Dear editor:
World AIDS Day is Dec. 1 every year and it's about raising awareness in our community through education and fighting prejudice. It's also important to remind people that HIV has not gone away and it is clearly a health concern in Hot Springs.
HIV reaches into every corner of society affecting men, women and children. Do you fall into one of these categories?
HIV is a chronic disease that is manageable with medication therapy, no different from many other illnesses that we know people live with. But there is still that stigma or stereotype that is associated with it and in this day and time, that is unacceptable. There are over 300 people in Garland County that we know of. We can only speculate how many that are actually out there.
Currently, there is no cure for this disease -- once infected, always infected -- however, there is science-based research that hopefully will change this in our future. HIV is a disease; no more, no less. It does not discriminate regardless of race, sex, national origin, but it is emotionally and financially devastating.
Maybe you think you're not at risk of being infected with HIV. Maybe you need to think again, most people who are infected today thought the same way! Initially, being a homosexual meant risk for this illness, today the majority of the infected are heterosexual people. Ask yourself, have I ever been placed at risk?
We provide "hope and help" to people we serve in our community who are infected or affected by a disease that needs a little compassion and understanding. Please join us at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 100 Norwalk St. for a candlelight memorial and awareness event. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Mike S. Melancon, MSW
Director of Clinical Services
Hot Springs AIDS Resource Center & Tuggle Clinic
Editorial on 12/01/2017