Discrimination Agaist People With AIDS

1910 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Discrimination towards LGBT

Discrimination has grown over the years to become a major problem around the world. There are many different issues that discrimination addresses; one of the main issues assesses HIV/AIDS. Many people who are infected with the disease are discriminated against due to a predicament that they have no control of after they have been diagnosed. In various instances, ambulance workers are not transporting AIDS patients to the hospital, and funeral-parlor employees refuse to handle the bodies of AIDS victims who died. Firefighters in various communities in the United States use a special plastic shield when performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Do the victims of AIDS have to contend with these conditions of life threatening situations along with the premise that they are already afflicted with a deadly disease?

Although homosexual men and bisexual men remain the main AIDS risk group in the United States, the list of AIDS victims goes on to include newborn infants and happily married heterosexual couples. Yet it is still the homosexual and bisexual men that receive most of the fault for the spreading of the disease. All victims of the AIDS virus suffer its effect of discrimination utterly. The primary question is what are the ethical answers, within the law, in the handling of AIDS victims within our hospitals, schools, prisons and the eligibility they have for health insurance.

Even before HIV/AIDS first showed up in the United States in 1980-1981, homosexuals were greatly stigmatized within American society. The homophobia that already existed was only exacerbated by the fact that the overwhelming majority of those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS during the first few years of the epidemic were homosexual males (so much...

... middle of paper ...

...blic Health: Emerging Issues in HIV Treatment Adherence." Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. 10.6 (1999): 24-32. Print.

Kubler- Ross, Elizabeth. AIDS: The Ultimate Challenge. New York: Scribner Paper Fiction, 1997. 330-348. Print.

Norval, D A. "Symptoms and sites of pain experienced by AIDS patients." SAMJ 94.6 (2004): 2-5. Web. 22 Jun 2011. .

Walensky, Rochelle P., A. David Paltiel, Elena Losina, Lauren M. Mercincavage, and Paul E. Sax. "The Survival Benefits of AIDS Treatment in the United States." Journal of Infectious Diseases. 194.1 (2006): 11-19. Print.

Wang, Yuan, Kai-Ning Zhang, and Kong-Lai Zhang. "HIV/AIDS Related Discrimination in Health Care Service: a Cross-sectional Study in Gejiu City, Yunnan Province." Biomedical and Environmental Sciences. 21. (2008): 124-128. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of The Terrifying Normalcy Of Aids By Stephen Jay Gould

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Terrifying Normalcy of AIDS” is an essay written by Stephen Jay Gould, in which he talks about a dangerous disease that is spreading and becoming an issue to mankind, and that it is more of a mechanism than an irregular occurrence which I agree with. Stephen Jay Gould also shares his thoughts on our capabilities with the utilization of technology are boundless; especially when it comes to these types of ailments that threaten our kind, which is something I do not side with. Also, Stephen Jay Gould goes on to say that most people are misinformed about the disease and do not fully understand it.

    Read More

  • The Cell that Started a Pandemic

    1889 Words  | 4 Pages

    Carl Zimmer the guest speaker of this broadcast states that in 1981 doctors described for the first time a new disease, a new syndrome which affected mostly homosexual men. The young men in Los Angeles were dying and the number of cases was growing faster and faster. The number of deaths was increasing from eighty to six hundred and twenty five in just the first few months. After the first few cases in LA, AIDS was declared to be one of the deadliest pandemics the world had ever seen after the plague in the Middle Ages.

    Read More

  • Film: The Age of Aids

    1862 Words  | 4 Pages

    2) Moore, J. (2004). The puzzling origins of AIDS: Although no one explanation has been universally accepted, four rival theories provide some important lesson. American Scientist, 92(6), 540-547. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/stable/27858482

    Read More

  • The Stonewall Riots

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people have dedicated themselves in fighting for

    Read More

  • Plagues And Peoples Chapter Summary

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    McNeil suggests, there are still epidemics out there which have not developed human to human status yet. For example, AIDS is identified in 1981, which is after the publication of Plagues and Peoples. Because of AIDS relevancy to this book, McNeil writes a Preface in 1997 including his thoughts on the epidemic. Humans only thought that scientific medicine "had finally won decisive victory over disease germs" (9). With the discovery of the AIDS virus a social change occurred in American and similar societies.

    Read More

  • Movie Review: A Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Review

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    The CDC published a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on June 5, 1981 describing cases of a rare lung infection, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), accompanied by other unusual infections, in five young, previously healthy, gay men in Los Angeles. By the time the report was published, two of the men had died. This marked the first official reporting of what is now known as the AIDS epidemic. It wasn’t until September 24, 1982, however, when the CDC used the term AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) for the first time. The San Francisco Chronicle covered the story the very next day; just days later, Doctors around the nation swarmed the CDC with reports of similar cases. It wasn’t until November of 1985, after the epidemic had claimed

    Read More

  • Healthcare Disparities in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Community

    1491 Words  | 3 Pages

    HIV/AIDS is a major risk factor affecting a large portion of the LGBT community, especially gay men. CDC.gov (2013) found that gay and bisexual men of all races continue to be at high risk for developing HIV. According to Krehely (2009) the drug and substance abuse risk factor, as well as mental health issues in the LGBT community often occur and are related to high rates of stress due to the lack of family acceptance of the LGBT lifestyle, systematic discrimination, and the lack of cultural competency in the health care environment. Sexu...

    Read More

  • History of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

    5174 Words  | 11 Pages

    ...easures. In 1990 HIV-infected people were included in the Americans with Disabilities Act, making discrimination against people with AIDS for jobs, housing, and other social benefits illegal. Additionally, the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act established a community-funding program designed to assist in the daily lives of people living with AIDS. This congressional act was named in memory of a young man who contracted HIV through blood products and became a public figure for his courage in fighting the disease and community prejudice. The act is still in place, although continued funding for such social programs is threatened by opposition in the U.S. Congress.

    Read More

  • Stigmatization and Discrimination: Living with HIV/AIDS in Canada

    1853 Words  | 4 Pages

    The stigmatization and discrimination that goes hand and hand with a positive diagnosis of HIV/AIDS is overwhelming. FreeDictonary.com defines discrimination as the “treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit; partiality or prejudice.” In essence, discrimination is about actions and stigma relates to beliefs and attitudes. Both however are built up on negative views of a person just because they are apart of a specific group. All over the world, there are well-documented cases of people living with HIV that are being denied the right to health- care, work, education, and freedom of movement, among others. (UNAIDS 2005) This stigma and discrimination exist globally, although it appears differently...

    Read More

  • Political And Social Response To The AIDS Crisis

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1981 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report first rare cases of what is seemingly pneumonia in young gay men. These cases were then grouped together and the disease known as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) takes its root in American Society. This disease spread quickly and the events following are responses to the spread of the disease in America known as the AIDS Crisis, where the response of both the people and the government would impact and change society and American culture and lead to emergence of a gay identity, persecution and fear of those with the disease, marketing of safe sex, and the deterioration of class barriers.

    Read More

  • The Media Influence of the AIDS Virus

    1423 Words  | 3 Pages

    Few modern health issues have received as much media interest and controversy as the AIDS virus. The AIDS virus was first named in 1981 to explain a collection of diseases that developed as a result of a compromised immune system. Individuals who were young and apparently healthy were showing signs of conditions that were typical of those with a severely depressed immune response. It was also noted, at the time, these conditions were limited to the gay community. As the disease became more prevalent, individuals, groups, and communities responded in fear and hatred toward the population they believed to be responsible for this epidemic, the gay community. Because the issue of gay rights was politically controversial and our president’s platform was essentially anti-gay, AIDS was ignored by the administration. The political and media response in the early days of the AIDS virus was essentially nonexistent. Prejudice by the American people prompted politicians, who were concerned for their reputations, to step back. The media, also influenced by a political agenda, kept their coverage benign and low key. The impact of this slow media response to the AIDS epidemic would have disastrous consequences.

    Read More

  • The Power of Angels in America

    2550 Words  | 6 Pages

    "Demanding that life near AIDS is an inextricably other reality denies our ability to recreate a sustaining culture and social structures, even as we are daily required to devote such time to the details of the AIDS crisis." -Cindy Patton

    Read More

  • The Difficulties of AIDS

    609 Words  | 2 Pages

    AIDS is a deadly disease that affects people world wide. AIDS is a disease that brings about many social consequences. Many of these consequences result in physical, emotional, and economic problems. AIDS compromises the immune system of the human body, making a person susceptible to many different illnesses and infections. Among these are: unexplained fatigue and weight loss, night sweats and flu-like feelings. These infirmities can interfere with a person’s daily physical tasks. For example, taking a shower, eating, working, excersing, caring for a child, and cooking. Being unable to perform these tasks makes an n individuals life extremely difficult. Individuals with AIDS also experience a number of emotional problems because of the social stigmas attached to AIDS. For instance, a person having to be scared to let others know he or she is infected, and being unable to engage in intimate relations without infecting others. Further emotional problems can be caused with the continuous worry of death, which can inhibit a person’s normal functioning .People who have these issues develop a great deal of emotional problems because one feels that they do not fit into society. AIDS is not only a disease that affects an individual, but it also affects the larger society . This is so because of the financial needs to help fund programs and organizations to help stop the spread of AIDS and help those who suffer from AIDS. Although, the money goes towards helping AIDS victims it is costly for tax payers, when it can go towards helping people and developing educational programs within their communities. Why should the population pay for the bill for the consequences of others? As one can see, AIDS doesn’t only bring about consequences that indirectly affect individuals, but it also brings about consequences for society as well.

    Read More

  • Homosexuality in Today's Society

    1992 Words  | 4 Pages

    An issue that has, in recent years, begun to increase in arguments, is the acceptability of homosexuality in society. Until recently, homosexuality was considered strictly taboo. If an individual was homosexual, it was considered a secret to be kept from all family, friends, and society. However, it seems that society has begun to accept this lifestyle by allowing same sex couples. The idea of coming out of the closet has moved to the head of homosexual individuals when it used to be the exception.

    Read More

  • LGBT Community and Discrimination.

    1284 Words  | 3 Pages

    When one hears the words “LGBT” and “Homosexuality” it often conjures up a mental picture of people fighting for their rights, which were unjustly taken away or even the social emergence of gay culture in the world in the1980s and the discovery of AIDS. However, many people do not know that the history of LGBT people stretches as far back in humanity’s history, and continues in this day and age. Nevertheless, the LGBT community today faces much discrimination and adversity. Many think the problem lies within society itself, and often enough that may be the case. Society holds preconceptions and prejudice of the LGBT community, though not always due to actual hatred of the LGBT community, but rather through lack of knowledge and poor media portrayal.

    Read More

More about Discrimination Agaist People With AIDS

Open Document