The following, for example, appeared in the December 1, 1999, Washington Post: "The number of new [AIDS] cases among women, minorities, teenagers, and the elderly continues to rise." Wrong on all counts: from 1997 to 1998, teen cases fell from 401 to 297, female cases from 13,105 to 10,998, nonwhite cases from 40,027 to 31,826, and cases among those sixty-five and older from 881 to 844.This is but one of thousands of examples over the years.
Answer:
Because statistics are virtually worthless. You can find a statistic to suit every need. 75% of women die of heart disease. 60% of people die from smoking. One out of three women die from breast cancer. Lung cancer kills more Americans than anything else. AIDS is on the rise. I mean- if all of these figures are true, then everyone is dying of everything all at once! In the case of AIDS specifically, I believe that the medication and research industries are heavily funded by philanthropic donations. AIDS is almost a mass-marketed tool right now to fuel all sorts of industries. Just think of the recent GAP "Red" project. Think of how many people went in for their red slogan tee, and came out with a pair of jeans too. Lots of celebrities have chosen AIDS as their "cause" too, which is yet another reason that the media has begun following the disease even more.
well world wide the cases have definatly gone up. and in the us, how do you know ur info is correct?
I could not put it better than Mink above. I won't even try.
the definition of aids has changed... if your t-cell count has gone below 200 or if you have had an AIDS related illness. you are now diagnosed with AIDS. the CDC records this and counts you as a statistic.
two years ago i was redefined with AIDS. now my t-cells are six hundred. and my viral load is undetectable. in short i am healthier than most people with HIV. but technically i have AIDS.
and so do many very healthy people with this disease.
since the CDC has changed the definition of aids they are able to count more people as being AIDS defined and this is why the numbers have gone up.
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