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SOCIAL ISSUE BEHIND HIV AND AIDS
As a result of the massive HIV and AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, people in today's world still are fearful of this virus. Their fear led people to believe the negative things they heard about the virus, such as inaccurate information about transmission, people with HIV are being rightfully punished, among many others. [IS1]
Because of this stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS, it was found that "one in five people living with HIV avoided going to a clinic or hospital because they feared stigma or discrimination related to their HIV status." [IS2]
“When people living with, or at risk of, HIV are discriminated against in health-care settings, they
go underground. This seriously undermines our ability to reach people with HIV testing, treatment, and prevention services... Stigma and discrimination is an affront to human rights and puts the lives of people living with HIV and key populations in danger.” [IS3]
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LEGAL ISSUES BEHIND HIV AND AIDS
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The United States alone has annually spent $6.6 billion on global efforts for HIV and AIDS [IS4]. Many low-income countries depend on funding from high-income countries in order to get HIV and AIDS resources. Sub-Saharan Africa has the biggest HIV positive population totaling 24.4 million in 2015 and is also the most dependant on funding from other countries. [IS5]
“Reliance on development assistance to fight HIV/AIDS in high-prevalence countries leaves them susceptible to fluctuations in the external resources available for HIV/AIDS... Nations’ HIV/AIDS programs are at risk for gaps in support and unrealized investment opportunities.” [IS6]
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In the United States, HIV/AIDS is a "disability" under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) [IS7]. This law means that HIV positive people cannot be fired because of their status. Despite this law in action, people with HIV still face discrimination whether it be:
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Indirect
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Harassment
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Victimization
Sometimes even people who don't have HIV are faced with discrimination simply because of their association with an HIV positive person. Much of this discrimination stems from the stigma surrounding the virus and people not being empathetic towards those with it. [IS8]
"HIV does not make people
dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands and give them a hug: Heaven knows they need it." [IS9]
ETHICAL ISSUE BEHIND HIV AND AIDS
Assisted suicide has been a topic of heavy debate for decades. Assisted suicide (also known as physician-assisted suicide) is "intentionally helping a person commit suicide by providing drugs for self-administration." Many times those who have progressed to the HIV stage of AIDS begin to have feelings of depression and suicide. [I10]
FOR
"In the end, I was left to reflect on what I would want in the face of my own death. I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn't deny that right to others." [I11]
"It seems to me that, as with opposition based on whether the physician is 'active,' the argument that physicians should be only 'healers' focuses too much on the physician, and not enough on the patient. When healing is no longer possible, when death is imminent and patients find their suffering unbearable, then the physician's role should shift from healing to relieving suffering in accord with the patient's wishes." [I11]
"The right to die should be a matter of personal choice. We are able to choose all kinds of things in life from who we marry to what kind of work we do and I think when one comes to the end of one's life, whether you have a terminal illness or whether you're elderly, you should have a choice about what happens to you... I wouldn't want to be unnecessarily kept alive against my own will." [I11]
AGAINST
"...physician-assisted suicide is never justifiable. It is never justifiable because it always violates the injunction not to kill. It is never justifiable because it unjustly patronizes the desires of the few who request physician-assisted suicide over the needs of the much larger number larger number… Physician-assisted suicide contradicts the physician’s professional role and undermines the distinctive solidarity with those whose health is diminished that makes the practice of medicine possible." [I12]
''Those of us who know what it is to live with a terminal condition are fearful the tide has already turned against us... If I should ever seek death – and there have been times when my progressive condition challenges me – I want to guarantee that you are with me, supporting my continued life and its value. The last thing I want is for you to give up on me, especially when I need you most. [Assisted dying] 'is to abandon hope and ignore the majority of disabled and terminally ill.'' [I13]
"It’s no secret that America’s health care system is profit-oriented, and introducing the low-cost alternative of assisted suicide could have devastating effects. Proponents uphold Oregon’s assisted suicide law as a model to be followed, but they ignore evidence from cancer patients such as Barbara Wagner who had her request for chemotherapy medication denied. Although Oregon Health Plan was unwilling to approve the $4,000-a-month drug, they offered to cover the one-time $100 expense for life-ending medication. Unfortunately, she is not the exception...." [I14]
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