LAB 043: Understanding HIV Part 2
About This Lab
In Part 1 of this series we talked about the anatomy of HIV, how it infects the body, its complexity with the mutation rate, and the reasons why an effective vaccine has taken so long. This week in Part 2, we are shifting our focus onto the people because we know science does not exist in a vacuum. So we are digging deep into the cultural context surrounding HIV over the last 40 years. Our guest expert Dr. Christine Daniels also has a background in medical anthropology so she was able to walk us through it all.
RELIGION
A lot of people, including our law makers, insurance companies, researchers, drug manufacturers, doctors and support systems like folks, family and friends who believe that the specific behaviors associated with contracting HIV were inherently wrong. And they used these beliefs, to discriminate against people living with HIV. In the episode, Dr. Daniels mentions that a lot of policy is influenced by religious beliefs.
GEOGRAPHY
At the start of the epidemic, most HIV cases were being reported in New York and California, so lawmakers in other states were reluctant to use funds on HIV that could have been spent otherwise on roads, education or infrastructure.
MEDIA
The media failed to adequately cover the HIV epidemic. During the first three years of the HIV epidemic. The New York Times only ran three stories on it, and none of them made the front page.
There has been more instances in the media recently of tv shows and movies that center the stories of people living with HIV. In May of 2021, Tony and Emmy-award winning actor, Billy Porter revealed that he has been living with HIV for 14 years. One of the shows that Billy Porter stars in Pose, a drama on FX spotlighting the legends, icons and ferocious house mothers of New York’s underground ball culture.
A 5-part series called It’s a Sin on HBO is set from 1981 to 1991 in London. It depicts the lives of a group of gay men and their friends who lived during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United Kingdom.
Jonathan Larson, famed Rent and tick, tick…Boom composer wrote musicals that centered societal issues like society’s handling of people living with HIV. Most recently his musical tick, tick…Boom set in 1990 was adapted to a film that was released in 2021.
Dr. Daniels recommends the book The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of AIDS.