Tuesday, May 5, 2009

A new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported that, less than a year after the CDC revised their HIV statistics to reflect that the U.S. HIV epidemic is much larger than previously reported, the public’s sense of urgency is unexpectedly low. Some of the key findings were:
  • Only six percent of American felt that HIV was the most urgent health problem facing the nation. Only 40% of African Americans and 35% of Latinos see it as a "more urgent" problem now than in 2006.
  • Over one-half (51%) of the public says they would be uncomfortable having their food prepared by someone who is HIV positive.
  • One-third (34%) of Americans incorrectly believe or are unsure whether HIV can be transmitted by one of the following actions: sharing a drinking glass (27%), touching a toilet seat (17%), or swimming in a pool with an HIV positive person (14%).
  • Nearly one in five (18%) do not know there is no cure for AIDS and about one-quarter (27%) believe or are unsure whether former professional basketball player Magic Johnson has been cured of AIDS. Moreover, many misconceptions are more common in the African American community: 37% of African Americans thinks that Magic Johnson has been cured or are unsure; 36% believe that there is a vaccine available to prevent infection and; 30% believe that there are drugs available that can cure HIV and AIDS.

I am speechless. Its hard to believe after of this all of this time that we still have so many people who are so uninformed.