Considering that in Africa alone, “there were an estimated 1.7 million [1.4 – 2.4 million] new HIV infections” in 2007, how many of those infections could have been avoided by promoting the scientific method(s) of containing AIDS transmissions rather than promoting a program that is based on religious dogma? How many deaths can and will be attributed to our “abstinence only” program?
This is a figure that is open to speculation, however, when we look at the numbers from 2007, and then combine them with numbers from past years of this failed program - there’s little doubt that US policies in combating the AIDS epidemic have actually raised the death toll rather than decreasing it. What those actual numbers are is currently unavailable.
By examining the numbers we do have, it’s not hard to imagine that millions of new AIDS cases have been exacerbated by abstinence only programs. It will take years, if not decades to compile the data, however, when Bush’s failed policies are replaced by programs based on science – the drop in new AIDS infections and the lowering of the death toll will exemplify the failures of the Bush administration.
The incidence of new AIDS infections in the United States is also rising:
HIV infection rates appear to be rising in USA
By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAYBOSTON
HIV infection rates in the USA that have remained stable for years now appear to be rising, researchers here reported Tuesday.
Of 900,000 people living with HIV in the USA, about one-third don’t know they’re infected. Experts have estimated that another 40,000 people become infected each year. But several studies reported at the 10th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections hint that the number could be rising.“
The signs are unmistakable,” says Cornelius Baker, executive director of the Whitman Walker Clinic, which tracks trends and provides AIDS services in Washington, D.C.
“There’s the potential for a whole new wave of HIV infections, especially among the young. (Emphasis added.)“
They weren’t around when we did education the first time,” Baker says. “They haven’t experienced as much death and illness. They’ve become complacent about the very real risks of HIV. MORE
The figures in the USA Today report may be misleading - and the totals may be much higher than stated:
* An estimated one million people are currently living with HIV in the United States, with approximately 40,000 new infections occurring each year.
* Seventy percent of these new infections occur in men and 30 percent occur in women.
* By race, 54 percent of the new infections in the United States occur among African Americans, and 64 percent of the new infections in women occur in African American women.
* 75 percent of the new infections in women are heterosexually transmitted.
