Why HIV/AIDS is Both a Public Health and a Civil Rights Issue

Tuesday was a day set aside to raise awareness about aids.

While the volunteers received a warm welcome from most people, the executive director of AIDS Moncton, Debbie Warren, says there is still a stigma attached to HIV and AIDS.

At the height of the New York AIDS crisis there were more than 12,000 AIDS diagnoses in 1993, according to city data.

Concerted global efforts to ramp up the number of HIV-positive people receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment have succeeded in doubling the figure in five years, to nearly 16 million.

At-risk adolescent groups include gay and transgender youth, injecting drug users and people who buy and sell sex.

The foundation even called for deeper compassion for people living with or affected by HIV and AIDS.

“We at BCC and KMC will give our support to the government of The Gambia under the leadership of President Yahya Jammeh to scale up towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support”. We’ve seen examples of that with one of the most famous HIV patients Magic Johnson who was diagnosed more than 20 years and appears to be leading a normal life.

“I’m open about it at work and I’m open about it to my friends”, said Christopher Hetzer, who tested HIV-positive a year ago.

She added that St. Kitts and Nevis will soon join a number of other Caribbean countries that have successfully attained the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis.

Free HIV testing is available at the National University Hospital of Iceland and at health clinics around the country.

Although you can live with the disease, Milano says the impacts should not be downplayed. “In reality it actually affects heterosexuals, it affects women, it affects teens so it’s really important we get tested at least once in our lifetime”, said Nikki Sayer, R.N, Eastern Idaho Public Health.

As a member of New York State’s Ending the Epidemic Task Force, NBLCA is following Governor Andrew Cuomo’s blueprint to reduce new HIV infections down to 750 per year by 2020, compared to over 3,000 annually today.