The article “Increasing AIDS Cases in El Paso Called an ‘Epidemic,’” by ABC-7 reporter Stephanie Valle, illustrates the significance of AIDS, which has been infecting millions for many years. Written on December 1, 2010, in honor of World AIDS day, health organizers are insisting that everyone get tested. The number of cases has been on the rise in the major city of El Paso, Texas. The treating organization in the state called Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe has stated that the number of AIDS patients have increased in 2010, in comparison to the amount in the previous years. This is the only AIDS care provider in the borderland. On Google news, this article can be found through this link: http://www.kvia.com/news/25970633/detail.htmlAn important point that the administrator of the organization, Jorge Salazar, makes is that everyone is at risk, disregarding age or gender. Patients of all ages, ranging from 14 to 55, frequently enter offices for testing. This dangerous disease can be acquired by simply not using safety precautions. He believes that there has been a lack of information to the community about the risks. Not only do people who are suffering from AIDS not appear sick, but it is also incurable! These shocking facts alone should scare people into being extra careful, but most just believe it they have nothing to worry about.
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| El Paso, Texas |
Part of the issue is that people are ignorant about how easily AIDs can be contracted. They think that the outbreaks are over, but it is indeed still affecting people all around the world. The public should be more aware of the dangers and consequences involved when having unprotected sex. Not only can this lead to AIDS/HIV, but to other drastic problems as well such as pregnancy.
Getting tested is crucial. Health is the most important thing in life and should be valued. It is a great thing that there are organizations such as the large on in Texas, but is sometimes not enough. The public should be more careful and attentive to the vital information about AIDS.
It’s very disappointing to see that AIDS is on the raise in El Paso. It is strange to compare Joel’s article about the decline of AIDS world wide to Annie’s article that just talking about the raise of rates in El Paso. You have to wonder what El Paso is doing differently compared to other parts of the world that is making their rate of infected people increase rather than decrease like the rest of the world. The “health organizers” want to test everyone and even though that would give the best results to decrease AIDS that’s nearly impossible due to the size of the population in El Paso along with the needed medical supplies to conduct all test. As Annie said, I agree the best way is just to educate people about prevention of AIDS in the first place, rather than deal with the after effects of the spread of AIDS. I believe health organization are very helpful and I am very grateful for them, but I think they should work on providing protection because the only thing they can do after it is spread is to test for it and give treatment but they don’t have a cure.
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was very interesting. For one, like Stephanie talked about, it was a big difference from Joel's article about the decline of AIDS worldwide. It seems articles such as Joel's give the world a reason to forget about AIDS instead of becoming more aware and cautious about it like Annie's article suggests. It shows the conflicting sides which most people then just choose to ignore. If it is on the rise in El Paso, then couldn't it potentially be on the rise anywhere in the world? I think people forget about that and unfortunately realize it too late when it already hits near them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah and Stephanie. I think that if there was more education directed toward the whole public about AIDS then it might not be as high. Even if there was more focus on this in schools, there are many other countries that are affected by AIDS too, such as Africa and Haiti where many children do not go to school so they are less likely to learn about this. If those countries made a plan to inform the whole community then people would be more aware of diseases such as AIDS. Finally, in these thrid world countries where AIDS is high, people have other things to worry about such as survival not wether or not they have a disease so it may be hard for them to understand the importance of prevention.
ReplyDeleteAIDS is unlike most diseases we study because it is completley uncurable. I agree with Stephanie that people need to be educated and AIDS awareness needs to be raised. Once most discover the severity of the disease, it is too late. There are no simple solutions. Great Post!
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