I don't think people who became infected with AIDS due to their own willful ignorance aren't valued. But I'd probably help treat someone who has brain tumors over someone who shot themself in the foot.
Dude the dates you're talking about are from the 80's, when the HIV epidemic had barely made its way from the HIV population to other US populations. Of course the odds for transmission via heterosexual intercourse in the US was low 15 years ago, but the picture has changed dramatically. While anal intercourse is somewhat more likely to transmit the virus than vaginal, the mechanics of heterosexual intercourse vs homosexual intercourse has vastly less to do with the odds you're talking about than did the epidemiological demographics that prevailed at the time. One of the things that most frightens health care professionals these days is the increasing infection rates among women worldwide, including the US.
I didn't say I wouldn't. I just meant to say that in such a situation, I believe priorities have been established.
Yeah but only because a foot wound is less life threatening than a brain tumor, all things considered. In fact, check that: in an emergency room the foot wound would get treated first unless there was some acute, immediately life-threatening problem manifesting from the brain tumor. Blame has got ********-all to do with it. Unless I'm mistaken, doctors are legally required to treat all patients equally, regardless what they think of how a patient's illness or injury occurred.
Yet the topic is about gay men and you made about 5 posts in this thread. Is there something you care to share with the class?
The only priority is to take care of everyone. Let me make something clear: I have nothing against speaking out about promiscuity. In fact, I support it, both for health and moral reasons, but I see no purpose in attacking people who already have AIDS and need our compassion.
I admit I didn't provide the best of examples, but I hope you still got the point I was attempting to make. I don't believe you're mistaken concerning doctors, but I'm not a doctor. I haven't taken the Hippocratic oath. It was pure speculation I was making.
I understand and also support your position. But if you had to choose to treat only one patient, one that was infected with AIDS via bad blood transfusion, and one that was infected with AIDS via personal stupidity, what would you do?
No one's saying withhold treatment as a sort of punishment, Ben (well, at least I hope no one is saying that). I think that all some of us are saying is that in the real world, we all have limited capital to spend, whether it's monetary or emotional, and this particular problem does not jump to the top of everyone's agenda, due to the fact that behavior is implicated in the problem. In an ideal world, we'd all hold hands, sing songs, and do everything in our power to rid the world of all hunger and all disease. But in the real world, each of picks and chooses the causes that mean the most to us, and for which we will fight with our time, money, and emotional strength. Would I rather spend money on AIDS research than tactical nukes? Of course. But if I have only a $100 to give to a charity, am I going to choose an AIDS charity over, say, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation? Probably not. I'm not trying to change your mind or the way you feel about it. I think we're just going to have to disagree on this one.
If the point you were making was that self-inflicted injuries are less deserving of treatment than accidental ones, then yeah I got your point. I don't agree with it any more than Ben does, though. That element of "who am I to judge" in the Hippocratic oath is there for both a moral and a practical reason, and it works well for guiding things like the allocation of research funding, too. To ignore the moral and focus on the practical: HIV is widely considered as the biggest healthcare problem in the world not because doctors and researchers are PC, but because it's lethal if untreated and it's well adapted to spreading among all human populations and it's in the process of doing so. Society is better off treating the guy who got himself infected while bug-hunting (the largely mythological practice of deliberately trying to get oneself infected with the HIV virus) just as well as it treats the 12 year old girl who was infected during a blood transfusion because that's the best way to fight the epidemic. (In point of fact, however, real cases of both of these examples are extremely rare. The vast majority of HIV cases occur through much less easily labeled activities.) So, anyway, I'm going to bed. This is too much like work. Good night folks, and I wish you all a very safe and happy World AIDs Day.
Sadly, the AIDS epidemic has been on the rise in Iran as well, as reported in an AFP article today. In the meantime, some of the debates between health care professionals and the authorities reminds me of what you sometimes hear in the US!
Palmala Handerson and her five daughters are doing very well at the moment, we seem to have struck up quite an understanding. She doesnt argue, answer back or anything, and she even switches the telly over when the footy's on. Magic.
Okay, I took some time to do a quick medline search using keywords HIV, heterosexual, and transmission. Those of you concerned about female to male transmission via unprotected intercourse should bear in mind that the virus does occur in the vaginal fluids of women with HIV. Also, while saliva is a less hospitable environment for the virus, it does occur there, and there is some minimal risk of fluid exchange in the case of prolonged oral contact, especially if there are lesions present (simple cuts, canker sores, etc.). Lamptey, Peter R. “Reducing heterosexual transmission of HIV in poor countries” British Medical Journal Volume 324(7331): 207-21126 January 2002 says: While Elwy, A. Rani PhD; Hart, Graham J. PhD; Hawkes, Sarah PhD, MBBS; Petticrew, Mark PhD “Effectiveness of Interventions to Prevent Sexually Transmitted Infections and Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Heterosexual Men: A Systematic Review” Archives of Internal Medicine Volume 162(16): 1818–1830, 9 September 2002 says: And Hader, Shannon L. MD, MPH; Smith, Dawn K. MD, MPH, MS; Moore, Janet S. PhD; Holmberg, Scott D. MD, MPH “HIV Infection in Women in the United States: Status at the Millennium” Journal of the American Medical Association Volume 285(9): 1186-1192, 7 March 2001 tells us.
I would also like to take a moment to congratulate Mike Segroves and Iranian Monitor on their remarkably civil and mutually respectful exchange. It's almost as if they had an angel looking over their shoulders. Let their example be a model for us all.
Erm, could you go into a little more detail, i dont think i got it. I am gunna marry my porno collection, tis the safest option me thinks.
During our freshman year at college we had a guy come to talk to us about HIV, sex and the college lifestyle. The guy basicly said that two people needed to swap about a bucketful of spit to spread the virus by mouth.