Blackinformant.com

From Amanda’s response~

I couldn’t agree with Black Informant more that practicing safe sex is the best thing we can do to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. But I have to disagree with him when he says that HIV is “only a problem for those who live by the rule ‘If it feels good, do it.’”

By that logic, the largest population of irresponsible hedonists are centralized in sub-Saharan Africa. Eleven percent of new HIV cases are reserved for irresponsible hedonistic newborn babies. Fifteen million children with AIDS are orphans, surely payment for their irresponsible hedonism.

For people who live in the West, my comment is true.

Since we are now taking a trip to sub-Saharan Africa to compare notes, let’s take a look at one report that was published in the British Medical Journal back in 2003 (you can access the full report, but you have to register–free). Here are some excerpts of that report.

The spread of AIDS in Africa is driven not by unsafe sex but by unsafe medical practice, according to research published last week.

The research, which analysed data on new infections collected up to 1988, concludes that no basis exists for the widespread belief that sexual transmission is responsible for over 90% of new cases. Instead, the authors say, use of dirty needles by public health services was the main cause of transmission in the study period, with sexual transmission accounting for just 30% of infections.

[...]

The authors point to the exceptionally rapid spread of the disease in countries with widespread health services, such as South Africa and Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe in the 1990s, HIV infections increased by 12% a year whereas other sexually transmitted disease were declining by 25%. (read the report here)

In addition to unsafe medical practices, HIV/AIDS is also being widely spread in Africa via cultural traditions. This NY Times article written back in ’06 pointed out how traditions like breastfeeding, traditional ceremonies and practices that involve the cutting of the skin are also significant contributors to the transmission of this disease.

From the article~

An estimated 70 percent of Africans use traditional healers as their primary source of health care, a function of tradition and availability.

In Africa, there is one medical doctor for every 40,000 people, but one traditional healer for every 500.

In one small survey, 50 percent of ritual healers were H.I.V. positive, doctors at the International Reference and Research Center for H.I.V.-AIDS in Yaoundé said.

If you are really interested in finding out the other major forms of transmission of HIV/AIDS in Africa, you may also want to do a in-depth study of rapes involving women and children on that continent.

Africa is dealing with an almost completely different set of cultural issues that cannot be compared to the gay and lesbian community here in the West. The only real challenge for us Westerners is deciding whether or not we are going to take it too far in the bedroom. That is a far cry of what is taking place on the African continent.

And while we are on our world tour, let’s pass through Asia~

Unprotected sex among gay and bisexual men is fueling the spread of HIV/AIDS in Asia, public health experts said urging governments to do more to fight the problem.

[...]

“Unprotected male to male sex is once again fuelling the spread of HIV infection in the Asia Pacific,” Massimo Ghidinelli, regional HIV/AIDS advisor at the World Health Organisation told a news conference Friday.

[...]

HIV prevalence among gay and bisexual men in Bangkok rose to 30.7 percent in 2007 from 17.3 percent in 2003. In Jakarta, it increased to 8.1 percent from 2 percent within the same period. (source)

Amanda continues her sarcastic tone~

In D.C., most irresponsible hedonists reside in the city’s poorest areas, where even condoms are locked up to avoid irresponsible hedonists from stealing them to engage in more responsible hedonism.

If you are an adult and of sound mind, economic position in life has NOTHING to do with self-control in the bedroom.
While many of the various HIV/AIDS studies out there focus exclusively on those infected with this disease, you will be hard-pressed to find a study that focuses on those who are making the right personal choices. No matter what ethnic/economic demographic you study, the majority on this issue has managed to make the right choices and steer away from risky sexual behavior.

Part of my childhood was spent in North Philadelphia (a place not known for tight-knit families and wealth). While my parents were never rich, they had the good sense to teach me how to make the right choices for my life.  In the end, it was up to me to decide for myself. I have also spent years working with kids from low-income families. If you were to actually sit down and ask them why many of their peers continue to engage in risky sex despite the warnings out there, they will tell you straight up: “Because it feels good”.  On the other hand, here you have a “privileged college-educated white girl” (as you identified yourself) trying to make the case that unless condoms, education and testing are free, they are trapped in a never ending cycle of ignorance. As I said in a comment on my site yesterday: “If a person is grown enough to know what to do in the bedroom, they are grown enough to make the right choices while in the bedroom”. This whole discussion boils down to basically one thing for us here in the West: Free will. Not money as you have suggested. Just as gay White men are wrestling with this single issue, the same goes for non-White, low income individuals. Both have to make the same choice before walking into the bedroom. Economics and race have NOTHING to do with it.

Other bits from your post.

“A sex act, like rimming, isn’t an HIV risk just because straight people associate it with the gay community.”

Like I said in my previous post, risky sexual acts like rimming does in fact increase the chances of contracting a sexually-transmitted disease. HIV may be low on that scale, but diseases like shigella, amebiasis, cryptosporidium, giardia, and Hepatitis A are very possible. Our goal should be to avoid all of this stuff, not just HIV.

Protecting yourself costs money. It costs money to educate adolescents on the importance of safe sex. It costs money to distribute free condoms to people in poor areas who are most at risk. It costs money to offer free HIV testing to an entire urban area.

For the sake of argument, let’s say the average cost of a pack of condoms is about $10. Do you really believe that the low income folks in your district can’t afford a $10 box of condoms? “Low income” does not mean “no income“. If people really wanted to make the right choices regarding their sexual practices, do you really think that a locked display at a local drug store would deter them? If that is the case, then cigarettes must not be selling too well in DC. The low-income population in DC may have its share of problems, but stupidity isn’t one of them.

Thanks for the discussion.