Is AIDS God's Curse on Homosexuals?
Answer: No. Most cases have occurred among children and heterosexual adults.
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a fatal disease. With treatment, the average amount of time a person in the United States lives with AIDS is ten years; without treatment, the average is two years. The annual cost of drugs for treating a patient with AIDS is approximately $10,000 to $15,000 per year.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, has infected approximately 40 million people worldwide. (See table below for a detailed breakdown.) Most cases (approximately 70%) occur in sub-Saharan Africa. The three ways that the virus is primarily transmitted are: having unprotected sex with an infected individual, sharing a needle (shooting drugs) with an infected person, and being born from, or drinking the breast milk of, an infected woman.
GLOBAL SUMMARY OF THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC 1
DECEMBER 2004
Number of people living with HIV/AIDS in 2004 Total 39.4 million (35.9 - 44.3 million)
Adults 37.2 million (33.8 - 41.7 million)
Women 17.6 million (16.3 - 19.5 million)
Children under 15 years 2.2 million (2.0 - 2.6 million)
People newly infected with HIV in 2004 Total 4.9 million (4.3 - 6.4 million)
Adults 4.3 million (3.7 - 5.7 million)
Children under 15 years 640 000 (570,000 - 750,000)
AIDS deaths in 2004 Total 3.1 million (2.8 - 3.5 million)
Adults 2.6 million (2.3 - 2.9 million)
Children under 15 years 510,000 (460,000 - 600,000)
Although HIV first entered the United States through infected gay men, most cases worldwide have occurred among heterosexuals. Nevertheless, people with AIDS are often treated as lepers were in ancient times.2 They are ostracized by their own families and shunned as sinners by the religious community. Although AIDS is a completely preventable disease, an estimated 5 million people were infected with HIV in 2004, the most ever for a single year. Despite the immense suffering caused by the disease, government and religious organizations often object to educating young people on how the virus is transmitted and oppose programs that would reduce overall rates of infection.
References
1 Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and World Health Organization (WHO), 2004
2 Lev 13:44-46 |
