[Hydrogen]

HIV isn't a rich man's disease considering its still primarily a disease that affects the African continent. The only movement in the west really came from gay rights advocates that had to fight, tooth and nail, for noteriety.

That's what I have already mentioned in my earlier post. But real movement on fighting the disease came only when it was understood that it could easily affect heterosexuals. The fact that there was such slow movement at first was due to the prejudice that it was a gay disease.

I don't buy the argument that HIV is better funded because its a "rich mans disease", its simply not true.

I said Western. AIDS wasn't "discovered" until it hit North America and Europe. It had been in Africa for many, many decades before that.

 

[digi]

Funding for HIV/AIDS research literally exploded when the disease became established in Western nations, and when it was understood that it infected heterosexuals as well.

Not quite....it was a 'gay disease' for a long time, with no support or recognition from the 'straight ' world...only when it was 'discovered' that it's not a 'gay' disease, did funding 'explode'. In fact, when straight people started to get infected, the only support groups available were for for gay men. These support groups accepted everyone...the same can't be said for the reverse.

 

[Hydrogen]

If you want to split hairs, AIDS was not named until 1982. Previous to that, there were cases of Kaposi's Sarcoma in men outside the group of people who typically were affected by this rare cancer. There were also related cases of pneumonia and other infections appearing as well. By 1981 there was an apparent pattern being recognized by doctors treating these patients. The syndrome was given the name GRID for Gay Related Immune Deficiency.

However, as early as 1982, it was understood by the medical community that AIDS could be transmitted by blood products, through needle use, and was infecting heterosexual and bisexual women and men. Even infants were acquiring the disease through the mother. Those numbers were small at first, but began to grow. But by then, AIDS was already recognized.

However, for a very long time there was a popular misconception that AIDS was a "gay" disease. The notion that this infection was some sort of punishment drove the more extreme anti-gay attitudes. In turn, the gay community mobilized to counter this prejudice and to push for research funding. But it was already apparent that the disease could be transmitted heterosexually and through other means.

Funding for attacking the disease, for treatments and vaccines could only appear once the actual cause was understood. That became HIV.

An article published a in 2008 in Nature suggests that HIV began spreading in Africa as early as 1885. By 1925 it was already established in urban centres in west central Africa.

 

[digi]

If you want to split hairs, AIDS was not named until 1982.

Since you are splitting hairs, notice I didn't mention AIDS.

However, for a very long time there was a popular misconception that AIDS was a "gay" disease.

As I mentioned....

Sorry, I guess you weren't actually responding to me.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

I doubt a vaccine can really cure both. I am also skeptical because should a cure actually appear, the Pharmaceutical companies are NOT likely to realease it!! WHY?? Simply because it is far more profitable to treat cancer, or malaria, or HIV than curing it. If you release a cure, a person will buy it once, end of story! If there is no cure, one must pay thousands in treatment. I don't even know if its covered with OHIP here in Canada.

cynicism.


i've had the same belief but i now believe that the reason why we don't have cures for such things is because it's REALLY, REALLY hard. have comfort in knowing that big pharma isn't the only means for a solution. there are countless scientists around the world who do their thing. maybe the guy that has a good job at company X and just goes to work to make money for his golf club membership won't find a cure but maybe the scientist in his basement that spends every moment of his free time, skips lunch and goes without sleep & bath for days because he is obsessed with his objective - will. alot of people go to work just to make a pay, some people have passion or possibly OCD, autism or asperger's syndrome.

also, have faith in the greed of people. you think a scientist that finds a cure will hide it for his employer's company? because he's concerned for the profitability for his employer's company? most humans can't resist fame & fortune.

 

[ganjavih]

Just to clarify some issues brought up here:

- HIV is not an easy infection to get, and by taking the proper precautions, you can reduce your risk of infection to almost zero. Malaria, on the other hand, is more difficult to prevent in areas that are malaria-endemic. All it takes is a mosquito bite.

- Malaria is curable, HIV infection is not.

 

[bleeepbluuup]

also, have faith in the greed of people. you think a scientist that finds a cure will hide it for his employer's company? because he's concerned for the profitability for his employer's company? most humans can't resist fame & fortune.

Except that anything you develop on company time using company equipment probably belongs to the company, and you'd get sued real quick.

 

[Brandon716]

That's what I have already mentioned in my earlier post. But real movement on fighting the disease came only when it was understood that it could easily affect heterosexuals. The fact that there was such slow movement at first was due to the prejudice that it was a gay disease.

And considering I'm gay and grew up in the rural American south, I'm acquainted with prejudice against gays and how it relates to HIV. My entire HIV education growing up as a kid was based around rumors that it was something you could practically get for just being gay.

...luckily my mother was more educated to tell me different, but the fact is I'm very aware of what you speak of.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

cause they had a gay ole time! (relates to the second half of this post)

Except that anything you develop on company time using company equipment probably belongs to the company, and you'd get sued real quick.

i'm sure a genius can figure a way around that. and if the genius can't, the company will either have to announce the cure or the genius can always announce his cure. if the company tried to sue the genius, they'd be admitting that they are trying to suppress a cure.

My entire HIV education growing up as a kid was based around rumors that it was something you could practically get for just being gay.

wow! the characters on flintstones must have all been infected.

 

[lordmandeep]

Just curious, why do the worlds worst diseases like Ebola and Aids originate from Sub-Sahara Africa???

Like I heard Aids may have originated from someone getting an inflection from a chimp...


There are a lot of crazy theories about the origin of Aids. The three craziest ones was that it was created to wipe out the Black race.. The other is that it came from people having sex outside of the missionary position. Another silly one I heard was it came from people having sex with monkeys.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

Just curious, why do the worlds worst diseases like Ebola and Aids originate from Sub-Sahara Africa???

Like I heard Aids may have originated from someone getting an inflection from a chimp...


There are a lot of crazy theories about the origin of Aids. The three craziest ones was that it was created to wipe out the Black race.. The other is that it came from people having sex outside of the missionary position. Another silly one I heard was it came from people having sex with monkeys.

i think because it's one of the most biologically diverse areas on earth. anyone that would create a disease with the intentions to wipe out another ethnic group but not their own would have to be very stupid. disease like HIV does not discriminate. even an imbecile would realize that the very disease they want to use against others would come back and bite them in the ass eventually.

i think the reason why STD's like HIV exist like they do is because the very nature of intercourse ensures that the disease will spread. say there was a disease out there that spread only through ingesting fingernail clippings. it wouldn't get much success as HIV because i think most humans don't eat each others fingernail clippings. on the other hand, humans have sex and they have to in order to continue the race. also, it is quite possible that a disease like the fingernail thing i explained might have existed but didn't spread and died out because humans don't eat each others fingernails in substantial numbers.

what worries me about the modern world is that since we live in a global village, it doesn't take long for a strain of something to spread throughout the population. this wasn't really a big problem when humans were primitive & isolated into their own groups, separated by geography. an entire population could have been wiped out by something but other distant populations carried on the race. today, we are essentially keeping all our eggs in one basket. we no longer have the firewalls we once did.

my hope is that scientists will uncover the mysteries of these viruses and fighting a new strain will be as simple as updating a computer antivirus program. i can see the day when teens can manufacture their own viruses in their bed rooms like they currently know how to write computer viruses. you could probably pickup a build your own bug kit at the hobby shop one day. of course, when we should become that advanced, we could also find a cure for such viruses in the snap of a finger. unless of course some super virus comes out of hiding tomorrow, one which could spread by all means, and the entire human race is reduced to liquid goo. that would suck.


some trivia on viruses: a gulp of seawater could contain tens of thousands of different strains of viruses. of course they won't do anything to you, but damn! there's alot of stuff out there.