HIV/AIDS

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Informative Essay

Argumentative Essay

Re ection Essay

Fig 3. Fight against AIDS. N.d. Iusy.org. Web. 27 April 2017.

"Because of the lack of education on AIDS, discrimination, fear, panic and lies surround
me". Ryan White

HIV/AIDS Discrimination
Tabatha Wiseman

Sometimes in life we are dealt a hand that is not fair. Becoming HIV/AIDS positive is no
different. If an individual had a broken arm, the flu or even cancer we would feel sympathy for
them. But if a person were to have HIV/AIDS society becomes repulsed. They deserve the same
sympathy and empathy as anyone else. Discriminating against these individuals should be
illegal.

From the first diagnosed case of AIDS there was stigma attached to the disease. Society
produced prejudice based on the groups of people that were infected. (Avert.gov) No one really
understood how it was transmitted, so, an outbreak of panic caused those groups to be
discriminated against. Children were asked not to attend schools; families were asked not to
attend the church that they had been going to for years; people were fired from their jobs all
because they got sick. Friends and families turned on each other and chose not to interact with
the sick. Doctors and nurses were scared to treat the patients and some quit their jobs just so
they didn’t have to. Families were forced out of neighborhoods, for the soul reason, someone
found out they were sick. Did they ask to be sick? No! Did they judge you for not being sick? No!
Then why discriminate?

Over the last thirty something years the information that is available to the general public
is huge. AIDS is publicly recognized in marches and parades, movies have been made and
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children are taught about the disease in school. Still yet there is a stigma attached. The
 discrimination against HIV/AIDS infected individuals extends all over the world, in all countries. In
Africa they will even kick the infected out of the villages they have always lived in, therefore, they
become known as outcast. Children and babies that are infected with the disease in under
developed countries are put into orphanages that only allow sick children. Then left with no one
but the healthcare workers. In some instances these children never receive the love and attention
that children need to develop. Again leaving them alone and attached to the stigma that no one
would want them.

The misinformation surrounding the disease is why so many fear it and discriminate.
Since society doesn’t fully understand the disease and how it can be contracted, they fear it.
Some still believe they can catch it through touch, from a toilet seat or even breathing the same
air. Those misconceptions are so far from the truth. I know some may disagree and say the
stigma is warranted and blame the infected individual for being infected and believe it to be a
punishment for their disease. But these negative thoughts and actions are what causes anxiety in
some people with the disease and it also causes some to not even get tested, for the fear of
rejection.

After working in the healthcare field for 13 years, I have run across a lot of discrimination with this
dreadful disease. Doctors, nurses and support staff who treated the patients with little care and
no empathy. Personally hearing them make remarks such as, “they deserved it for living the way
they do” or “the tax payers are paying for this one again”. Those comments are unacceptable in
any situation. The healthcare field is taught about the disease, how it is transmitted, how not to
catch it, but are just expected to not discriminate. If discrimination does occur there are not
enough repercussions to keep it from happening again

Being discriminated against should be a crime. It should not be over looked. We should be
looking for a cure and fighting the disease, not looking for ways to hurt the people with the illness.

Works Cited

Joseph MD, Stephen C. Dragon within the Gates, the Once and Future AIDS Epidemic,

New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1992. Print

Pratt, Robert J. HIV &AIDS, New York: Arnold Publishers, 2003 Print

Stine, Gerald J. AIDS Update, New York: Janice Roerig-Blong, 2007. Print

“Stigma and Discrimination”, Avert.gov, 2012, Web. 28 Mar. 2014

"People with HIV are still stigmatized. The infection rates are going up. People are dying.
The political response is appalling. The sadness of it, the waste". Elton John

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