Monday, November 16, 2009

Blog #11

This week in our Question of the Week we learned that Florida is the number one ranked state for heterosexual transmission of HIV. I wondered why this is. I thought of a few explanations - 1. Maybe because Florida is a melting pot and so many people live here. 2. Maybe people who have HIV move to Florida to live the rest of their lives in a nice place. 3. Lots of people come here on vacation and they might be dishonest and engage in high-risk sex.
Those are a few of the reasons I thought of, but really I thought that somewhere like California or New York would be the highest. I would never have guessed Florida. Photobucket

Did You Know:
"Today, about one in four Americans living with HIV are women." (WomensHealth.gov, 2009.) This did not really surprise me. I actually expected a higher percentage. Now I know that there are many more men with HIV than women.

Womenshealth.gov. (2009, March 4). Women & HIV/AIDS. Retrieved November 13, 2009, from http://www.womenshealth.gov/hiv/
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3 comments:

  1. JennaNovember 19, 2009 at 8:56 AM

    Holly,
    I was shocked with that information too. I was first shocked that Florida was the highest at risk, but I think what shocked me the MOST was that Florida is at highest risk for HETEROSEXUAL transmission. It also makes you think which men are going out and having gay sexual relations and then bringing back HIV to their wives. It is truly sad. Great research.

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  2. Christine HongNovember 20, 2009 at 4:59 PM

    That's an interesting hypothesis, the one about vacation... I wonder if there is a link. You know another statistic that was brought up by the Men's panel and really striking to me was the how prevalent it was for our age group. Young people. I wonder if people remember that? How many people still associate with gay white men? Florida is probably one of the places that needs the HIV education the most...

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  3. MeganNovember 20, 2009 at 8:56 PM

    That is very interesting and I would have never guessed Florida either but you made a good point when you said this state is a melting pot because thatis what it is indeed. There are so many people in this state from all over the country and the world. With that said, I think it is very imporant to have good education, protection, and prevention programs for our youth so that they cangrow up healthy and happy without the misfortune of a disease like HIV/AIDS. At the Men's Infected Panel, one of the men mentioned that there is only 1 county in the entire state of Florida that teaches children in schools how to properly put a condom on a 'banana', that is not only shocking but disgraceful. Florida NEEDS to do better!

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