OraSure Technologies/AP
The device used in the OraSure test.
Part of the reason why Melissa took time to examine the issue of HIV and AIDS this past weekend had a lot to do with last Wednesday being National HIV Testing Day, observed yearly since 1995. The segment led off with Macalester College dean Christopher MacDonald-Dennis recounting how and when he received his diagnosis.
Having last week edited the essay he wrote about his experiences (and having been, as Melissa noted of herself on the show, "Twitter friends" with Chris for years now), I was happy to see him on air sharing his story, but was also moved by a question I couldn't shake: why, with something which should be private, must we force those living with HIV to be so public just for our own edification? Will we ever get to a point with this disease where we as a society are educated enough to leave our brothers and sisters with the disease alone to live without our baggage?
In the conversation that followed, Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation, was the first in the conversation to bring up not simply the stigma associated with the disease, but with testing itself. Today, there was a hopeful sign that that stigma could be lessened:
After decades of controversy, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new H.I.V. test on Tuesday that for the first time makes it possible for Americans to learn in the privacy of their homes whether they are infected...
The OraQuick test, by OraSure Technologies, uses a mouth swab and gives results in 20 to 40 minutes. A previous test sold over the counter required a user to prick a finger and mail a drop of dried blood to a lab.
Why is something like this so important? See the "privacy of their homes" bit from the New York Times report, to which the Associated Press adds:
Government officials estimate that about 240,000 people, or one-fifth of the roughly 1.2 million people carrying HIV in the U.S., don't know they are infected. Testing is a chief means of slowing new infections, which have held steady at about 50,000 per year for two decades.
The test had already been offered in a pilot program by a number of national chain pharmacies, but now that the Food and Drug Administration has signed off, it'll be available in many, many more in October. If the stigma is what's keeping you from getting tested, I hope you find enough strength not to wait that long.
The first part of our HIV discussion is below; the second half is below the jump. You can find the rest of Melissa's interview with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in the carousel above, and also here, here, and here.
Melissa Harris-Perry sat down with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday to discuss - among many issues - the congresswoman's work in combating the HIV crisis. Christopher MacDonald Dennis, dean of multicultural life at Macalester College, joins Harris-Perry to talk about what HIV and AIDS looks like in America today.
Melissa Harris-Perry and her panelists continue their discussion on the face of HIV and AIDS today and how the epidemic affects African-Americans specifically.
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I was compelled to sit down and listen to this segment. I mean - I record every episode but this was different.
You see, 8 years ago I discovered that I had full blown AIDS. My t-cell count was 6 and my viral load, interestingly enough was only 22K. I'm now at 685 and undetectable. The opportunistic disease I acquired was Taxoplasmosis which created 3 lesions on my brain causing a number of minor but overtime effective strokes/seizures.
As a result, I lost motor ability and strength on my right side, as well as cognitive ability. In fact, during the first 6 months after my diagnosis I could barely walk or talk.
I can do both now- walk and talk that is - but I still have residual effects ....
But where my story veers from the segment and the general tone of the conversation on Sunday - which is why I'm writing - is that I'm a white, Jewish 53 year old straight - yes that's correct ... straight man, who has no history of intravenus drug use or a secret life of: being with men.
Without going into the details of my road before and after my diagnosis - but I will say that I was infected the old fashioned way ... no protection, arrogance, and the belief that I was free and clear because I twice tested negative; therefore untouchable because of my achievements and state in life.
I had many friends who died of AIDS but I never thought it would happen to me - but it did.
I went from having a successful career in entertainment to receiving SSDI, Medicare/Medical and Section 8 housing assistance. Quite a leap ....
So I understand the stigma as discussed on the show and in the article. I understand it all too well ... If you look at me you'd never know that at one time I could barely walk or talk and that I was a few days away from dying.
You would never know the energy and will power it took to not only survive, but get to the point where I'm living.
During the segment I wanted to shout: You're talking to me but you're not. If you're a straight white, HIV+ male - that combination opens the door to betrayal, misunderstanding, fear, discrimination, and a gradual falling away of some friends and family.
So I guess what I'm doing now is shouting, at least part of my story in hopes that someone hears me.
If ya want - my email is dorikeller750@roadrunner.com
Watching the segment I was trouble by what was missing. You had two women, one white man and a Latino
brother.... problem. In a topic about
black women getting AIDS form black men, where were the heterosexual black
male.
The days of AIDS being a gay thing is over, its spread mainly by UNPROTECTED sex. As a black man I have seen a change in how we
interact with each other that is setting us up for ruin. I want to stop short there because this is
not to slam black women. It's just to
say that back in the 80's gay men had to look at what they were doing and
school them self on the use of condoms. What does this pop culture show and tell
black women.
Today I see this being put on the downlow. No real talk about how we relate to each
other, and how it has changed. The downlow
( in the closet) is not new. You don't
see an increase in AIDS among Latin, Asian, and white women who have sex with
black men, why is that. Heterosexual
black men NEED to be at the table when we talk about this.
Melissa Harris-Perry yours is one of the best shows out
there, keep up the good work