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AIDS
Awareness
Thousands of people are infected with this virus every day.
Every hour, two new cases are reported in people under the
age of 25 alone. Statistics like these have been floating
around for years, but it hasn't stopped the number of new
cases.
AIDS
- acquired immune deficiency syndrome - was first reported
in the United States in 1981 and has since become a major
worldwide epidemic. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV). By killing or impairing cells of the immune system,
HIV progressively destroys the body's ability to fight infections
and certain cancers. Individuals diagnosed with AIDS are susceptible
to life-threatening diseases called opportunistic infections,
which are caused by microbes that usually do not cause illness
in healthy people.
More
than 600,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in the United
States since 1981, and as many as 900,000 Americans may be
infected with HIV. The epidemic is growing most rapidly among
minority populations and is a leading killer of African-American
males. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of AIDS is six times higher
in African-Americans and three times higher among Hispanics
than among whites.
The
sheer number of young people who are uneducated on this threatening
epidemic is one of the reasons "What's
The Deal Yo" is here to educate teens
through their weekly soap opera radio program.
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