WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
BY CRISTINA GONZÁLEZ
Discrimination Can’t Hide From Hidden Cameras
As part of its “ethical dilemma” show What Would You Do?, ABC set out to find how much has changed in the 30 years since the first reported AIDS cases—and how much hasn’t. Hidden cameras set up in a New Jersey diner rolled as an HIV-positive actor casually revealed his status to a waitress, loud enough for others to hear. A horrified customer was worried that HIV could be spread like a cold. As a result, the same customer refused to handle the menu that the HIV-positive actor had touched. But well-informed diners invited the actor to share a meal. Catch the segment “You Have AIDS?” on abc.com.
HIV-positive actor (right) gets the cold shoulder.
Bono to Obama: No Babies With HIV Every day more than a 1,000 babies are born with HIV worldwide; more than half won’t live till their second birthday. One.org cofounded by Bono, is working to change that with the “No Child Born With HIV by 2015” campaign. In conjunction with (RED), one.org is asking the Obama administration to commit $6 billion to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria over the next three years to send antiretroviral meds to pregnant women in Africa. To add your name to the petition, go to one.org.
18 POZ JUNE 2011 poz.com
700,000 Stolen Condoms Recovered No ARV in Whoonga Reports that a South African drug called whoonga contains antiretroviral (ARV) medications are wrong. Whoonga is a popular (and illegal) drug that is smoked and is made up of mostly low-grade heroin. But samples taken by South Africa’s University of KwaZuluNatal found no traces of ARVs. The Treatment Action Campaign, a South African AIDS group, worries the rumors will fuel theft of ARVs, which could jeopardize supplies of meds for HIVpositive people.
In February, Malaysian police reported the theft of 700,000 ultrathin condoms en route to Japan. They were loaded into a container at a factory in northern Malaysia, but the shipment arrived in Tokyo empty with new locks. The condoms are worth $1.5 million at Japanese retail prices. In March, six suspects were arrested. They allegedly stored the condoms in a warehouse and a private home hoping to sell them later. They each face 10 years in prison if they’re convicted.