Civil Rights & Constitution
Abstinence and Ignorance: Dismissing Science in the Fight Against AIDS
by Joanne Csete
It seems to be a little known fact that HIV/AIDS is little understood, even in places where it has claimed many lives. In most countries, large percentages of people still believe that HIV is transmitted by casual contact: sharing utensils, shaking hands, or sitting in the same classroom with an HIV-positive person. This lack of awareness, which reflects underfunded or misinformed government educational campaigns on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, leaves people vulnerable to the virus and fuels the discrimination, stigma, and exclusion faced by people with AIDS.