Early in the epidemic, when HIV/AIDS was perceived as an automatic death sentence, attempts at getting people to consider their sexual behavior met with some significant success. However, such a black environment also had serious negative impact on people with HIV. As the disease came to be understood as a long-term illness with increasingly manageability, HIV-positive people and their advocates worked hard to shift perceptions to a less fearful mode. Over the last two years especially, upbeat media attention on the new therapies has resulted in the frequent misperception that AIDS is no longer a big deal. One result has been an explosion in sexually transmitted diseases, especially herpes and chlamydia, as people – particularly teens – no longer feel constrained in their sexual decisions. Result: The U.S. today has the highest rate of sexually transmitted disease in the developed world. The plain truth is that making unsafe choices, from abandoning abstinence to ignoring condoms, still has major consequences. And the same behaviors which transmit herpes or result in pregnancy also transmit HIV.
– Sandy Bartlett, Information/Education Coordinator
AIDS Services of Austin
ASA Info Line: 458-AIDS
This article appears in April 10 • 1998 and April 10 • 1998 (Cover).