HIV Support Group
HIV (also known as human immunodeficiency virus, and formerly known as HTLV-III and lymphadenopathy-associated virus) is a retrovirus that primarily infects vital components of the human immune system which can lead the syndrome known as AIDS. Many of the problems faced by people infected with HIV result from failure of the immune system to protect from opportunistic...
By Patrick Worsnip Reuters - 26 minutes agoUNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - One in three adults in the world's top industrial democracies say they know little or nothing about AIDS, a disease thought to have killed more than 28 million people in the past 26 years, a poll showed on Thursday.
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But the survey, carried out by Ipsos for the World Vision charity, found that in the seven countries studied, 44 percent of respondents would be willing to pay more taxes to combat AIDS, including 50 percent in the United States.
More than 3,500 people in the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan -- the Group of Eight countries minus Russia -- were interviewed for the survey, released ahead of U.N. World AIDS Day on Saturday.
Richard Stearns, president of World Vision U.S., a Christian group that says it combats poverty and injustice worldwide, told a United Nations news conference that millions were ignorant of AIDS because it was "not real" for them.
"It's not personal, it is somebody else's problem and somebody else's disease, and very often in a place very, very far away and remote from their everyday lives," he said.
AIDS, which attacks the immune system and can be spread by sexual contact or blood transfusion, was first detected in the United States in 1981. World Vision says some 6,000 children a day currently lose a parent to AIDS.
The Ipsos poll found that in the countries surveyed, Canadians were the most concerned about AIDS and Japanese the least. Japan was also the country where the most people -- 53 percent -- admitted to little or no knowledge of the disease.
Germans said they were the most knowledgeable, with 80 percent claiming to know "some" or "a lot" about the issue. The comparable figure for the United States was 70 percent.
In the countries taken together, one in four people thought the AIDS problem had been "greatly exaggerated" by the media, the survey said.
Nevertheless, Stearns said he believed the citizens of the countries polled were "ahead of their governments" in their view of how much should be done to fight AIDS.
"I think that goes contrary to the view in Washington," he said. "I don't think Washington realizes that that many Americans care about AIDS at that level.
"So in a way it gives them the political cover to do more because ... when you have 50 percent of the country saying 'you could raise my taxes if you could use that money to do more for HIV and AIDS,' that's a message that our politicians I think are not aware of," he said.
The United Nations says some 33 million people worldwide are infected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, including those who have developed the illness.
(Editing by Eric Beech)
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But the survey, carried out by Ipsos for the World Vision charity, found that in the seven countries studied, 44 percent of respondents would be willing to pay more taxes to combat AIDS, including 50 percent in the United States.
More than 3,500 people in the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan -- the Group of Eight countries minus Russia -- were interviewed for the survey, released ahead of U.N. World AIDS Day on Saturday.
Richard Stearns, president of World Vision U.S., a Christian group that says it combats poverty and injustice worldwide, told a United Nations news conference that millions were ignorant of AIDS because it was "not real" for them.
"It's not personal, it is somebody else's problem and somebody else's disease, and very often in a place very, very far away and remote from their everyday lives," he said.
AIDS, which attacks the immune system and can be spread by sexual contact or blood transfusion, was first detected in the United States in 1981. World Vision says some 6,000 children a day currently lose a parent to AIDS.
The Ipsos poll found that in the countries surveyed, Canadians were the most concerned about AIDS and Japanese the least. Japan was also the country where the most people -- 53 percent -- admitted to little or no knowledge of the disease.
Germans said they were the most knowledgeable, with 80 percent claiming to know "some" or "a lot" about the issue. The comparable figure for the United States was 70 percent.
In the countries taken together, one in four people thought the AIDS problem had been "greatly exaggerated" by the media, the survey said.
Nevertheless, Stearns said he believed the citizens of the countries polled were "ahead of their governments" in their view of how much should be done to fight AIDS.
"I think that goes contrary to the view in Washington," he said. "I don't think Washington realizes that that many Americans care about AIDS at that level.
"So in a way it gives them the political cover to do more because ... when you have 50 percent of the country saying 'you could raise my taxes if you could use that money to do more for HIV and AIDS,' that's a message that our politicians I think are not aware of," he said.
The United Nations says some 33 million people worldwide are infected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, including those who have developed the illness.
(Editing by Eric Beech)
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I have been here before, a long long time ago and now I am back.Forgive me for not just saying what I want to say,even under a triple dose of antidepressants it is still raw and seeping and I am hesitant at revealing it as at least under the bandages around my heart I don,t have to look at how raw and wounded.My child was cleaved from my heart by his own actions. my child of ten,turning eleven...
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theatre and I are there already. I'm having a very berry tea with crackers, cheese and cherry tomatoes and she's having a joint with some beer and we're both on really comfy recliners on thick pile carpet. we need some help with the decor if anyone is around??
given what the mainstream media is saying on every other issue, i take with a grain of salt any report like this, especially one that says people in the usa consider themselves educated about hiv, i dont even feel like HIV PEOPLE in the usa, PHILADELPHIA OHIO CALIFORNIA, are very educated about hiv, half of them,MORE than half of them cant even pronounce the names of their meds, dont know how they work, cant tell you how the virus supposedly operates, know little to nothing about the hiv history, or any of the prevailing alternative viewpoints.
they can recite line and verse from these pharmaceutical productions we call, aids information magazines tho, and they sure know how they FEEL about aids issues, but in overall education levels, i find that until they get ill, and again after they feel better, they have little to no interest in aids themselves.
a scathing indictment sure, but you must take into consideration the 25 years ive watched this demon destroy, with little to no involvement on the part of the very people it most affects.
i understand it is difficult to get involved, so, by involved i mean educated, and educated is asking alot, since its a very complicated study.
id like to see more of us doing more studying on the issues.
thank you for the post, it's an interesting angle, who knows what, where, and how well do they rate themselves in terms of overall knowledge, very interesting. ill ask my group memebers here locally this same question this week, thaks for the topic.
-taoe