Wednesday, October 8, 2008


HIV has spread throughout China…..
Is this a common mistake made by those who took on the responsibility to help others by donating blood. Who is to blame for using unsanitized tools, when the intent was simply to help others versus harm.

"In general the blood buying schemes were geared toward collecting plasma, a component of blood used in making medicines. The collectors would remove about a pint of blood from each donor, pool it with others and later spin it in a centrifuge to separate out the desired element. The leftover, mostly red blood cells, would be divided up and reinfused into the donors -- preventing anemia, but also spreading AIDS."

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9804E0D6163FF932A25751C1A9679C8B63

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/hivinf.htm


“Infection with the AIDS virus in China is spreading beyond the country’s original high-risk groups…..”

They are claiming these actions are coming from homosexuality and prostitute women. I feel as though this comment was a little unnecessary. I don’t think there should be a specific target without a given statistic. I think that what this really comes down to is using protection and being safe. It doesn’t matter what type of orientation you may be. This infection could easily be spread by drugs as well.
It is believed that in the 1980’s, this infection was spread by use of drugs. There should be a better education when it comes to protection and being smart with protection.

I found a section about this topic from another one of my classes that I found interesting. This directly relates to this topic and how this has been going on for so long. There has to be something to help or prevent this from continuing....
Found on Page 24 and 25
Class: Human Sexuality
Book written by: Sandra L. Caron, Ph.D.
-HIV/AIDS was first reported in China in 1985.
-China, with a fifth of the world’s population, reported approximately 650,000 people were living with HIV in 2005. Injecting drug users account for almost half (44%) of people living with HIV. Almost on-half of China’s injecting drug users share needles and syringes, and one in ten also engage in high-risk sexual behavior.
-The percentage of female prostitutes who do not use condoms decreased from 67% in 1999, 49% in 2000 to 37% in 2001.
-Reported STIs rose from 430,000 cases in 1997 to 860,000 cases in 2000, suggesting that unprotected sex with non-monogamous partners is growing in China.

Sex Around the World, Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Human Sexuality., Ph.D. Caron, Sandra L., third edition., (page 24-25)

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