Bob Skinner: Guest Speaker

I honestly did not think that the medication we have today to treat HIV/AIDS was so effective and advanced; Bob Skinner is living proof of that. I was impressed to learn that medication in the US consisted of only two small pills (albeit EXPENSIVE ones)--soon to be reduced to one powerful pill. That was pretty amazing. Skinner also showed us just how expensive each pill was ($25 a pill!), and I couldn't imagine having to pay thousands of dollars a month for the rest of my life, most likely without a job and living under intense stigma... But I learned that an HIV+ person can actually live a normal life if they can manage to push past all those obstacles and move on, like Bob.

Unfortunately, I think Bob's experience living with HIV is very different from people living around the globe. The US has access to so many more resources and information than in third-world countries with populations at extreme risk of infection. First of all, the way in which Bob contracted HIV was much different than most in other countries; Bob practiced risky behavior in his youth, while many people around the world have no other choice but to engage in those behaviors--either for survival or to appease their spouses (usually women have to please their husbands). Many people in other countries also have no access to medical help/medication or can't afford it, while the situation is less severe here in America.

HIV is transmitted particularly via heterosexual relationships in rural areas, similar to how HIV is being transmitted most often in male and female relationships here in the US. In rural countries around the world, most women in a relationship cannot even ask their partners to wear a contraceptive because: a) the man feels like she does not trust him and/or b) the man accuses her of cheating on him because she obviously has an STI. Control in sexual relationships is so one-sided that high transmission rates are unavoidable.

Living in rural regions definitely makes treating HIV difficult because of the intense stigmatization and lack of resources. Clinics may be inaccessible (too far away, too expensive, etc.), ruling out a good percent of infected, poor patients from rural areas. Many people around the world can't go to a clinic for testing even if it were available because of the fear that they will be discovered by their peers and become an outcast.