Letter: BR needs easier testing for AIDS

Baton Rouge has been recognized as the state’s capital and is very well known.

Unfortunately, one of the many things the Red Stick city is known for is its extremely high number of AIDS cases. A large portion of Baton Rouge’s AIDS cases are among African Americans and among people who are 25 or younger. More education and awareness needs to be provided to the citizens about HIV and AIDS.

From my personal experience as a medical assistant, there are many misconceptions about HIV and AIDS. Providing proper education on the diseases may decrease the enormous number of diagnoses per year.

Simply participating in the sex education classes at school may not be providing enough education to our young citizens. After-school seminars should be considered as a useful way to provide that extra information. The after-school seminars could be hosted by volunteering physicians, instead of someone with less experience.

The after-school seminars would provide a more-effective way of teaching one on one and can allow sufficient time to answer any questions or address any personal concerns of students.

Students at high schools and colleges should be given opportunities for a free screening if they have a concern about being infected. Some colleges, such as Baton Rouge Community College, have already begun raising awareness by distributing a free HIV screening to students on a specific date.

The free screenings provided by the schools may be what helps our young people become safer in their personal relations. Some students may not know whether they are infected because of the cost of having the HIV screening done at a physician’s office. The free screening can provide extra peace of mind to those who are already terrified enough having the test done.

The state of Louisiana has a staggering number of reported AIDS cases and most likely even more that are still undiagnosed. By providing more education routes to students and the opportunity for a free HIV screening, the number of cases reported yearly in Baton Rouge can drop drastically. Although AIDS is a very tough issue to discuss, it needs to be brought to people’s attention because AIDS is lethal.

Ashley Vollenweider

student, medical assistant

Walker

Comments

1) Comment by Whatnow - 15/12/2012

Reel it in? In today's society? Reel it in? Heck, don't even get me started. Free screenings provided by the schools? After school seminars? Get real. What "free" gift will you give them to participate? Who would pay for all these programs? I'm not going off the reservation at all. It's the mentality of the stupid that is off the reservation.

2) Comment by Being_Stupid - 15/12/2012

Which is why a quarantine would have eradicated AIDS in the early 1980s (1981 - 1984). A virus is easier to quarantine than a disease or flu. Too late now.

3) Comment by DMJ - 14/12/2012

Quarantine? Only for diseases that are easily contracted by air, saliva, or mere touch of the skin. HIV is actually quite hard to contract- you have to exchange blood or have intercourse. And while BR is tops per capita in AIDS cases, the rate of contraction is dropping worldwide, especially in the U.S. Education, prevention and treatment is key.

4) Comment by tradewinns - 14/12/2012

being _stupid is correct. i guess we became so civilized by the time aids became known, we figured the public no longer had a right to be protected from a contagious, lethal, uncurable disease. i guess civil rights overcame common sense. i believe they still isolate TB cases. if grandfathered in, i guess you didn't get your rights back.

5) Comment by DMJ - 14/12/2012

Whatnow, reel it in a bit, brother. You're straying from the reservation, bub.

6) Comment by Being_Stupid - 14/12/2012

It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. First time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly virus for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents. The small gay community in New York and L.A. should have been quarantined immediately when this deadly virus was discovered in 1981, before it spread to hemophiliacs and other folks that got it through blood transfusions. Thanks to the gay community, we don't have a hemophiliac problem in the United States anymore. They were all wiped out during the 1980s and early 90s due to contaminated blood transfusions in the early 80s. Ronald Reagan and his Government tried to quarantine the problem immediately but were prevented from doing so because the protest from the Democrats, Liberal Left, and Gay Community thought it "unfair to gay folks". Now it is too late. AIDS is everywhere now. Millions have died, and will die, when this could have been prevented by a mandatory quarantine of just less than a 100 homosexuals in the early 1980s.

7) Comment by Whatnow - 14/12/2012

Why doesn't the government hire gazillions of workers to go door to door to test and teach each and every person and kill two birds with one stone. Hey, unemployment will go down, too! They can even give out those free condoms and birth control meds while they are at it. Just borrow or print the money or make the rich pay for it. They can afford it. It's not fair that they have more money by being smarter than most or by being born rich. Oh, and these workers can fix stupid while they are at it.

8) Comment by DMJ - 14/12/2012

"So I guess by having free birth control we will also solve the problem of unwanted births and abortion and also the need for the federal government to pay for unwanted children from the time they are born until the time they are adults (and longer)?Is that the reasoning behind having free birth control?" Ideally...yes. Also, the birth control isn't "free." It's paid for by premiums, just like your lipitor.

9) Comment by DMJ - 14/12/2012

She can't pass it on to children she never has because she's on birth contro, can she?. Thought I was clear the first time... And yes, you're right... people should be careful about having sex...but people are not going to stop having sex just because they don't want children. Procreation is not the only reason for sex, phil. If done correctly, it can be quite fun.

10) Comment by phil - 14/12/2012

DMJ - If a women gets the HIV virus, she will probably pass it on to her baby if she EVER decides to actually have children. Did you ever think of that? So I guess by having free birth control we will also solve the problem of unwanted births and abortion and also the need for the federal government to pay for unwanted children from the time they are born until the time they are adults (and longer)?Is that the reasoning behind having free birth control? In reality, I doubt that the overall number of births (or abortions) will decrease much at all, or any, as a result of having free birth control. Of course, I can also argue that if a women does not want to have children then maybe she should not be so sexually active in the first place. Shall we also have an overall discussion about morals and the fact that people (men and women) should be responsible for their own actions?

11) Comment by DMJ - 14/12/2012

phil, if an HIV woman gives birth, she risks passing the virus on to her child. If she's on birth control, she won't. Didn't think about that, did you?

12) Comment by phil - 14/12/2012

This is sad that BR has such a high rate of HIV/AIDS. However, I think there possibly needs to be more coordination of all of the agencies that receive local and other funding for AIDS and possibly even verify the actual number of HIV/AIDS cases on the BR area. A lot of money is being spent in BR on this problem. I have to wonder what affect the recent change in the healthcare bill relative to getting "free" (it isn't free since someone pays) birth control will have on AIDS and other STDs. If every woman in the USA can get free birth control pills, will they bother to use other forms of protection against diseases like AIDS? Maybe we need to start a new multi-million dollar federal study to study that. After all, we all have plenty of spare money to send to the government, right?

13) Comment by Being_Stupid - 14/12/2012

Blame the gay community for AIDS.

14) Comment by tradewinns - 14/12/2012

aids isn't some new just discovered infection. everyone (of sexually active age) has heard of aids and how it spreads. so protect yourself if participating in "risky" sexual actions.

15) Comment by DMJ - 14/12/2012

The Host, you're right. However, those tests cost $50 - $75 and it takes a week to get the results. It's cheaper to treat HIV if you catch it early, which is where the easier access to testing thing comes in.

16) Comment by The_Host - 14/12/2012

You can go get a self test AIDS kits at the drug store. While your there pick up some condoms and then you won't need to buy an AIDS test to begin with. How novel. I guess some of you will want tax payers to foot the bill while your there getting your free birth control pills also paid for by uncle sugar.

17) Comment by bourbon-soda - 14/12/2012

Maybe someone can help me. I am not able to google a scientifically oriented reference where more information or more testing within the range of each that is available in the United States, affects the incidence or prevalence of HIV-AIDS.