Ryan White And The AIDS Epidemic In The United States

The AIDS epidemic has the entire population of the United States in shock. It was an illness that slowed down the world from the 1980s to the 1990s. Due to the fact that AIDS is transmitted through bodily fluids, there was specifically a majority of IV drug users, gay men, and recipients of blood transfusions who ended up catching the disease. In 1985, Ryan White became a victim to the disease at 13 years old after receiving a blood transfusion as treatment for his hemophilia. As a result, he faced discrimination from children and parents of his community, and even people all over the country who had heard of his case through the news. Simply because the general public had very little knowledge on the topic, Ryan White, as well as many others,

He has become a spokesperson for fair treatment of people with AIDS. Before Ryan White, the stigmatization of AIDS patients was extremely strong throughout the majority of the United States. Society in general had believed that only gay men, drug users, and people of color could contract the disease. However, after Ryan White, people had realized that this was not the case. Finding out everyone was at risk of AIDS made the general public even more fearful, which caused a worse crisis, and these concerns did not leave for a while. In 2006, a survey found that 21% of Americans would be somewhat or very uncomfortable working with someone who has AIDS, and 39% of Americans would be uncomfortable living with someone who has AIDS (AMA Journal of Ethics). People knowing that anybody could contract AIDS, but not how, worried people the most. It was an epidemic that shocked the whole country’s population. Society may not have been as angry at the minorities that fit the stigma now that they were not the only ones diagnosed with it, but the discrimination will never be forgotten. After all of this, society’s worry about their own health becomes

Presidents still include their plans to stop the disease in their State of the Union addresses, and many experts still explain ways to prevent the spread of the disease. However, slowly, all of this work to slow down and eventually stop this disease is paying off. As a result of the government's initiatives, including the antiretrovirals created in 1987, it was reported that 76% of people living with AIDS were accessing treatment and 71% of people with AIDS were suppressed virally and able to live healthier and longer lives by 2022 (World Health Organization). AIDS may not impact as many people today as it did in the 1980s, but it is still impacting some peoples’ lives. Improvements are still needed, but the initiatives that the government has taken so far are definitely recognized by the public. At the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, most people in low and middle income classes could not afford treatment for AIDS. Now, almost everyone can afford the treatment and health care needed to prevent it. The fight against the disease may not be over yet, but the United States has definitely gotten many steps closer to the end of it in the