The Social Phenomenon of the AIDS Epidemic

The AIDS epidemic that began in the United States in the 1980s prompted the development and implementation of education as the principle means for public health officials to prevent the spread of the disease. Because there is currently no cure for AIDS, prevention became the most salient means for eradicating the disease. Education campaigns included not only a greater push toward abstinence, but also the use of condoms for those wishing to have sex. Overall, these education campaigns seem to have worked as the Center for HIV Information (2006) notes that the number of new cases of HIV infection have dropped drastically since 1993. When the epidemic peaked in 1993, more than 23,000 new cases were being reported each year. Today, less than 12,000 new cases are reported annually. Clearly, the public education campaigns that were launched to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS were notably effective. As education and information about the virus was disseminated through the popular media, individuals all over the country were able to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves from the spread of AIDS.

While public health officials have been able to effectively reduce the number of AIDS cases in the US, current data on the prevalence of non-HIV sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) suggests that these infections are on the rise. Specifically, the Centers for Disease Control (2005) note the following with respect to non-HIV STDs:

- In 2004, 929,462 cases of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection were reported to the CDC. This case count corresponds to a rate of 319.6 cases per 100,000 population, an increase of 5.9% compared with the rate in 2003 (p. 1).

- In 2004, 330,132 cases of gonorrhea were reported in the United States. This corresponds to 313 cases per 100,000 population. (p. 2).

- In 2004, P&S syphilis cases reported to CDC increased to 7,980 from 7,177 in 2003 and increased of 11.2% (p. 3).