Funding for HIV/AIDS, is this smart of stupid?

Question

First off, providing medical supplies to African citizens suffering from HIV/AIDS, is this a smart of stupid thing to do. Basically, giving treatments to HIV/AIDS sufferer prolongs there life. Common sense. right? I'm sure many can agree with this. Knowing there is no cure. However, the HIV/AIDS sufferer most indefinitely, due to the medical treatments, was able to live longer and spread his/her disease to x amount of people before dying. Where as if he/she did not have the medical treatment he/she would have died a x amount of years before, nulling out the spread of infection the x amount of people. This theoretical situation could occur on multiple levels involving millions of people and I think it does. So with treatments but not cures people are able to live longer and are able to spread more of the disease opposed to not living and not spreading the disease. As much as I care about the infected, I care about the non-infected too, maybe a little more. So what do we do?

Answer 1

Yes, you do have a valid point. Providing help seems like the merciful and loving thing to do, but it does not solve the problem. I think a better route would be to fund HIV research and preventative education. The people who have it already have it. It would be more sensible to attempt slowing its spread and search for a cure (though it will likely not be found in the near-future).

Answer 2

I can see your side of things, but many of those people that have the disease didn't get it by choice, by doing something stupid, there were children that were born with it. Do they deserve to suffer? It's a question of kindness and whether people are going to stand by and do nothing while people suffer just so that they can die off and don't live longer to infect the population. Know this, once you get AIDS, you don't die right away, you live and you suffer and you have plenty of time to spread the disease to other people. By providing funding, you're just giving them a new lease on life, you're giving them a second chance. If the non infected are going to be stupid and have unprotected sex and then catch HIV, then that is their decision, they brought it upon themselves. As for treating the people that are already infected, I think that we should go ahead and do so because by making them live longer doesn't mean that more people are going to get infected. The only way that the unifected people will get infected is from their stupid choices, not the HIV+ people's.

Answer 3

Leave it up to the individual to decide whether they want to take their medication or not. There's nothing ethical about playing God either way, whether you force them to take medication or deny them of it. If the disease has progressed so far that they're in terrible agony all the time, they should be the only ones to decide what they want.

HIV/AIDS does not kill people directly, so withholding medication from an infected individual will not keep them from passing it onto someone else. It's a sad fact, but some people knowingly infect others. You have to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Otherwise we may as well just imprison everyone, because everyone has the potential to be a murderer.

Answer 4

If I were to fund for HIV/AIDS, I would make sure it is to an organization that also teaches the people of their situations and help them understand what they can do to other people. Many times, they are just given something and sent on their way.
I would also fund a group that goes and teaches the communities of this. There are many that do not understand the concept of HIV/AIDS. There would be much more help with the understanding of this than just money.
I have gone on missions trips and we brought along information for the people and taught them much about it. They all thanked us greatly and we prayed with them that they would use the information and tell others in the community. Hope this is of some help to you.

Answer 5

i really think money should fun research on finding a cure, we are helping africa out with it but do u really think it will stop the spread? NO, it will be spread no matter what. Some groups in africa thing if they have sex with a baby, they will had it removed from there bodies and transfer to the baby, all they are doing is killing innocent kids and they still got the disease!

Answer 6

If 10% of the average $907 that Americans spent on Christmas gifts went to children in need, 42 million children could be helped for an entire year according to statistics provided to me during an interview with World Vision.

This year, I conducted an experiment, and asked for donations to World Vision and Heifer.org instead of Christmas gifts. Many folks simply chose to give me gifts anyway, but many did make donations instead, resulting in $137 going to these charities.

I also have a website where I sell art to support these two Christian organizations. The next time you need art for your walls, please consider my website. My personal favorite of my own work is Sunset over Florence12. Recently my aunt (an amateur photographer) and a friend have donated some of their work for this charitable cause, as well. If you know artists who might wish to join this charity model, please send them my way.

There is a set of 6 world maps on my art for charity website that represents the state of our world in terms of poverty, hunger, HIV, education availability of electricity and longevity. You can get a full sized copy for your office or child from my website.

http://finerworks.com/gallery.asp?U_ID=RLTabor

Love,
Rick

Answer 7

That is the stupidest thing ive ever heard of! If you had a disease that you could give to ppl should we not give you any meds? Should we just let you die?? ...The meds help these ppl have a comfortable life. They already live in a hell hole... If we should do anything different for these ppl its give them condoms. We should bring like a million trojans to them and educate them bout STDs and safe sex.

Answer 8

i dont know where to start. i have a goal in life. I WANT TO DISCOVER A CURE FOR AIDS. and i understand the frustration we continue to have on this.

with treatment MUST come education too!

Answer 9

That's the question of humanity. You cant just let people die when you can do maybe a tiny thing about it, right?

Answer 10

This is what happens when we insist on teahing children about sex.
I dont think I should have to fund treatment for these people.