UNIT 4: Taking a Stand for People Living with HIV

Unit Focus

Researching and defending points of view on HIV/AIDS related issues.

Related Wise Bodies Videos

• Welcome to Wise Bodies

• Who has HIV?

• Innovative Treatment

• Progress and Advocacy Objectives

Learners will think critically and analytically about two sides of a given issue and defending their position using facts and evidence.

Key Concepts

• Controversy – A prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view.

• Taboo – A social or religious custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice or forbidding association with a person, place or thing.

Teacher Tip

Some learners may feel very strongly about their position in the debate and might need reminders to remain objective and evidence-based in their arguments.

Discussion Points

“We won’t see an end to the epidemic as long as people living with HIV/AIDS feel unsafe and are forced to live on the fringes of their communities.”

– U.S. Ambassador-At-Large Deborah L. Birx, M.D.

Since the beginning, HIV and AIDS have been controversial subjects. When the AIDS epidemic emerged in the United States in the early 1980s, people at all levels of society were gripped by fear of this unknown and deadly disease. People started losing faith in a government scrambling to come up with a response, homosexuality and drug use became public health issues, and AIDS required clinicians and public health officials to address matters of personal behavior that had been taboo.

Many of these fears persist even today, and many people falsely believe:

• HIV is a result of choices and lifestyles that some people disapprove of (such as homosexuality, sex work, drug use and infidelity.)

• HIV and AIDS always results in or is associated with death.

• HIV is only transmitted through sex, which is considered taboo in some cultures.

• Getting infected by HIV is the result of personal irresponsibility or moral fault (like infidelity) that deserves to be punished.

• Wrong information about HIV transmission creates misconceptions of personal risk and leads to irrational behavior (such as refusing to shake hands with someone living with HIV).

The sexually transmitted nature of HIV means that stopping the epidemic requires more than simply understanding the science behind it. This is why fighting AIDS often extends into larger cultural and societal issues such as universal healthcare, attitudes toward sex and social justice.

• What are some issues, globally or in your life, that are affected by misconceptions, taboos, or cultures you do not agree with?

• What can you do to change public opinions that may be outdated or incorrect? What would your ideal world look like?

Assessment

Learners will be assessed on how well they can provide evidence for their position and how convincing their arguments are as a result.