The first time Adam Vartanian, a fourth-year computer science
and engineering student, encountered someone with AIDS, he was in
kindergarten.
Though he was not aware of it at the time, Vartanian’s
elementary school teacher from kindergarten through second grade
had contracted AIDS. Two years later, the teacher died because of
the disease.
“I was really little at the time. … I didn’t
understand (what the disease was),” Vartanian said. “It
was the first time anyone I knew had died.”
Vartanian reminisces about a teacher his family knew personally
and a “mainstay” of his elementary school who died of
the widespread disease, as millions of people worldwide honor AIDS
victims and raise global awareness during World AIDS Day,
today.
Twenty-two years after the first cases of the disease were
reported, the devastating epidemic continues to affect more people
around the world than ever before.
According to the annual report compiled by UNAIDS, 3 million
people died of AIDS in 2003, and the number of people living with
the disease has gone up to between 34 million and 46 million.
UNAIDS is a United Nations organization that coordinates efforts to
combat the spread of the disease.
Since AIDS first surfaced, “some things have changed a lot
and others have not … but it is 100 percent preventable,”
said Gunther Freehill, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County
Office of AIDS Programs & Policy.
In the past, the infection was not as preventable as it is
currently.
Swati Rao, a third-year anthropology student who attends
Stanford University, remembers a friend from elementary school who
had contracted the virus through a blood transfusion and eventually
died. Rao attended Meadows Elementary School in Valencia with
classmate Christie Fox, who contracted the disease as an infant. A
few of her classmates now attend UCLA.
“I first met her (Fox) in the third grade. … She was
really tiny and small for her age,” Rao said, adding that she
remembers Fox was very giving.
Fox started coming to class less and less, until one day her
parents came to Rao’s class and spoke to the students about
Fox’s situation, Rao said. Fox died when she was in fifth
grade.
“At that point, I didn’t know any of the stigmas
attached with AIDS. … I thought of it purely as a disease and (as
a) sad experience,” Rao said.
“I think it was helpful that (Fox’s diagnosis) was
the first experience I had with AIDS,” Rao added.
“Because she didn’t fit the stereotype of someone with
AIDS, I never associated AIDS with a stereotype.”
Fox’s mother, Debbie, said she hopes more people become
educated about the disease.
“Young people don’t realize how devastating their
lives could be if they contract this disease,” she said.
With the medical technologies available in the United States,
contracting the virus through blood transfusions is no longer a
large concern in the country. Other medical advancements with
anti-retroviral drugs that slow down the replication of the virus
have helped curb the effects of the disease.
Though globally the number of people affected by the disease is
increasing, the situation in the United States is actually
improving, said Roger Bohman, a molecular, cell and developmental
biology professor at UCLA.
Bohman teaches the “AIDS and Other Sexually Transmitted
Diseases” general education course.
Lack of education about the disease and lack of access to
appropriate medical care is contributing to the large-scale spread
of the infection throughout the rest of the world, Bohman said.
The UCLA AIDS Institute is currently testing the effectiveness
of an HIV vaccine. According to the institute’s Web site, the
goal of the study is to determine whether administration of an HIV
vaccine will improve immunity to the virus.
Debbie believes even the atmosphere surrounding the disease has
come a long way.
“Back then, it was like, “˜Don’t tell anybody
because you’d be ostracized.’ … We were terrified to
speak about it,” Debbie said, adding that it is now
encouraged to talk to people who have been through the same
experiences.
“Don’t hide too much of the burden in your own
heart,” she said.