Dec 1, 2022 5 min read

Thursday, Dec. 1, is World AIDS Awareness Day. The 2022 theme is “Putting Ourselves to the Test: Achieving Equity to End HIV.”

In the 1980s, education on HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) was mandated and every school at least made an attempt at teaching the topic. Now, it seems as if teaching ways to prevent HIV transmission is an afterthought. I dusted off and updated this column from November 2009; I revised it in 2019. Here are a few questions about HIV/AIDS from young people from 2009:

• Can you get AIDS if you hug someone? 13-year-old
• Only gay people get AIDS right? So if I’m not gay I’m clear, right? 15-year-old
• If neither person has AIDS will certain kinds of sex make AIDS happen? Like, even if no one is infected, it could just happen? 14-year-old
• What is AIDS anyway? 13-year-old

As a sexuality educator in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, I received thousands of questions about HIV/AIDS. Some were serious and showed real fear; other questions demonstrated a lack of knowledge about infection in general and sexually transmitted infections. A few questions made me laugh. A sixth-grade boy once asked: “You don’t ever need to worry about getting AIDS, huh, Mary Jo?” As I pondered how to respond, he added: “Because – don’t get mad – when people get too old, they just don’t do it no more.” I asked how old was “too old;” his response of “30” still makes me smile.

The true challenge for me as an educator is those questions were asked years ago. When AIDS was nearly always a terminal diagnosis young people were afraid and fear led to questions about exposure and infection. AIDS was on people’s minds. Despite the many questions I receive from young people daily, I seldom am asked about AIDS today. The movie Bohemian Rhapsody briefly revived questions as Freddie Mercury’s diagnosis became known to this generation’s students, but their curiosity was more about his music than his death.

I hosted our first Washington County AIDS Awareness Day program in 1993. We held the event on the Washington courthouse steps. Nine schools participated in an hour-long program. Over 300 students sang, performed skits, and did readings. I met Dr. Bert Campbell of First Presbyterian Church when I asked him to do the invocation with Rabbi Albert A. Goldman from Beth Israel Synagogue. Bert became a wonderful mentor whose inclusive vision of faith and wisdom about death and dying influenced me personally and professionally. Our peer educators called the day “AIDS Day” and it was a major event.

Teen Outreach went on to coordinate AIDS Awareness Day every year. The program was variously hosted at the courthouse, inside the George Washington Hotel, at Citizens Library, at First Presbyterian Church, at our Common Ground Teen Center, at our office and on Washington and Jefferson College’s campus. Over the years the program became smaller in scope. Schools participated less. I will teach about HIV at our weekly peer educator meeting this Thursday. Our peer educators are always involved but even their passion for the event waned as AIDS became a chronic condition. Fear gave way to complacency and complacency led to apathy.

The answers to the first three questions about AIDS are simple. No, you can’t transfer HIV through casual contact like hugging. No, people of all sexual orientations can become infected with HIV. No, HIV is not spread without infection. The virus doesn’t spontaneously erupt from sexual contact. One individual must be infected to spread the virus.

The answer to “What is AIDS, anyway?” is more complex. AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by infection with HIV. A blood test can show if a person is HIV-positive. Many people are HIV-positive and are not sick; there are now medications to help. My memory releases the faces of so many promising young adults who died in the 80s and early 90s, and my heart breaks. Bias was rampant, infected people were often treated without respect. My philosophy of each person as a person of worth was solidified then.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) is a pill for people who do not have HIV but are at high risk of getting the virus. PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV when taken as prescribed. (https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/prep/index.html). PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%, and reduces the risk of getting HIV from injection drug use by at least 74%

HIV can be spread from sexual contact or contact with infected blood from sharing needles. It also can be spread during pregnancy or childbirth. Breastfeeding can spread the virus. Again, it is not spread through casual contact.

I encourage young people to get informed, stay aware, communicate with potential partners, and make healthy choices every single day. Trusted adults, please talk about HIV with the young people in your lives.

Have a question? Send it to Dr. Mary Jo Podgurski’s email podmj@healthyteens.com