World AIDS Day Dec 1, 2008

I have decided to do something a little different today. Instead of writing a whole blog, I have just started up a Podcast. I dedicated my first Podcast to World AIDS Day and offer you to go and visit and have a listen. It’s not much, it’s about 13 minutes long. What I did was read some information from the CDC website. But it is important information that folks need to know. The key to eradicating this horrible disease is education. So, please go to my Podcast and have a listen, it is at the following link:

http://coreyspodcast.mypodcast.com/index.html

And for more information on HIV/AIDS please visit www.aids.gov or www.cdc.gov these two sites are loaded with information. And if you have not done so yet, please dedicate your blog tomorrow to World AIDS Day and spread the word. AIDS.GOV and NIDA have set up their own Podcast asking all bloggers to dedicate their blogs tomorrow. They are calling it Bloggers Unite Podcast and it can be found at AIDS.GOV. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and thanks for taking the time to follow the link and listen to my Podcast. You may leave comments on either my blog or my podcast sites if you so desire.

If you are at any kind of risk for HIV/AIDS, please follow the link I have posted on the right hand side of this blog to find a test center near you. And please, go get tested. It is estimated that 1/4 of all infected people in the USA are not even aware of the fact that they are carrying the disease.

Be careful, be tested and be informed!

HIV/AIDS Awareness Week

November 25th threw December 1st is HIV/AIDS Awareness Week. Please take the time to visit www.aids.gov and learn more about HIV/AIDS. This website offers much information as well as links to the CDC and the UN.

The best way to help stop and to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS is education. We must educate the general public and especially our youth. There are so many myths about HIV/AIDS that this truly is a good week to call it an Awareness Week. We need to be aware of the dangers and the implications and the facts of HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS is NOT just a gay disease. It does not discriminate. Anybody can catch it. In America 53% of gays and 47% of heterosexuals make up the folks who have HIV/AIDS. This number is very close. As you can see by this it is in no way shape or form just a gay disease. Therefore everybody needs to be informed. If you happen to be black you are 7 times more likely to catch HIV/AIDS.

The best ways to prevent the disease obviously is abstenance but that is unrealistic. So the next best ways are education and safe sex practices. Much of todays youth think that HIV/AIDS was a disease of the 1980’s and they do not think of it as a threat anymore. This is very dangerous thinking because this means these youth are not practicing safe sex. Putting themselves at a much higher risk of contracting the disease.

The disease has not gone away. It just is not made top of the news. It is still a silent deadly killer. There are many myths and misconceptions about the disease that you really need to educate yourself about what is truth and what is myth.

A man said to me today that men cannot catch HIV/AIDS from women or that it is nearly impossible. This is so not true. The disease is carried in the vaginal fluids. If a man has any type of sore or abrasions on his penis he is susceptible to catching the disease. It is said that men who are uncircumsized are twice as likely to catch the disease as compared to men who are circumsized.

While the risks are lower, HIV/AIDS can in fact be spread by oral sex. And just because you do not swallow does not mean you are safe. The infection shows up in pre-cum and if you let the man ejaculate in your mouth and spit it out, you are still putting yourself at risk. If there is any type of bleeding in your mouth when you brush your teeth, or if you have any sores, aware of them or not, you are susceptible to catching the disease. It is not only spread by anal sex, it is not only spread by blood transfussions, it is not only spread by dirty needles. While all these are true there are many other ways this deadly disease is spread. So please educate yourself. Education is key in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

While here in America or maybe the West, seem to have HIV/AIDS under control because we can treat it with medication. This medication is not available to the whole world. Nor is it available to folks who do not have health insurance because it costs thousands of dollars a month just for the medication and if you do not have health insurance you cannot pay this month after month without loosing everything you own.

Sure HIV/AIDS is now treatable, but it is not curable. It is still very much alive and active. It is still very much as deadly as it was when it was first discovered. The treatments that we have now do not work for everybody and thousands upon thousands of folks die from AIDS and AIDS related diseases each year. Just because it is not publisized does not mean it is not still happening.

Please take the time to educate yourself, your children, your family and your friends about the myths and facts about HIV/AIDS. It is still a matter of life and death. Folks having unprotected sex are still playing Russian Roullette. This is no laughing matter, this is dead serious.

If this link works I am going to try to post a small icon with a link for HIV/AIDS awareness. But if when I post it, it does not work, please go and visit www.aids.gov or google HIV/AIDS and you will find much information to educate yourself with.

<a href=”http://www.aids.gov/world_aids_day.html”><img src=”http://www.aids.gov/images/facingaids_male2.jpg?src=731622″ width=”150″ height=”159″ alt=”Facing AIDS – World AIDS day 2008″ /></a>