, but hurrah for the steps we’ve taken thus far to make a positive change.
AIDS can be a very sensitive issue. There are too many factors that should be considered when it comes to finding a solution for this epidemic. Undoubtedly, the medical field has made great strides on understanding this disease. However, I’d strongly believe that there’s no better way to deal with this disease than prevention. Health education and proper understanding of how to prevent it will lead to better results. Rather than concentrating on how to cure AIDS, it will be great to concentrate on its preventive measures.
What’s the saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? Educating is a huge part to work towards prevention. Hopefully we can eradicate HIV sooner than later
We have come so far since the 80’s but I agree that there is still so much that can be done to stop HIV and educate people about it. Working in health care I see so many people that are still very misinformed about HIV and AIDS.
It’s amazing how far we’ve come! I believe education is the key to everything!
Treatment has come a long way, thankfully. But it needs to go away for good. I hope there will be a cure
Thank you for bringing awareness to HIV/AIDS. I have several close friends who are positive and it means so much anytime I see people speaking up about this disease! We are greater than AIDS!
I believe we have so much more to learn about this disease. I’m thankful that the research is still going on. I’ve talked a lot to my teen about HIV.
I think it’s amazing how far we’ve come with treatments for HIV. It would be amazing to completely stop it!
Great ay to get people taking about this. Love the campaign. Everyone should be talking about this. Be aware of the facts.