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Considerable amounts of public funds have been spent over the years in an attempt to teach homosexual men how to pleasure themselves digitally, orally or genitally while in contact with human feces and blood......in a “safe” manner.
This preposterous concept, laughable to any sane person, would be amusing were not its consequences so tragic for everyone involved.
Those in the gay community who created and perpetuated this myth - that one can regularly expose one’s immune system to the blood and feces of another and be “safe” - apparently still don’t get it. Here, for example, is an update on the success of sex education in the US from yesterday’s Washington Post on Line :
”washingtonpost.com
As Syphilis Cases Rise, So Do AIDS Fears
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 21, 2003; Page A20
The number of Americans infected with syphilis increased for the second year in a row last year, continuing a reversal of a decade-long decline in the sexually transmitted infection, federal health officials reported yesterday.
The rising number of syphilis cases is raising alarms that it may be a harbinger of an increase in the spread of the AIDS virus because syphilis is transmitted the same way and appears to be occurring primarily among gay and bisexual men, officials said.
"We are extremely concerned about that possibility," said Ronald O. Valdiserri, deputy director of the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which released the new numbers.
Valdiserri and other experts said the increase may be a sign of growing complacency about human immunodeficiency virus among gay and bisexual men because of the introduction of potent drug treatments, which have caused a decline in the death rate from AIDS and a backlash against decades of safe-sex campaigns.
"We're dealing with issues of prevention burnout and skepticism," Valdiserri told reporters at a briefing.
Syphilis is caused by a bacterium that is spread primarily through sexual contact. Although it can cause serious health problems if untreated, a single shot of penicillin can cure the infection.
But the number of syphilis cases began to rise again in 2001 for the first time in a decade, triggering alarm among public health experts. People infected with syphilis are more susceptible to HIV infection, more likely to develop AIDS and more likely to spread the virus to others.
"The concern for us is that this syphilis outbreak will be heralding an increase in HIV infections," said Susan Blank of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
From 2001 to 2002, the national syphilis rate increased from 2.2 cases per 100,000 people to 2.4 per 100,000, a rise of 9.1 percent. The total number of cases increased from 6,103 to 6,862, a 12.4 percent jump.
Syphilis cases among men increased from 4,134 to 5,267, up 27.4 percent. In contrast, there was a 19 percent decline among women. The CDC does not collect data by sexual orientation, but officials estimated that more than 40 percent of syphilis cases in 2002 occurred in gay and bisexual men.
San Francisco had the highest syphilis rate -- 40.6 per 100,000 people, a jump of 126.6 percent from 2001. New York had the most cases -- 435 -- followed by Detroit, Los Angeles and Chicago. The District had 58 cases but ranked 10th, with a rate of 10.1 cases per 100,000, a 34.9 percent increase.
The increase prompted a call by the National Association of People With AIDS for increased availability of syphilis testing. "I hear far too often from folks living with HIV or AIDS that our doctors don't ask if we need STD testing. Since it can be hard for some of us to ask for this essential health care service, I think health care providers should ask us," said Eric Ciasullo of the association.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company”
The idea that one can shape behavior by providing information about the consequences of the behavior, continues to fail because human beings are more complicated than that. And when it comes to human sexual behavior, even more so.
Remarkably though, this is the very premise of “safe sex” campaigns.
Look at these choice quotes from the Post:
"We're dealing with issues of prevention burnout and skepticism,"
”doctors don't ask if we need STD testing”
Well of course.
They still don’t get it do they.
This preposterous concept, laughable to any sane person, would be amusing were not its consequences so tragic for everyone involved.
Those in the gay community who created and perpetuated this myth - that one can regularly expose one’s immune system to the blood and feces of another and be “safe” - apparently still don’t get it. Here, for example, is an update on the success of sex education in the US from yesterday’s Washington Post on Line :
”washingtonpost.com
As Syphilis Cases Rise, So Do AIDS Fears
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 21, 2003; Page A20
The number of Americans infected with syphilis increased for the second year in a row last year, continuing a reversal of a decade-long decline in the sexually transmitted infection, federal health officials reported yesterday.
The rising number of syphilis cases is raising alarms that it may be a harbinger of an increase in the spread of the AIDS virus because syphilis is transmitted the same way and appears to be occurring primarily among gay and bisexual men, officials said.
"We are extremely concerned about that possibility," said Ronald O. Valdiserri, deputy director of the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which released the new numbers.
Valdiserri and other experts said the increase may be a sign of growing complacency about human immunodeficiency virus among gay and bisexual men because of the introduction of potent drug treatments, which have caused a decline in the death rate from AIDS and a backlash against decades of safe-sex campaigns.
"We're dealing with issues of prevention burnout and skepticism," Valdiserri told reporters at a briefing.
Syphilis is caused by a bacterium that is spread primarily through sexual contact. Although it can cause serious health problems if untreated, a single shot of penicillin can cure the infection.
But the number of syphilis cases began to rise again in 2001 for the first time in a decade, triggering alarm among public health experts. People infected with syphilis are more susceptible to HIV infection, more likely to develop AIDS and more likely to spread the virus to others.
"The concern for us is that this syphilis outbreak will be heralding an increase in HIV infections," said Susan Blank of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
From 2001 to 2002, the national syphilis rate increased from 2.2 cases per 100,000 people to 2.4 per 100,000, a rise of 9.1 percent. The total number of cases increased from 6,103 to 6,862, a 12.4 percent jump.
Syphilis cases among men increased from 4,134 to 5,267, up 27.4 percent. In contrast, there was a 19 percent decline among women. The CDC does not collect data by sexual orientation, but officials estimated that more than 40 percent of syphilis cases in 2002 occurred in gay and bisexual men.
San Francisco had the highest syphilis rate -- 40.6 per 100,000 people, a jump of 126.6 percent from 2001. New York had the most cases -- 435 -- followed by Detroit, Los Angeles and Chicago. The District had 58 cases but ranked 10th, with a rate of 10.1 cases per 100,000, a 34.9 percent increase.
The increase prompted a call by the National Association of People With AIDS for increased availability of syphilis testing. "I hear far too often from folks living with HIV or AIDS that our doctors don't ask if we need STD testing. Since it can be hard for some of us to ask for this essential health care service, I think health care providers should ask us," said Eric Ciasullo of the association.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company”
The idea that one can shape behavior by providing information about the consequences of the behavior, continues to fail because human beings are more complicated than that. And when it comes to human sexual behavior, even more so.
Remarkably though, this is the very premise of “safe sex” campaigns.
Look at these choice quotes from the Post:
"We're dealing with issues of prevention burnout and skepticism,"
”doctors don't ask if we need STD testing”
Well of course.
They still don’t get it do they.
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