Why are governments spending so much money on AIDS?

Thank you.. I just assumed we had moved past this 80's era mentality that AIDS is a "gay" disease... It's a preventable disease that can be prevented if we actually educate people on the subject, encourage condom use, abstinence, whatever it takes...

While it is true there currently is no cure, there have been enormous advancements over the years, and unlike when my uncle contracted the disease, people's lives are being prolonged 20 years or more...

Until you actually know someone with AIDS, it's really impossible to fully understand the absolute devastation and pain this disease causes.

Aside from the rare blood transfusion gone wrong, it is a 100% preventable disease.

 

Yeah you'd think we'd be past it, sadly there are those who are so hate filled they still do not know any better.

I myself had a 'somewhat' family member, not by blood but by marriage contract the disease and die. It was a horrible death from the little I got to see, he didn't get it from being 'gay' either.

 

You still didn't answer the question. Just like smokers have to pay higher taxes because they are more likely to seek treatment because of their habit and therefore increased likeliness of higher costs on the medical costs, if you go by the same statistics, gay men should not get any special treatment since they pay the same taxes according to you.

But the question is why should AIDS be funded more than any other disease. YES, it can be transmitted by other ways than sex (especially gay sex) but sex remains the most prevalent way.

So AIDS should get more funding because....

 

When you understand it's not just a gay mans disease we might have something to discuss..

 

Read my post above: "YES, it can be transmitted by other ways than sex..."

 

Yet you harp on gays, and try to compare cigarette smokers paying higher taxes but gays not.

 

Common sense should tell you that prevention is the best cure. And also getting to the root of the problem should be a priority don't you think.

I know you are hell bent on "defending" gays even though NOTHING positive can come out of sodomy. Actually there is something positive that comes out of sodomy. Anyway, why should AIDS be funded more than any other disease?

 

Common sense you say, well good thing it's not up to you to find a cure as you lack it yourself

Prevention is not a cure, prevention and 'cures' have different meanings, I suggest you crack open your dictionary and do some reading.

I'm 'hell bent on defending gays' you seriously can not be this much of a moron proteindude. I am not filled with illogical hate such as yourself, I am able to see things for what they are. You on the other hand are such a hate filled bigot you try to find anyway you can to bash anyone who is not like you.

What is 'positive' that comes out of sodomy as you put it? I'm pretty sure I get your point but I want to see if you're man enough to put it out there.

Your question has already been answered, but here you are just like in your other lame threads, asking the same question over and over and refusing to see when people answer your question. As we all know, there is no answering the question to you, all you want is a reason to bash those that are not like you.

 

Agreed.. That still seems to be the point of the OP's thread..

 

I actually never questioned this statement, until re-reading. Because it rang as WHAT? I did a bit of digging.

In FY2006, the federal government spent $2.8 billion on total AIDS/HIV programs.

http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=528&cat=11

(Please also see http://www.nih.gov/news/fundingresearchareas.htm, which represents a figure for FY 2006 of $2.9 billion for HIV/AIDS programs).

In FY2006, by one source, federal funding for cancer programs was $4.8 billion.

http://obf.cancer.gov/financial/appropsdocs.htm

(Click NCI appropriation history, and go to FY2006, the only year I have for comparison's sake across all 3 of protein's areas of concern). NOTE: EXCEL FILE.

By another, put out by NIH, the funding was $5.8 billion.

http://www.nih.gov/news/fundingresearchareas.htm

In FY2006, federal funding for heart disease was $2.1 billion, with another .4 billion for coronary heart disease. for a total of $2.5 billion.

http://www.nih.gov/news/fundingresearchareas.htm

Recap, FY2006:

HIV/AIDS US Federal Funding: $2.8-$2.9 Billion
Cancer Federal Funding: $4.8-$5.8 billion
Heart Disease Federal Funding: $2.5 Billion

Proteindude, please provide your source data that brought you to truthfully post the statement:

 

Excellent data.

I didn't expect anyone to post such crap without first making sure it was at least based on some facts, but then again I guess look at the OP.

This is just another attempt at bashing gays, has nothing to do with 'aids'..

 

Let's view it from you your world (which egregiously and incorrectly names this a global "gay" disease): What? In your world, the positive to sodomy is what - their death? The eradication of gays on the planet, via this disease?

And again, please deal with the concrete data I posted and return with your data to establish something that reverses what the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the NIH have stated in their public, annual reports.

 

So in other words the OP's original post is flawed to begin with.. Never even thought of checking the facts on this one. Thanks for that research and links.

 

It's unfortunate that such a thing is necessary, apparently. It just didn't fly with my intuition on the thing. Unless I have seriously screwed up my reading of the budgets, it seems Protein owes a source to support his contention. If I'm right, and Protein, if you just made this up to support your problem with homosexuality - you once averred:

I'm asking you to reach into yourself, and come clean.

 

You got me all interested.
Please tell us, what something positive do you think comes out of sodomy ?

 

Here's the link: http://www.fairfoundation.org/index.html and here's a short excerpt from the first page:

"Introduction: The FAIR Foundation was formed because of the inequities in disease research spending by Congress and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Examples of such inequities are as follows:

Ø The favoritism given AIDS over all other diseases, including the sixteen diseases that kill a million more Americans than AIDS annually, and, (my emphasys in bold)

Ø The amounts spent on the “Health Effects of Climate Change,” "Global Warming Climate Change" and "Climate Change" are greater than the funding for each of these: brain cancer, cystic fibrosis, autism, cerebral palsy, cervical cancer, child leukemia, COPD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Crohn’s Disease, Down Syndrome, emphysema, epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, hepatitis B & C, Huntington's Disease, Hodgkin’s Disease, the flu (influenza), multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, SIDS, spinal cord injury, stem cell research, uterine cancer and thousands of other illnesses.

This site will demonstrate the need to reform the public policies used to determine funding distributions by the National Institutes of Health. FAIR is an acronym for "Fair Allocations In Research." http://www.fairfoundation.org/update.htm (I tried to insert the actual picture but it seems my computer skills are very limited so you will have to click on the link).

Now I must say I am completely puzzled when it comes to many of you defending sodomy as if it was something totally normal which it's not. And to answer your questions (devil and grim) the positive that comes out of sodomy is of course HIV positive. I thought you were familiar with the word sarcasm. Because other than hiv positive, I don't see any other "positive" that comes out of sodomy.

I don't know why some of you think my idea of starting this thread is to bash gays. It's not. And if you were to actually care about gays you should try to help them correct this perversion not encourage it.

Anyway you look at it, sodomy is a very disgusting act with a very negative influence on individuals as well as communities. It's not something they keep to themselves.

I gave up posting on another thread about gays since I noticed there was no hope since some of you will die defending an immoral and abominable choice despite of nothing good coming out of it.

I am making this now official: this thread will also be my last on dp all together. My advice not that you care is you should help others get out of sodomy and not promote it. As I said, nothing good comes out of it.

If you do see me around on dp, that's only going to be because of the contest section where there are some great designers and I sometimes need some designs.

Now, I'm going to close by saying goodbye to all, I won't be responding anymore and want to leave you with one thought (and an additional one if you're gay).

Last thought: eternity is a very long place and would hate it if any of you spent it in the wrong place. Therefore repent or perish

And if you're gay and you believe you were born gay and think there is no way out I am telling you it doesn't matter how you were born. The Bible says you must be Born Again.

Take care all.

 

just curious but why does it make a difference who the disease infects?

yeah, usually when people make statements like that it means they don't actually know what "sodomy" means

 

who are you to determine what's "normal"?

 

Who are you to determine what is Christian either? Do you honestly think Jesus would spew such uninformed hatred?

 

It's not to bash gays, yet any attempt to correct your disinformation is protecting gays?
Proteindude do you honestly think people are as dumb as you think they are?

Arguing the facts is NOT sticking up for gays. Even if I do not like gays 'which I am not saying' they are still citizens of this great land, when it comes to our citizens I do NOT care what the fuck your sexual orientation is, I do NOT care if you're black, white, purple, green, blue, I do NOT care about your personal life either, when it comes to being a citizen all it takes is 'shock' being a citizen!

As a citizen of this great land our government as it currently is provideds funding to research, prevent and cure diseases. HIV can spread like a wild fire if not kept in check, other diseases are not spread like HIV, your logic of pure numbers that are killed each year is simply a dismal failure at an argument. If anything that proves why the money should be spent on HIV, if it had not been spent on HIV the numbers would be FAR greater!

How hard is it to understand, HIV is spread via sex, needle drugs, other things such as blood transfusions which in years past many people were infected from this method alone. I'm certain some of that government money has gone to stop the spreading of HIV by blood transfusions and also into education!

This thread was nothing more than an attempt to gay bash, how you could claim otherwise is simply disgraceful. What a good christian you are

BTW 'favoritism' is an opinion and does not prove government funding...

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When talking about a disease such as HIV you have the nerve to use 'sarcasm' on this level? Wow yet you still think you're a good little christian. A discussion such as this is not the time nor place for such crap, but of course neither is most of the words in your posts.