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Abigail Philip
Liberal Arts Seminar LIB 200
Professor J. Elizabeth Clark
Research Paper
June 8, 2007
Culture and Disease
HIV/AIDS and the AIDS Walk
(avert.org)
HIV/AIDS is a very serious epidemic that is affecting many people’s lives. This
deadly disease has been a force to be reckoned with for a number of years, and today, we
are trying harder than ever to find a cure for this disease. Throughout the years there have
been many misconceptions about those who can get AIDS but now today, we know that
anyone can get this disease regardless of sex, status, age, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
Today, there is now more cultural awareness and responses now than before to
HIV/AIDS and one of the avenues of awareness is in the AIDS Walk.
There are many individuals and groups as well as organizations and the
government who are trying to raise awareness through many projects and activities. The
annual AIDS walk is a part of a cultural response to HIV/AIDS. I have studied the AIDS
Walk in New York. According to the website AIDS Walk New York, it is the world’s
largest fundraising event for the AIDS epidemic. Millions of people volunteer and
participate in walking to raise money and awareness for HIV/AIDS.
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I chose to write about exploring HIV/AIDS and how the annual AIDS walk is part
of a cultural response to AIDS because it is a very important topic. This disease is
affecting millions of people around the world. I am especially concerned about the
alarming amount of young people contracting this disease because they practice unsafe
sex. It is alarming because young people are supposed to be aware of this disease and the
consequences of contracting it. Of the age ranges it is young adults contracting the
disease rapidly.
I especially chose this topic because it is very dear to my heart. I have seen first
hand what HIV/AIDS can do to a person and how it not only affects the individual but
also the family and the community. I lost my great aunt to AIDS and this was a very
difficult time for my family. She was not aware that she had contracted the disease and it
was too late for the doctors to do anything for her. She already had full blown AIDS.
Hearing about the effects and consequences is one thing, but actually knowing
someone who has the disease and seeing how they are scorned by society made me even
more aware of stigmas. I watched as this person who was once very healthy and looked
just as normal as the rest of us became extremely ill and thin. I saw how her son slowly
watched his mother die and I often wondered to myself, how did she let this happen?
Sadly, she died a short time later and it was a very hard time for us. The funeral was
filled with many emotions, but I will never forget the things that were said about her;
some of which were very mean and hurtful.
I became interested in learning more about this disease and how it can be
prevented when I was in Antigua and in high school. We had discussions in health
education and sex education. We heard lectures and talks about AIDS and how it is
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spread and most importantly how it can be prevented. I learned at an early age the
assumptions about HIV/AIDS. I also learned and participated in programs on December
1st which is recognized as World Aids Day.
Part II
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS, has over a short period of
time emerged as a global health threat faster than any previous disease in history,
(Kalichman 57). The origin of this disease is not known exactly. Before today, AIDS
was known by a few different names. In 1981 the Federal Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention reported an alarming occurrence of a rare cancer named Kaposi’s sarcoma
(Shilts 60). This disease was found in healthy gay men and was first called the “gay
cancer,” however later it was soon renamed GRID, gay related immune deficiency
(Timeline). We see automatically this disease was thought to be a cancer and was
associated with healthy gay men, at this point in time the rare disease was seen in 41
homosexuals (Timeline) Later on that year there was a new diagnosis in the United States
of 339 cases but it was not reported as AIDS and the CDC declared the new disease as an
epidemic because of how fast it was being spread (Timeline).
In 1982 there was a report that showed that from a group of cases amongst gay
men in Southern California it found that the disease might be caused by an infectious
agent that was sexually transmitted. Also, at the beginning of July 1982, a total of 452
cases were reported to the CDC from 23 states (Avert history). There were reports of the
disease being found in Haitians as well as hemophiliacs which had caused speculation
that the disease had been caused in Haiti (Avert history). Also, in the year 1982, there
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was an occurrence of the disease in non homosexuals and a 20 month old child died of
infections related to AIDS. Because of these occurrences it was not appropriate for the
disease to be known as GRID because there were other groups contracting the disease
other than gay men. The disease was associated with gay men because in the beginning,
1981, the rare cancer was only found in healthy gay men. There was no evidence at that
point that anyone other than gay men had contracted this disease. This prompted the CDC
to change the name of the illness that was formerly known as GRID or “gay cancer” to
AIDS (Timeline). This is when the disease is formally named and it is the name we use to
this day. Surprisingly, after the discoveries of the disease being transmitted in “straight
men” and children, the National Institutes of Health rejected a proposed study to
determine whether women could get AIDS (Timeline).
In 1983, a very important discovery was made. In January, according to the
website Avert in the section of history, there was a report of AIDS among women with
no risk factors that suggested that the disease might be spread or passed through
heterosexual sex. The CDC then held a meeting to consider how the transmission of
AIDS could be prevented and spoke of new evidence that AIDS might be spread through
blood clotting and transfusions. In the book And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts it
states that “the blood banks refused to believe that transfusion associated AIDS existed
(220). Reading this was very sad because after viewing the movie and seeing the
evidence presented by the researchers it was sad to see the manner in which their claims
were disregarded which lead others to contract the disease from blood banks. Sadly at
the end of that year “the number of AIDS cases in the United States had raised to 3064
and of those 1292 had died.” (Avert history). It would be safe to that around this time a
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lot of people were scared and misinformed about this disease and there was a lot of
stigmatism going on at this time. According to GMHC’s timeline the New York State
Department of Health AIDS Institute is established to enhance the quality of life for
persons with HIV by improving prevention and health care services through performance
measurement and science based initiatives.
In 1985, the FDA approved the first enzyme linked immunosorbent assay
(ELISA) test kit to screen for anti bodies to HIV (Timeline). Also the American
Association of Blood Banks and the Red Cross begins screening the country’s blood
supply for HIV antibodies and in the process rejecting gay donors ( Timeline). It is also in
this year the First International Conference on AIDS is held in Atlanta, Georgia and the
CDC estimates that as many as 1 million people worldwide were affected with HIV
(Timeline). This is an alarming amount of people and it was frustrating to see that the
officials in the United States still refused to support the researchers and doctors in
providing more money for funding and acknowledge how serious the disease was
becoming.
It is in 1986, a Surgeon General named C. Everett Koop began to call for AIDS
education for children of all ages to raise awareness (Avert history). I personally think
that this a good idea because at that time there were misconceptions in the media and
people were not aware. I think that bringing awareness to children will allow a different
and new generation culturally aware of the disease. In 1987, according to the GMHC,
AZT is the first drug approved to fight HIV and is marketed. The cost of this drug is very
expensive and a year’s supply costs $10,000 and is named one of the most expensive
drugs ever sold (Timeline). The recommended dosage is one capsule every four hours
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around the clock, however later on this would prove to be very toxic (Timeline). In my
opinion I understand that there was a need to make profits but the drug was too
expensive, some people do not earn that much money in a year so in my opinion only the
rich and famous would benefit greatly from this drug. When learning the information
about the recommended dosage and listening to the lecture given in class, I was upset
about the miscommunication of the dosage which later resulted in people getting sick. I
do however understand that the doctors were working to the best of their ability to find a
cure or medicine to assist in making people feel better about a new disease.
In 1988, condom use is shown to be effective in preventing sexual transmission of
HIV and for the first time it was reported that more new AIDS cases were attributed to
needle sharing than to sexual contact. It was also reported that the majority of new AIDS
cases in New York were among African Americans. It is in this year that the first World
AIDS Day is held on December 1st and the reason for this was to create a global
awareness of AIDS (Timeline). Creating a day to raise awareness worldwide about AIDS
can help people to become more knowledgeable of the subject matter and follow
guidelines on how to avoid contracting this disease. It also allows the world to unite to
fight against a common disease.
The year 1993 brings once again historical gestures. Eleven years later the CDC
finally expands the definition of AIDS (avert history). This is really bad for women
because before this they were not being recognized with the disease. Also the drugs that
were being used were not designed for women so for a number of years women’s lives
were being lost with no help or assistance from the government to save them. This piece
of information particularly upset me: not only because I am a woman but because the
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CDC had proof of the disease affecting women also but never bothered to include them in
the definition.
According to the Mayo clinic the symptoms of HIV/AIDS may vary depending on
the phase of the infection. Sometimes when someone is first infected with HIV that there
may be no symptoms, it is very difficult to tell sometimes because general signs of an
infection may include fever, headache, sore throat and rashes (CDC). However, although
it may be difficult to tell if someone has AIDS or is infected with HIV they can still
transmit the disease to someone else through unprotected sexual contact. Once the virus
is said to have entered the body it slowly begins to attack the immune system. A person
can remain symptom free for a total of eight to nine years or even more but as the virus
continues to multiply and destroy the immune cells, a person could develop mild
infections or chronic symptoms such as cough and shortness of breath, weight loss, fever,
diarrhea and swollen lymph nodes which is one of the first signs of HIV infection (CDC).
By the time AIDS develops, the immune system is severely damaged. This
makes it easier for a person to be at risk of infections and some of these may include
blurred and distorted vision, fever higher than 100 for several weeks and persistent white
spots or unusual lesions on the tongue or in the mouth otherwise known as thrush.
HIV/AIDS is diagnosed in different ways. Some of these ways may be from an
oral fluid test, urine test, quick tests, and through newborn babies (Kalichman 78).
This disease is very prevalent in the United States and in American culture. According to
Avert.org at the end of 2005 the CDC estimated that 437,982 were living with AIDS in
America. It also estimated 1411 under age 13 were living with AIDS at the end of 2005
and the majorities of these children acquired the disease from their mothers during
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pregnancy, labor and breastfeeding. This disease is spread in a number of different ways.
There have been many misconceptions in the past and even today about how this disease
is spread, but it can only be spread through having unprotected sex with an infected
person, blood transfusion from an infected person, mother to child transmission and
sharing needles and syringes primarily drug injections with someone who is infected
(Kalichman 90).
Part III
The disease is so prevalent in American culture that there have been a number of
activities and organizations that has come forward to find ways of raising awareness. One
of these groups is the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. This group was formed in 1981 to
address the “gay cancer” and to raise research for money. This group has sought to raise
awareness and had many fundraisers. In 1986 the GMHC held the first AIDS Walk in
New York and received over 4500 walkers, they raised $710,000 (Timeline).
(GMHC timeline)
This tradition has been carried on every year since and has managed to raise
billions of dollars to the cause. It is also held in major cities around the United States.
According to the website aidswalk.net, the AIDS Walk New York is the world’s largest
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fundraising event for the AIDS epidemic. More than 47,000 men, women and children
walked in last years AIDS walk New York (AIDS Walk NY).
This year I decided to attend the Aids Walk and chose to ask people why they
were participating. I was very overwhelmed to see the amount of people at different ages
and ethnicities participating in this walk. There were over 5000 volunteers and many
people responded to my question of asking why they were participating by saying “I want
to help raise awareness for this epidemic,” “I have lost a family member to this disease,”
“I feel as though it is my duty to participate” and as I continued to interviewed other
people I received similar answers.. Many had posters and slogans written on their shirts.
There were students and teachers walking together. I was very happy to have experienced
this.
It is reported on the official website of the AIDS Walk New York that this year a record
high of $6,857,527 was raised so far and donated (AIDS Walk NY)
(Aidswalkny)
The AIDS walk is a cultural response to HIV/AIDS because it involves the
community coming together and working towards a common goal. People are beginning
to realize how rapidly this disease is taking over our society, not only in the United States
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but throughout the world. Many young people are falling prey to this disease due to
unprotected sex and lack of knowledge. The AIDS walk is a way to bring people together
and raise money. When the first AIDS Walk took place it was a political statement to the
government. Simply telling them and showing them just how serious the disease was
(Timeline). In an article found in the New York Times it states “In New York City, which
has more diagnosed cases of AIDS than any other city…Marching with friends, spouses
and children in strollers” (NY Times, Gray). The AIDS Walk New York is a family
function also because while participating and viewing the walk I was amazed to see how
many families were participating. It was a wonderful sight to see young and old
marching, walking in solidarity to raise awareness and money for this disease.
The AIDS Walk New York benefits Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC). This
organization is a not-for profit, volunteer supported, and community based organization
committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS (AIDS Walk NY description).
Through reading about this organization on AIDS Walk NY, I learned that the mission of
the GMHC is to “reduce the spread of the HIV disease and help people with the disease
maintain and improve their health” (AIDS Walk NY description). The AIDS Walk NY
also benefits other organizations such as AID for AIDS, Bronx AIDS Services, Center for
AIDS Research and Treatment and many others (AIDS Walk NY benefiting).
Today, our society has changed and I would say I’ve become more educated
about the illness and disease of HIV/AIDS. Society is now trying to do its best to educate
and help those who are suffering and who may be most at risk to the disease. There are
many persons who are known as AIDS activists who work tirelessly for the cause. Today,
AIDS is presented in the news by documentaries, films, books, articles, functions to raise
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awareness, and organization. Books such as Push by Sapphire, And the Band Played On
by Randy Shilts and AIDS Cultural Analysis Cultural Activism edited by Douglas Crimp,
are assisting of bringing awareness to the community and using other avenues apart from
the media to educate others. Although there is more information now in my opinion I still
believe that more can be done. There needs to be more money available for research and
medicine and I have a problem with the medicine being so very expensive. There are
many persons suffering from the disease that cannot afford to purchase and continue
using the medicine because of cost.
There has been misconceptions about this disease and according to Douglas
Crimp he states “ the biggest misconception that we have encountered and that most
cities throughout the United States have seen is that many people feel that casual contactbeing in the same room with an AIDS victim-will transmit the virus and may infect
them” (Crimp 35). This fact to some extent is still true; because there are persons today
who think that because they’re in contact with someone who has AIDS they can contract
the disease. This is not so, and I think that there needs to be more information and some
of the things we focus on such as what celebrities do with their lives should not take
precedence over this matter.
The cultural attitudes and relationships between Culture and Disease are closely
associated with HIV/AIDS. There is now a more cultural awareness and response now
than before to HIV/AIDS and one of the avenues of awareness in the AIDS Walk NY.
This fundraiser is the world’s largest fundraising event for the AIDS epidemic. There
have been many struggles in gaining support from the government and it took many years
and hard work by activists, researchers, doctors and AIDS patients to bring this disease
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forward to educate the community. I believe that we need more hands on projects and
assistance by the government to prevent this epidemic from spreading more rapidly than
it is now. This crisis is a world wide one and all countries should unite and work together
to help and assist one another in the fight because this fight isn’t an individual fight; it is
a world wide crisis and we all need to fight this epidemic.
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Annotated Bibliography
Crimp, Douglas. AIDS Cultural Analysis Cultural Activism. Massachusetts: The MIT
Press,1996. This source is necessary, useful and appropriate for my research topic
because it has vital information about the subject matter of AIDS and cultural
activism. The author is a professor and received his PHD.
Kalichman, Seth E. Understanding AIDS Second Edition Advances in Research and
Treatment. Washington DC: American Psychological Association. This book
provided me with information about my subject matter and assisted in increasing
knowledge. The author is a professor and has done extensive work and research
around HIV and AIDS. He is also apart of a research team and American
Psychological Association.
Miller, Heather G, Lincoln E Moses, and Charles F Turner. AIDS The Second Decade.
Washington DC: National Academy Press, 1990. This book was chosen because it
provides information about the second decade of AIDS.
Shilts, Randy. And The Band Played On. New York: The Penguin Group. The author was
a tenacious award winning journalist who became the nation’s foremost
chronicler of gay life and the AIDS Epidemic and the book was recommended by
my professor.
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