Take Responsibility on World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS day, and the single most important thing everyone can do personally is get tested regularly and play safe. The good news about HIV in America in 2008 is that if detected early most people can still look forward to a long, full life. The expected life span is nearing normal, and the medical advancements in the field are far from over. Doctors recently performed a radical bone marrow transplant on a patient with leukemia that may have halted the virus. While this is far from a universal cure, there's still hope.

Of course the outlook for HIV patients in Africa and other developing countries is not as optimistic, due to the high price of drugs. But if we can't control the pandemic in America, there's little hope we'll be able to contain it in third world countries.

Here are some sites that offer free testing: 

• Sobe Aids Project
• Miami-Dade Health Department
• Empower U
• Care Resource

--Kyle Munzenrieder