Why did the sense of urgency with the HIV/AIDS movement dissipate?
With access to healthcare, a person with HIV can expect to live a normal lifespan, says HealthMaker Sean Strub, activist and founder of POZ Magazine. In this video, he explains that this is one reason the urgency with HIV/AIDS has dissipated.
Transcript
Who is getting HIV today is different than it was before. The people acquiring HIV today are much more
likely to be more disenfranchised. They are people who already don't have a voice in the system. [MUSIC PLAYING]
Well, partly the consequences of HIV infection today are profoundly different. Someone acquiring HIV today has every reason
to expect to live a normal lifespan if they have access to health care and treatment. So, you know, people aren't dying as visibly and horribly
all, you know, around others. Who is getting HIV today is different than it was before.
The people acquiring HIV today are much more likely to be more disenfranchised. They are people who already don't have a voice in the system.
I think those are two of the biggest reasons, but it's also, you know, the public and political attention is fickle.
You know, everything is so short term. You know, a lot of the celebrities are gone from the epidemic. It's not a fashionable cause anymore.
And quite frankly, you know, when a lot of the greatest success was made in the early '90s
in expediting treatments, that was driven by the, you know, energy of a lot of middle and upper middle class
well-educated gay white men. And when treatment came out and they were no longer in a survival battle for themselves
and their demographic peers, many of them, you know, went on with their lives. You know, they weren't all necessarily activists
or, you know, engaged in a broader social justice struggle. So that energy went away, and that was the biggest muscle
that the AIDS activism ever had. [AUDIO LOGO]
hiv aids
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