The AID’s virus went from being a fringe disease among blacks and homosexuals to being a worldwide pandemic. More than twenty five years after its discovery more people than ever before are infected though the rate of infection has gone down. It once dominated news items and intellectual forums. The greatest evidence of this is the celebrity band wagon. An issue is never truly necessary until they are either holding a charity concert for it or making a movie about it. Now it is no longer at the back of the mind. This has led to an increase in unprotected sex.
There has been a societal wide shift in both thinking and attitudes toward the disease. There is the Idea that with the introduction of and availability of active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) it is seen to just being a chronic disease. This treatment optimism is the main culprit but not the only one. This is thought to be connected to desire to treatment optimism. This is both positive and negative. In South Africa, a study found the reception of HAART (93%) was connected with treatment optimism.( Sullivan, 2007)
There has also been a shift in sexual behavior. Anal sex used to be a largely homosexual affair. Today it is common among heterosexuals. Combine with the increase of homosexuality from a fringe underground phenomenon to going mainstream. Combine this with beliefs in less vulnerability to transmit the disease among married partners is also a contributing factor. The final reason is that AID’s is not as scary as it used to be what is scary now is cancer.
References:
Sullivan, P., Drake, A., & Sanchez, T. (2007). Prevalence of treatment optimism-related risk behavior and associated factors among men who have sex with men in 11 states, 2000- 2001. AIDS & Behavior
