Aids problem in Atlanta
 

Hey sorhors and sisterfriends,

What is going on in Atlanta? My friend just told me that there's a state of emergency due to so many people spreading the hiv virus. I guess if you ever want to date some anyone from this state you should have a questionaire that reads: are you gay or bi-sexual, if so can you please take an portable hiv test on the spot. What is this world coming to.


Sisterly,



Tinese

:eek: :confused: :rolleyes:

Hey Sistergreeks!

This is exactly what I was going to say is the main contributor to the problem: Atlanta is the MECCA of the down-low brother! I've heard way too many personal accounts from friends in the area. Also IMO it has to do with the apathetic attitudes of most people towards these things. People start getting tested getting concerned (for all STD's) AFTER there is a scare/ symptoms. We need be more proactive. Once the diagnosis is there for many STDs what's done is done. For example, I was speaking with a close male friend of mine (and I normally ask whatever is on my mind). He was telling me that a young lady (lady is used loosely) he has been dating for all of 3 months might be pregnant by him. He stated "I thought she was on the pill" angrily. I asked him if they had talked about this and she lied or if he was just assuming. Guess which was his answer! i also told him that there are TWO parties responsible for meeting their birth control needs - what about a condom? He basically told me to be real: "you know how it is in the heat of the moment sometime", "I trust her (she doesn't have anything etc." I was shocked! This is a highly educated, well groomed, practicing Christian man. What many consider to be that "good man" that is so hard to find. But that statement says it all. We assume too many things based on a person's exterior, socioeconomic status etc. The bottom line is you don't know how much you can trust someone until you have proof; get tested, talk about the results, ASK IF THEY ARE ON THE PILL / HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT DIFFERENT METHODS OF PROTECTION INCLUDING CONDOMS!

I agree with you what you've said sistergreek. What's even worse is that for every three men at least two will have the virus. I'm getting this information from someone in the medical field. At this point what can be done to stop the spread of hiv, especially when people aren't divulging their hiv status?


Tinese

Why is lady used loosely?

Not because of this situation but a plethora of things my friend shared with me about her.:o

Can somebody with more patience and tact than me please address this?

Focus on the Real Risk Factor
 

Ok, while having sex with a gay or bisexual man is a hot button issue right now in the way that you contract HIV, the real problem is having sex with a man. Now having "protected" sex with a condom does DECREASE the odds of contracting the virus, but it does not eliminate it. So in having sex we must identify the real risk factor. Women must realize that we CONTRACT HIV FROM A MAN. As much as we like to think that we are "both in this together" we are not, the man is the vector that transmits the virus-- the odds of you passing it to a man are SLIM TO NONE remember that!!! So every time you see a heterosexual, bisexual, gay or otherwise man with a child, realize that that child could have been HIV/AIDS. Be wise, be chaste and be willing to wait. Didnt mean to rhyme, but it seemed right on time (ok, that one was deliberate:) )

Thank you.

In addition, HIV/AIDS can be transmitted through IV drug use, and the current "data" available about how black women contract HIV does not address this fact.

SOME people are so quick to jump to the "faggot gave me AIDS" ministry of victimhood, that very few people realize that IV drug abuse is real...how many functioning addicts have we all known?

Yes Sir, drug use is a dirty little secret. The interesting part is how few women realize the POWER that they have in NOT contracting the virus. It does NOT fall from the sky, it is NOT TB so you have to worry about the guy coughing next to you. Know who you CHOOSE to lay with and overall CHOOSE who/what enters your body how/when and why!

This is so true. I myself hadn't realized how frequent a practice this actually is. I was watching an episode of "Intervention" this weekend about a girl addicted to meth. Just as I was thinking "why the hell is she shooting up, knowing the many risks" she said something similar noting that she was "more likely to get AIDS this way" than with her promiscuous ways. The real issue here seems to just be a genral sense of apathy towards things that require much more intense concern. IMO, of course.

The first step is people learning their status. There are free tests, low cost tests, anonymous tests, confidential tests, and oral tests that take 20 minutes. There's no excuse nowadays to not get tested every 6 months.

Please people, go get tested! And then start practicing safe sex EVERY TIME.

Then that doesn't say much about him.

yanno, I was so focused on the loosely called lady comment that I zoned out onthe rest. Good thing, because I would not have answered it with patience or tact.

Nor does it address the fact that a Gay man may have contracted HIV from IV drug use rather than sex.


Whew, two of my buttons pushed in one thread--a woman denigrating another woman she does not even know, because of what a man told her, and the streotype that AIDS is a Gay man's disease.

the "state of emergency" that you tryin' to pin on Atlanta is world wide sweetie and if you haven't been tested by now that is purely on you...call me when you get it together.

Meth causes the body to reduce its immunity. Moreover, meth addiction impairs judgement and promotes risky behavior.

There are 3 HIV strains now. The first 2 strains refrain from preliminary symptoms in a month. The 3rd strain causes full blown AIDS symptoms within 2 weeks. Not only does it have the highly infidelity reverse transcriptase, it has somekind of external protein resistant to many AIDS-cocktail drugs.

The ATL situation is a directive from the CDC: If you date or marry an African American man, you need to have both of you tested. However, like it has been said, IV drug use a problem. There are other issues that cause the inappropriate exchange of bodily fluids.

All I can say if one does not use a condom with spermacides then you are at risk...

Were all these people sleeping during health class? Seriously! The only thing NEW in this thread that I wasn't taught in the SIXTH GRADE is that there's an oral test for HIV. Trust me, there was not one at the time.

People need to pull their heads out of their butts and realize that HIV is everyone's problem. Not gay men, not blacks, not the poor, and not other countries! Everybody!

eta: AKAMonet dropped new knowledge. I can always count on her for making me regret not studying harder in school! :D :p

I'm pretty sure that my soror wasn't trying to pin anything on anyone. I too have heard about the situation in Atlanta even though I'm sure everybody knows that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is a problem nationwide and worldwide. We are just sharing information here...no need to be negative and condescending (I just hate when people call me "sweetie" because they think they know more than I do).

Your soror has not shared any information at all.

I know what you mean here sistergreek. As women, we can be our own worst enemy. We allow the men in our society to do whatever they want regarding their sexual exploits and sexuality but we don't call them names or condemn their behavior. And regarding the HIV/AIDS crisis among other issues, we have got to hold everyone accountable for their behavior. In a sexual relationship, both parties are responsible for protecting themselves, not just one person.

She brought the topic up for discussion...now don't start with me, you don't want that.;)

And it was rife with ignorance and homophobia.... I'm not "starting" with you, so please don't expect me to NOT comment when someone says something that's pretty stupid.

truthfully, i dont care where the hell he got it from. i dont care if it was mailed to him UPS. he can grow it in a lab in his basement.

STRAP IT UP AND GET TESTED. if you are down low, good for you. you just better not give it to your innocent girlfriend, who will give it to the next guy she's with, who will give it to me...i will have a problem with that :mad:. if you did drugs, fine, thats your problem. give me the chance and the choice of whether i want to risk being with you. you owe me that much.

Serious knowledge--thanks

So they are saying it is mainly a Black man problem in Atl? Wow!

Maybe I'm completely wrong (it's happened once or twice:D;) ), but EVERYONE from black gay men to white lesbians can spread AIDS.

If you are HAVING SEX with another human, you are at risk. No?

That's true.... I know a Lesbian who got the virus from Lesbian sex.

You're right. Anyone can get HIV/AIDS or infect someone else if they are sexually active or they are intravenous drug users, among other less popular ways.

But what we're talking about in this thread, is the African-American community in particular. It's also a fact that when it comes to vaginal intercourse, women in general can contract the virus much easier than men, which is something that you hardly hear people talk about.

I understand that, but with some of the attitudes in this thread, it seems like gay black men (and those who marry them when they're on the DL) are the only ones who are at risk/culprits. That's just not the case.

That is why I was :eek:at the CDC singling out Black men in ATL. But considering the demographics, I suppose it can become a pandemic in the Black community there.

About 2-3 months ago it was publicized because I think there was an AIDS conference in ATL. I will try to find the article. Yeah, needless to say ATL folks were angered by that...

Well... I have never heard of Lesbian sex passing on HIV by bodily fluids. But that doesn't mean it happens. I have heard of increased vaginitis among lesbian lovers. But that may be an overall female health issues.

The worse pandemic is in Mississippi black women between the ages of 18-34 in the United States. The numbers in MS is worse than those in some African countries. The next group that with first time risk is seniors... :eek: :(

One of our annual service projects is a Seniors Day. We present an informative topic of issue to seniors, have discussion, feed them and then have a fashion show of snazzy outfits for seniors.

Our most popular ones have been the ones where we show a video and talk about HIV/AIDS among seniors. I say most popular, because they generate the most discussion. I mean the seniors are feisty about admitting that they still have sex. We provided free testing for those who wanted it and almost ALL of them do--men and women (the exceptions usually being the ones that have been married for jumpteen years--the rest are widows and widowers, so....) We do one in Mpls and one in St. Paul and senior independent living complexes.

When we first started the program maybe ten would come down to the community room for the program. Word has spread and now we get almost 100 percent partipation at each location as well as them telling their friends who don't live there to come.

girls the stories I've heard from those 60+ communities in FL... almost made me shed a tear

Something has to be done...there are too many people that know about hiv and choose to just ignore the reality of their actions. I have friends that live in Atlanta and they can tell me about the underground spots that the GLB community visit but then they still participate in sexual activities with no condoms. i do not understand we have got to think and do better....

SIGMA GAMMA RHO:confused::confused::confused:

I have never heard of that. The fact that lesbians don't spread the disease to one another was what my sex ed teacher told us to debunk the myth of it being a homosexual disease.

That is a great project!

Her intentions were good but her delivery was wrong. LOL HIV can be transmitted from infected vaginal fluids through oral sex. The infected partner could have contracted it through a dirty needle, another infected woman,or dare I say, sex with a man.

Senusret, everyone is not perfect and thus some speak first and think last. She may not have said it politically correct, but she started what could be a good discussion. Let's discuss shall we?

The stats from the CDC shows that among new HIV cases, almost half (49%) of the new cases are AA. How we deny that HIV is a big problem for our community is beyond me. I know for me, I have had countless discussions about this with fam, friends, and even strangers and most AA seem to think that the CDC is simply trying to scare us, that HIV is not as big a problem in our community as the CDC stats show.

HIV stats show that among AA males, the most common way of contracting HIV was from male to male sexual contact with an infected male. The second most common way for males to contract HIV was from sharing needles. The third most common way for a male to contract HIV was from sexual contact with an infected female.

For AA women, the most common way for women to contract HIV was from having sexual contact with an infected male. The second most common way for women to contract HIV is from sharing needles.

Stats for AA HIV case are the following as of Dec. 2006: male to male sexual contact make up 44% of HIV cases for AA males; drug needles make up 17% of HIV cases for AA males; Female to male sexual contact make up 78% of HIV cases for AA females; drug needles make up 20% of HIV cases for AA females.

The rate of HIV diagnoses was 7 times higher in AA males that white males and 21 times higher in AA females than white females.

A recent study suggest that the reason behind the disproportionately higher HIV rates amongst AA is the higher rates of male incarceration. Its an ongoing study, no definitive data yet.

For me, the data suggest that this is an ignorance problem. AA females are getting HIV at a higher rate through sex with males. I am really interested to see if there is something to this male incarceration theory. It would make sense because prisoners are not required to take HIV test while incarcerated. The women who are waiting for these men to be released from prison need to have them tested before resuming sexual relations with them. I actually know of 2 women who are now HIV positive because they had unprotected sex with males who were incarcerated. The point is that we as a people need to act responsibly and stop living in denial. We are responsible for our own bodies and need to put our safety first period. We say that in this day and age that people are informed but is that really the case? How many of us really teach our children and talk to them about sex and HIV? This is a generalization, but the black community tends to be conservative on issues such as premarital sex and so most church going parents are preaching abstinence when in reality they should preach responsibility along with the abstinence speech.