7 ms·

2023 UNAIDS global AIDS update

26 points by JacobAldridge 3y ago

Telemakhos 3y ago
This is probably politically incorrect, but there was always a path to end AIDS, just like there was and is a path to end syphilis and gonorrhea. That path is safe sex: get tested, check your partner's test, wear condoms if you're both clean, and abstain from sex if you are infected. Venereal diseases continue to exist because selfish people put lust ahead of science and hygiene. People refuse to change their behavior, and, because (not "so long as") they refuse, there will be no end to venereal disease of any sort. Sure, there are edge cases of transmission by blood transfusion or something else non-sexual, but the vast bulk of cases are from irresponsible sex.
- dotnet00 3y ago
  "If only everyone listened to me, everything would be perfect" is never a realistic solution for anything. Just like how "if only everyone listened to me and stayed locked up in their house for two weeks" was never a realistic solution to Covid.
- tekla 3y ago
  It really didn't help that the Gay community thought that HIV/AIDS was a homophobic hoax and tried very hard to downplay the risks of unprotected sex.
  - lurkerforawhile 3y ago
    If we're placing blame, it also didn't help that the Catholic community advocated against preventative measures throughout the AIDS crisis.
    - jeroenhd 3y ago
      > advocated I'm pretty sure they're still advocating against contraception of any kind, which certainly doesn't help prevent the spread of AIDS and other STDs. The most positive thing they seem to have to say is "it's better than HIV" and even that was a controversial stance within the church.
  - dawnbreez 3y ago
    You realize this is the exact opposite of what happened, right? Governments and churches were very firmly convinced at the start of the AIDS epidemic that it was exclusively a thing that happened to gay people, even though it spreads through any kind of sexual activity. In fact, the LGBT community is largely more careful about STDs than the general public--when it was claimed that monkeypox spread more easily through anal sex (a mirror of earlier bogus claims about AIDS), the LGBT community responded faster than the government did[1]. Turning this around and saying that the gay community "tried to downplay the risks of unprotected sex" is a flat-out lie. The LGBT community has been working harder to share resources about safe sex than most US state governments do, through sites like the Trevor Project. What they have 'downplayed' is the idea that AIDS is more common among gay men because it's more easily transmitted through anal sex. The actual reason that HIV incidence happens more often among gay men is that, up until very recently, getting tested for HIV meant having to tell someone about your sexuality in the 80s and 90s, a time when violence targeting gay men was on the rise[2]. Getting tested could mean getting beaten half to death--or worse--if the wrong person found out, so people avoided getting tested. Would you let someone beat you half to death for 'moral superiority'? (If the answer is 'yes', I suspect you might not understand how severe a beating that is.) Simply put, you are spreading misinformation. I hope this post helps others recognize that misinformation for what it is. [1] https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/29/health/monkeypox-lgbtq-slow-response/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/29/health/monkeypox-lgbtq-slow-r... [2] https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/23/us/violence-against-homosexuals-rising-groups-seeking-wider-protection-say.html https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/23/us/violence-against-homos...
  - mrguyorama 3y ago
    Do you have evidence for this claim because I don't remember Mr Ronald Reagan being gay when he ignored AIDS for years in office.
- kstrauser 3y ago
  It’s not politically incorrect. It’s idiotic. Any “solution” that ignores human behavior ain’t a solution. See also: “If only people would choose good, unique passwords!” Sex is literally why we’re alive. It’s what we’re evolved to do. Creatures without strong sex drives don’t multiply as quickly, or go extinct. We’re the end result of billions of years of being rewarded for getting it on. Anything that requires abstinence or safer sex is magical thinking and will never work.
  - hollerith 3y ago
    Seeing you throw up this stream of flimsy arguments makes me suspect that the current equilibrium in the West (of most people's believing it is futile to have social norms against sexual behavior) is held in place mainly by motivated cognition. In other words, reading your comment made me less sympathetic to your position.
    - kstrauser 3y ago
      It’s futile to expect perfect compliance with social norms, especially when our evolved biological drives are basically: 1. Breathe 2. Eat 3. Procreate with everything else being a fraction as powerful as those.
      - throwawa14223 3y ago
        You're only arguing the punishment for taboo violation isn't harsh enough.
        dotnet00 3y ago
        You're only arguing that all lies would end if all lying was an immediate death sentence.
        dawnbreez 3y ago
        Using punishments and taboos to control these things does not work. You're not incentivizing 'good behavior', you're incentivizing not getting caught--not to mention that, inevitably, the power structure that forms around these taboos starts rewarding people who punish others with the ability to do the taboo themselves.
- hansbo 3y ago
  This is probably politically incorrect, but there was always a path to end crime, just like there was and is a path to end slavery and collective punishment. That path is kindness: get a job, don't feel the urge to commit a crime, avoid prison to be sure you live a good life, and abstain from crime if you are poor. Crime continue to exist because selfish people put selfish needs ahead of sociology and human rights. People refuse to change their behavior, and, because (not "so long as") they refuse, there will be no end to crime of any sort. Sure, there are edge cases of accidental theft or something else non-criminal, but the vast bulk of cases are from irresponsible criminal behavior.
  - Timon3 3y ago
    > That path is kindness: get a job, don't feel the urge to commit a crime, avoid prison to be sure you live a good life, and abstain from crime if you are poor. Crime continue to exist because selfish people put selfish needs ahead of sociology and human rights. People refuse to change their behavior, and, because (not "so long as") they refuse, there will be no end to crime of any sort. Sure, there are edge cases of accidental theft or something else non-criminal, but the vast bulk of cases are from irresponsible criminal behavior. I'd wager the guess that a lot of crime committed by poor people is committed because they are poor. Think of a single mother stealing food for her and her children. They are putting their "selfish needs ahead of sociology and human rights", but I don't think people would call them unethical. You're proposing too simplistic a framework.
    - kstrauser 3y ago
      (Read the above as if it was Tom Swift saying we should eat babies.) Edit: John.
      - Timon3 3y ago
        I'm not sure what you're trying to say. Can you express it more clearly?
        3y ago
- throwawa14223 3y ago
  Exactly this. Expecting people to have a bare minimum of civilized behavior shouldn't be controversial.
- ferbivore 3y ago
  >check your partner's test Has anyone in the history of mankind successfully advanced to third base after such a request?
- MichaelNolan 3y ago
  > Sure, there are edge cases ... but the vast bulk of cases are from irresponsible sex. *Millions* of people contracted HIV as children. Either as infants, or as victims of sexual assault. That's not an "edge case". And tens of millions of people were infected in countries where testing wasn't/isn't available. That's not an "edge case" either. Or the millions who got infected because they didn't have access to accurate information/education about what HIV was or how it spread.
  - foobiekr 3y ago
    Yes, but that has nothing to do with the new cases for the last 10 years. Sexual assault isn't where the cases are coming from.
    - MichaelNolan 3y ago
      That last 10 years has still seen millions of babies getting hiv through vertical infections. 2022, the best year on record, still had 120,000 children/babies infected.
mistrial9 3y ago
San Francisco, California was one of several Western urban epicenters of the large scale spread of AIDS starting around 1981
- slater 3y ago
  And...?
kstrauser 3y ago
This is so unreal to me. In the 80’s AIDS was an enormous specter that guaranteed death. Now there are long term maintenance drugs that can be had for like $20/mo. Not that anyone wants to have to take pills for the rest of their life, but now they can be annoyed by it until old age. I love science.

26 points by JacobAldridge 3y ago

This is probably politically incorrect, but there was always a path to end AIDS, just like there was and is a path to end syphilis and gonorrhea. That path is safe sex: get tested, check your partner's test, wear condoms if you're both clean, and abstain from sex if you are infected. Venereal diseases continue to exist because selfish people put lust ahead of science and hygiene. People refuse to change their behavior, and, because (not "so long as") they refuse, there will be no end to venereal disease of any sort. Sure, there are edge cases of transmission by blood transfusion or something else non-sexual, but the vast bulk of cases are from irresponsible sex.

dotnet00 3y ago
"If only everyone listened to me, everything would be perfect" is never a realistic solution for anything. Just like how "if only everyone listened to me and stayed locked up in their house for two weeks" was never a realistic solution to Covid.
tekla 3y ago
It really didn't help that the Gay community thought that HIV/AIDS was a homophobic hoax and tried very hard to downplay the risks of unprotected sex.
- lurkerforawhile 3y ago
  If we're placing blame, it also didn't help that the Catholic community advocated against preventative measures throughout the AIDS crisis.
  - jeroenhd 3y ago
    > advocated I'm pretty sure they're still advocating against contraception of any kind, which certainly doesn't help prevent the spread of AIDS and other STDs. The most positive thing they seem to have to say is "it's better than HIV" and even that was a controversial stance within the church.
- dawnbreez 3y ago
  You realize this is the exact opposite of what happened, right? Governments and churches were very firmly convinced at the start of the AIDS epidemic that it was exclusively a thing that happened to gay people, even though it spreads through any kind of sexual activity. In fact, the LGBT community is largely more careful about STDs than the general public--when it was claimed that monkeypox spread more easily through anal sex (a mirror of earlier bogus claims about AIDS), the LGBT community responded faster than the government did[1]. Turning this around and saying that the gay community "tried to downplay the risks of unprotected sex" is a flat-out lie. The LGBT community has been working harder to share resources about safe sex than most US state governments do, through sites like the Trevor Project. What they have 'downplayed' is the idea that AIDS is more common among gay men because it's more easily transmitted through anal sex. The actual reason that HIV incidence happens more often among gay men is that, up until very recently, getting tested for HIV meant having to tell someone about your sexuality in the 80s and 90s, a time when violence targeting gay men was on the rise[2]. Getting tested could mean getting beaten half to death--or worse--if the wrong person found out, so people avoided getting tested. Would you let someone beat you half to death for 'moral superiority'? (If the answer is 'yes', I suspect you might not understand how severe a beating that is.) Simply put, you are spreading misinformation. I hope this post helps others recognize that misinformation for what it is. [1] https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/29/health/monkeypox-lgbtq-slow-response/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/29/health/monkeypox-lgbtq-slow-r... [2] https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/23/us/violence-against-homosexuals-rising-groups-seeking-wider-protection-say.html https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/23/us/violence-against-homos...
- mrguyorama 3y ago
  Do you have evidence for this claim because I don't remember Mr Ronald Reagan being gay when he ignored AIDS for years in office.
kstrauser 3y ago
It’s not politically incorrect. It’s idiotic. Any “solution” that ignores human behavior ain’t a solution. See also: “If only people would choose good, unique passwords!” Sex is literally why we’re alive. It’s what we’re evolved to do. Creatures without strong sex drives don’t multiply as quickly, or go extinct. We’re the end result of billions of years of being rewarded for getting it on. Anything that requires abstinence or safer sex is magical thinking and will never work.
- hollerith 3y ago
  Seeing you throw up this stream of flimsy arguments makes me suspect that the current equilibrium in the West (of most people's believing it is futile to have social norms against sexual behavior) is held in place mainly by motivated cognition. In other words, reading your comment made me less sympathetic to your position.
  - kstrauser 3y ago
    It’s futile to expect perfect compliance with social norms, especially when our evolved biological drives are basically: 1. Breathe 2. Eat 3. Procreate with everything else being a fraction as powerful as those.
    - throwawa14223 3y ago
      You're only arguing the punishment for taboo violation isn't harsh enough.
      - dotnet00 3y ago
        You're only arguing that all lies would end if all lying was an immediate death sentence.
      - dawnbreez 3y ago
        Using punishments and taboos to control these things does not work. You're not incentivizing 'good behavior', you're incentivizing not getting caught--not to mention that, inevitably, the power structure that forms around these taboos starts rewarding people who punish others with the ability to do the taboo themselves.
hansbo 3y ago
This is probably politically incorrect, but there was always a path to end crime, just like there was and is a path to end slavery and collective punishment. That path is kindness: get a job, don't feel the urge to commit a crime, avoid prison to be sure you live a good life, and abstain from crime if you are poor. Crime continue to exist because selfish people put selfish needs ahead of sociology and human rights. People refuse to change their behavior, and, because (not "so long as") they refuse, there will be no end to crime of any sort. Sure, there are edge cases of accidental theft or something else non-criminal, but the vast bulk of cases are from irresponsible criminal behavior.
- Timon3 3y ago
  > That path is kindness: get a job, don't feel the urge to commit a crime, avoid prison to be sure you live a good life, and abstain from crime if you are poor. Crime continue to exist because selfish people put selfish needs ahead of sociology and human rights. People refuse to change their behavior, and, because (not "so long as") they refuse, there will be no end to crime of any sort. Sure, there are edge cases of accidental theft or something else non-criminal, but the vast bulk of cases are from irresponsible criminal behavior. I'd wager the guess that a lot of crime committed by poor people is committed because they are poor. Think of a single mother stealing food for her and her children. They are putting their "selfish needs ahead of sociology and human rights", but I don't think people would call them unethical. You're proposing too simplistic a framework.
  - kstrauser 3y ago
    (Read the above as if it was Tom Swift saying we should eat babies.) Edit: John.
    - Timon3 3y ago
      I'm not sure what you're trying to say. Can you express it more clearly?
      - 3y ago
throwawa14223 3y ago
Exactly this. Expecting people to have a bare minimum of civilized behavior shouldn't be controversial.
ferbivore 3y ago
>check your partner's test Has anyone in the history of mankind successfully advanced to third base after such a request?
MichaelNolan 3y ago
> Sure, there are edge cases ... but the vast bulk of cases are from irresponsible sex. *Millions* of people contracted HIV as children. Either as infants, or as victims of sexual assault. That's not an "edge case". And tens of millions of people were infected in countries where testing wasn't/isn't available. That's not an "edge case" either. Or the millions who got infected because they didn't have access to accurate information/education about what HIV was or how it spread.
- foobiekr 3y ago
  Yes, but that has nothing to do with the new cases for the last 10 years. Sexual assault isn't where the cases are coming from.
  - MichaelNolan 3y ago
    That last 10 years has still seen millions of babies getting hiv through vertical infections. 2022, the best year on record, still had 120,000 children/babies infected.

mistrial9 3y ago

San Francisco, California was one of several Western urban epicenters of the large scale spread of AIDS starting around 1981

slater 3y ago
And...?

kstrauser 3y ago

This is so unreal to me. In the 80’s AIDS was an enormous specter that guaranteed death. Now there are long term maintenance drugs that can be had for like $20/mo. Not that anyone wants to have to take pills for the rest of their life, but now they can be annoyed by it until old age. I love science.