Course Growth...

This course has really helped me to increase my knowledge about the HIV virus. Not only has this course taught me alot about the virus, it has also taught me alot about life as well. This course has taught me not to be judgemental. Before taking this class, I too was ignorant to many of the facts about HIV. I knew that anyone could contract HIV in certain circumstances, but I'd still kept my own personal stigma on the virus as well. As bad as it may sound, I always felt that most of the individuals who contracted HIV were either homosexual or individuals involved in risky activities: unprotected sex, drug users, needle sharers, etc. I did not realize that the there is a large percentage of individuals who contract the disease from blood transfusions or even at birth.

Each week I enjoy reading the blogs of my fellow classmates. I have learned many interesting facts and statistics that I was not aware of . Each week I look to forward to reading the blogs to learn as much as I can about the virus.

Education is the key. The more we know about the virus, the better off we will be.

Did you know...

In 2008, 74% of all HIV cases where males. Of those 74%, 27% were heterosexual. In 2007 33.2 million people were estimated to be living with HIV, 2.5 million people became newly infected and 2.1 million people died of AIDS (CDC, 2008). The virus is growing and spreading more each year. It is important that we take a stand and speak out.

Support Groups in the Orlando Area

This week I felt it would be very important for me to post some information about some local HIV support groups. I feel as though it is very important that we get the information out in regards to different aid and assistance that is available to individuals who have the HIV virus. In doing some research I found there are many support groups within the Orlando area. I'm not sure if many individuals are aware that these groups are available to the public, but I feel it is my duty to provide the information here in my blog this week.

Some of the support groups that I have found online are: Hope and Help of Central Florida are located in the Winter Park area. Hope and Help work daily to "save lives by eliminating the spread of HIV/AIDS, and to provide support, education and care for individuals living with the disease in the Central Florida community (Hope and Help, 2009). Living and Thriving HIV/AIDS Support Group are located in Orlando area. This group works targets the Gay, Lesbian, Transgendered & Bi-Sexual community. Their goals is to educate the gay community, family and friends on HIV and once they have educated their community, then they can spread the information abroad. Joy MCC HIV/AIDS Ministry is another organization that is working together with other local organizations to get the most accurate and current information about HIV out to the public. All of these groups are located within the Orlando area and have weeking meetings where they discuss different topics about HIV to help individual suffering with the virus have a smoother journey. They teach the individuals how to deal with the pain and suffering most individuals acquire once diagnosed with the virus.

Did you know...

In the Orlando area there are only a few known organizations and support groups that target the African American women community. I believe more African American women need to step up to the plate and get involved in the movement. If we become more involved, we can educate others and ourselves as well and get the statistics down.

Support Group Pages:

Hope and Help of Central Florida, Inc.
Marilyn Carifi1935 Woodcrest Dr.Winter Park, FL 32792Tel:407-645-2577

http://www.hopeandhelp.org/

Living and Thriving: HIV/AIDS Support Group
Front DeskGLBCC - 946 N. Mills Ave.Orlando, FL 32803Tel:407-228-8272

http://www.glbcc.org/

Joy MCC HIV/AiDs Ministry
Patrick Caraher2351 S. FerncreekOrlando, FL 32806
Tel:407-894-1081 Ext 18

http://www.joyhivaidsministry.blogspot.com/

There are many other groups within the Orlando area fight for the cause. We have to stick together if we want to defeat HIV/AIDS.

A V E R T

The organization AVERT (Averting HIV and AIDS) is an international organization based in England that are constantly working to educate, treat and care for HIV/AIDS patients. This orgranization participates in many fundraiser projects; all the money raised goes towards HIV prevention efforts, educational materials and HIV support groups and seminars.

This organization was created by a group of African American individuals who thought it was very important that they got together to educate the African American community on the HIV virus. AVERT works with many Universities to host different projects to raise money and awareness as well.

Did you know...09/16

Did you know that HIV/AIDS is the leading case of death for African American women ages 25-34 years old (CDC,2008.).

African American women account for a large percentage of the total HIV cases due to the lack of being tested.In 2006, Black women accounted for 61% of new HIV cases among women, but make up only 12% of US female population. The rate of HIV diagnoses for African American women is 15 times the rate for Caucasian women (Univ of Cali, 2007).

The numbers are changing daily and unforunately, as of right now they are increasing not decreasing. African American women from all walks of life, different economic backgrounds, religions, social lifestyles and political factors are being infected. The percentage of women with HIV have transmitted in many different ways; infected needles, sexual partners, spouses an blood transfusions.

Something needs to be done to get these numbers down. This is why it is so important for us an individuals to make sure we are taking full responsibilities for our actions.

Reference(s):

Picture: tffcam.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/hiv.jpg

Did you know...

As stated in the previous blog, many topics dealing with HIV interest me. One topic that interests me the most is: HIV in African American women. I think this topic most interests me because I am an African American woman and I believe its very important to know how the virus is affecting women of color.

When researching this topic, I found that recent studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that out of all the women in the U.S. with HIV black women make up 67% of the total (Health Mad, 2006). If the statistics were that high back in 2003, I can only imagine what the statistics are now, with the virus spreading throughout the world the percentage of African American women with HIV or at risk for HIV must be rather high.

HIV has no respect of person. It doesn't matter what race you are, how old you are or even what gender you are. Each and everyone has the chance of being infected if we don't protect ourselves.

Picture: http://www.routledgepolitics.com/common/jackets/weblarge/978078903/9780789031709.jpg

HIV: Topic that interest me..

Before entering the HIV: Human Concern class I did know a little about the HIV virus. There are many topics regarding to HIV that interest me, but the topic that I interesting is the modes of tranmission. I believe this information is interesting, simply because I believe it to be extremely important.

The different modes of transmission are: contact with infected blood, semen or vaginal fluids (Web MD, 2008). Most people who contract the virus get it from having unprotected sex with an individual who is HIV positive, this is one reason I believe it to be very important that all individuals who choose to engage in sexual activities protect themselves and others by getting checked regularly and using protection. Another way to contracting the virus that is quite common is, the sharing of needles with someone with infected blood. (Web MD, 2008). We can't always control what others are doing, which is why it's really important to protect ourselves.I have empathy for all individuals with HIV, but I feel the most empathy for babies who have contracted the virus from their infected mothers. I believe these to be the saddest cases of HIV for the simple fact that the young, innocent and helpless child has become infected.

I feel HIV is a very interesting subject and I look forward to a semester of learning and discussions on this virus.

All About Me...

Hello, my name is Allison. I'm 20 years old and I'm a Junior at the University of Central Florida, majoring in Health Sciences: Pre-clinical Allied. I spend most of my free time playing sports, teaching dance at my church, working and doing A LOT of studying. I took this class because it seems to be a very interesting subject and I feel it's rather important to be well informed on HIV. I believe it's very important for everyone to gather as much information as possible about this virus in order to prevent themselves from contracting the virus and/or spreading the virus. I hope to gain a lot of valuable information that I can carry back to family, friends, co-workers, classmates and church family. I believe the more informed of this virus we are, the more likely we are to defeat it.