Media Misnomers
From AIDS Action Council
2002
A note from TheBody.com: Since this article was written, the HIV pandemic has changed, as has our understanding of HIV/AIDS and its treatment. As a result, parts of this article may be outdated. Please keep this in mind, and be sure to visit other parts of our site for more recent information!
Reporters usually cover several issues and cannot be expected to be AIDS experts. It's important to inform members of the media about the current state of the AIDS epidemic.
Don't Confuse AIDS and Gay
Many continue to think of AIDS as a gay disease. In AIDS Action's focus groups, some participants referred to AIDS as a 'gay and lesbian disease' despite the fact that lesbian sexual activity is among the least risky of all behaviors.
While HIV and AIDS today still affect gay men disproportionately, including gay men of color, the epidemic is expanding quickly among women and young people. African Americans comprise 57 percent of all AIDS cases today. And despite a drop in death among white men and women, AIDS is the leading cause of death among young black and Latino men and women.
Issues like needle exchange and inadequate access to health care largely affect communities of color and low-income Americans. And the fight against global AIDS is overwhelmingly heterosexual.
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| "In the initial beginning, I think it was more homosexuals [who] were affected by [AIDS] . . . But I think over the past few years heterosexuals and then the black -- the females were also affected because, supposedly, the man was infecting the black female without her knowing it, more so than anything."
--African American woman, Atlanta
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People with HIV Are Just That
"Person (people) living with HIV" and "men, women and children with HIV" are the most appropriate ways to describe those living with HIV disease.
"AIDS babies," "AIDS orphans," "AIDS victims," and "AIDS sufferers" are among the commonly misused phrases used to describe people living with HIV. These phrases are offensive to people living with HIV as they de-emphasize humanity and prejudge the state of people's conditions.
HIV and AIDS -- The Difference in the Details
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. As HIV slowly ravages the body's immune system, HIV disease progresses.
AIDS is the final stage of HIV disease. Its technical definition -- defined by the federal government -- is a T-Cell (the most basic element of the immune system) count of less than 200 and the presence of one or more opportunistic infections.
While AIDS is commonly used as a catch-all phrase to describe the epidemic, HIV and AIDS should be used appropriately in medical descriptions. (e.g. never say that someone transmitted AIDS to another person.)
"HIV disease" is the most appropriate way to describe the continuum of HIV and AIDS.
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Needle Exchanges Aren't Giveaways
Needle exchange programs allow drug users to exchange one used syringe for one clean one. Despite misperceptions to the contrary, they do not simply give out syringes to anyone who wants one. They remove HIV-tainted needles from our streets and communities.
The Clinton Administration, The Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health and America's leading scientists all say that needle exchange programs are effective in reducing HIV infection without increasing drug use.
Needle exchanges also bring people into substance abuse treatment and HIV testing that can give people the tools to protect others from infection.
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A note from TheBody.com: Since this article was written, the HIV pandemic has changed, as has our understanding of HIV/AIDS and its treatment. As a result, parts of this article may be outdated. Please keep this in mind, and be sure to visit other parts of our site for more recent information!
This article was provided by AIDS Action Council. 
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