HIV infections rising among affluent South Africans

[ChaplinGuy]

This fascinates me. An interesting article in today's New York Times about the rapid rise in HIV infections among the rich and affluent (and black and white) communities in South Africa.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-aids-safrica.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fHealth%2fDiseases%2c%20Conditions%2c%20and%20Health%20Topics%2fAIDS

As someone who identifies with the demographic of "the educated" and "the affluent" I think that there is some growing evidence that we are missing a piece of the HIV/AIDS awareness puzzle. It is impossible to assign this growing problem to one root cause, but instead seems a mix of apathetic entitlement and assumptions about who is at risk.

I know that both played a role in my becoming infected, and I've believed since my diagnosis that more needs to be done to make sure that this target group is not overlooked. Even us "educated" rich kids make stupid choices.

[med forum]

I really think that this is just another wake up call that our society needs thrown in their face that HIV
does not have "a face" associated to it. With one of the largest populations of HIV/AIDS cases in the world, South Africans as well as society as a whole still seem to associate HIV as being exclusively "owned"
by the poor  communities of Africa. I, too, read this article yesterday and it really got me hot. When will we stop judging and take the bull by the horns to stop the spread of HIV?