Blog #8 - Spring Break

Personally, I had an awesome Spring Break.  I went to Crested Butte, Colorado and went snowboarding for six days.  It was a great time in a quaint little city.  In general, Colorado was a breathtaking state, between the mountains and mounds of snow everywhere.  It is a place that I would definitely like to visit again, for a much longer period of time.  I was thinking about how much I enjoyed my Spring Break and it got me to thinking about some of the stereotypes that go along with Spring Break.  I am from Daytona Beach so I know that it tends to get pretty crazy over the break.  I looked up the top ten states with the highest HIV diagnosed population, and not surprisingly Florida was number three ().  I just hope that all of the people that came to Florida for their vacation were wise enough to take the necessary precautions to avoid contracting this disease.  Between the high prevalence rate in Florida and all the people that brought it with them on vacation I'm sure the disease has an easy time getting around.  I feel like this illustration depicts the importance of HIV education.  If young adults are not aware of HIV and ways to prevent contraction, the disease can get a hold of them very easily, especially on vacation.  It is really to lose touch with reality when you are on vacation leaving all of your responsibilities behind temporarily, but HIV is one thing where you can never let your guard down.  It is very important that that fact is taught to all individuals.  It almost would not be a bad idea to have a quick warning videos on airlines before you get off at a popular tourist hot spot.

References:

Korry Goodheart. (2010). The 10 States with the Highest AIDS/HIV Rate. Retrieved March 16, 2011, from http://www.risingstarstv.net/profiles/blogs/the-10-states-with-the-highest

Did You Know?

This week for my "Did You Know" section I have decided to look at the United Republic of Tanzania.  There are 1,400,000 people living with HIV, of that number 730,000 are women and 160,000 are children (UNAIDS, 2009). There have been 86,000 HIV/AIDS related deaths, and there are 1,300,000 children that have been orphaned by the disease (UNAIDS, 2009).  Overall, there is a 5.6% HIV prevalence rate among adults age 15-49.  There are only 199,400 people that are receiving antiretroviral medication, that is not even 15% of the HIV positive population (UNAIDS, 2009).  These statistics are devastating, but I cannot even began to grasp the depravity of the situation.  I am here in the United States in a cozy little library and all that I see are numbers.  I do not see the millions of people that are HIV positive or have lost loved ones to this disease.  I don't really know how to describe it, I guess I just feel guilty because I have it so good and it sounds so awful for them.  I feel like I am just recording data and not really telling the heart wrenching stories of these individuals.  

I think that these children can tell it better than I can because they are actually experiencing it firsthand.

 

UNAIDS. (2009). United Republic of Tanzania. Retrieved March 16, 2011, from http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/unitedrepublicoftanzania/