Written and published on 17 June 2016; revised

• STATISTICS: SUPPRESSION OF HIV DATA
• THE SITUATION IN OTHER COUNTRIES
• CLAIR INTEL ON UNDERREPORTED POPULATIONS
  • Women and Children
  • Sex Workers
• CLAIR INTEL ON HIV / AIDS INFANTS
• CLAIR INTEL ON PRISONERS IN PENAL INSTITUTIONS
• OVER-THE-COUNTER HIV / AIDS TESTS
• A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Dear Ones,

I have done some research because of the conflict between my clair intel on HIV / AIDS incidence and the US government and CDC (Centers for Disease Control) statistics, and have come up with some concerning results.

STATISTICS: SUPPRESSION OF HIV DATA

At the CDC Atlas I went to HIV diagnoses in the United States, at … http://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/nchhstpatlas/main.html?value=atlas … [As of 09/12/2019 this page is no longer applicable to the current discussion]

I clicked on the “View Counties” button. I noticed in the key at the top right that a white background with horizontal marks across it indicates counties where Data Are Suppressed (1) :

Image: Rate per 100,000 … horizontal hatching means ‘data suppressed’ … in “United States HIV Diagnoses 2014,” at the “CDC [Centers for Disease Control] Atlas” … http://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/nchhstpatlas/main.html?value=atlas ... [As of 09/12/2019 this page is no longer applicable to the current discussion]

These areas appear as white on the following map (1)  …

Map: “United States HIV Diagnoses 2014,” at the “CDC [Centers for Disease Control] Atlas” … http://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/nchhstpatlas/main.html?value=atlas … public domain … Shows many white geographic areas, indicating where data are suppressed … [As of 09/12/2019 this page is no longer applicable to the current discussion]

Thus it appears that data have been suppressed in almost all counties in the US States with the exception of about 2/3 of California and about 4/5 of Arizona. There is also a smattering of reporting along the Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf Coast.

In Alaska and the US Territories data have been suppressed. Hawaii is reporting.

Thus the reason for the optimistic outlook regarding HIV / AIDS in the United States. See …

LInk: “HIV Basics,” at HIV.gov … https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics ..

… most likely has to do with suppression of data on a broad scale.

THE SITUATION IN OTHER COUNTRIES

My intuitive feeling is that the situation may be more grave in most other countries, with the exception of the developed countries, which most likely have more funding for health education and health care than do the less developed countries. However, I have not yet done the research on the global situation.

CLAIR INTEL ON UNDERREPORTED POPULATIONS

Women and Children

From my reading, I have heard that HIV infection of United States women is underreported, apparently because US Medical Institutions do not consider women who are straight and in relationships with men to be at risk, and consequently do not provide testing.

There is an issue with social stigma for women and men who are primarily straight, where the men may be engaging in casual MSM (male sex with men) as well. This would be a social stigma for both the man and woman in the primarily straight relationship.

• Thus the man in such a straight relationship may have HIV / AIDS, and also possibly hepatitis, but be unwilling to tell his wife about it.
• If true, this would result in danger of infecting the children in a primarily straight relationship as well, through the wife not taking necessary precautions to avoid infecting the children.
• On the clair plane, I have even heard of instances of HIV testers at medical facilities being offered bribes to change a wife’s HIV test to negative (that is, to a ‘no HIV’ result).
• On the clair plane, I have also heard that wealth and power can sometimes buy indigent parents’ assent to sexual abuse of children, both young boys and young girls, for a pittance. If true, this would put such children at risk for HIV infection.

Sex Workers

• I have clair intel regarding sex workers bribing HIV testers at medical facilities to return negative results (that is, to ‘no HIV’ results).

CLAIR INTEL ON HIV / AIDS INFANTS

• I have clair intel regarding HIV-positive infants at medical facilities being unadoptable, and being euthanized, and further clair intel that I find disturbing, to the effect there may be a market for these infants’ HIV-infected organs.
• I would like to make it clear that, in a slow-moving epidemic such as the current global HIV / AIDS epidemic, it is the HIV-positive infants that offer the most hope for the future of humankind, as there will be some among them who are resistant to HIV / AIDS. As with the flu epidemic in the early 1900s, the resistant population will be the basis of the future world community. So for the sake of the world, I beg our peoples to care for and nurture these infants with HIV / AIDS.

CLAIR INTEL ON PRISONERS IN PENAL INSTITUTIONS

• Regarding penal institutions, on the clair plane my intel is that incarceration carries a high risk of contracting HIV / AIDS through rape by inmates. The jails are too overcrowded, I hear, to allow a person a cell by himself, and so the threat of rape by fellow prisoners is quite clear.
• I have more to say about incarceration: I feel that a minor infraction, such as a DUI speeding ticket that results in incarceration, ought not to be a ticket to contracting HIV / AIDS. The penalty, I feel, is too steep for the infraction. So I ask that we all put our heads together and think what might be done about this. Having HIV / AIDS makes it harder to find work, and also harder to excel at a job because of health challenges.
• On the clair plane I have also heard prisoners’ fears that, if they ask for a private cell, they run the risk of being raped by law enforcement. If true … and I am sure such instances would be rare, considering the fine quality of our law enforcement officers … then in such an instance the officer and his family would also be at higher risk, and might wish to seek HIV testing. (2)

OVER-THE-COUNTER HIV TESTS

I notice that Ora-Quick offers a $40 in-home HIV tests that is sold through major drug stores. This is touted as being as accurate as Medical Facility Tests. If true, this would be a way for women and children to ‘bridge the gap’ between the tests now provided through Medical Facilities and the reality of the situation at hand.

A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

For those who are now diagnosed HIV-positive: Know that you are not alone. There are many, many who are diagnosed the same. It’s just that the figures are not out there; they are suppressed.

And too, those who have HIV / AIDS are laboring under more than the effects of this disease; an even greater burden is the negative opinion our friends and family may have of us if they find out, and the way people treat us when we apply for work.

Dear Ones, knowledge is power. If we know and understand what we’re up against as a nation, we will find the courage and hope to stand together in community and see this great nation through the coming difficult times.

In love, light and joy,
I Am of the Stars

For a complete list of my blogs and compendiums on HIV / AIDS see … Link: “Compendium: HIV / AIDS Pandemic,” by Alice B. Clagett, published on 2 March 2019 … https://wp.me/p2Rkym-bPl ..

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FOOTNOTES

(1) Copyright Status of Work by the U.S. Government. For the image that follows this footnote reference, since when I originally found the web page, it stated “U.S. Gov,” I am assuming that this public domain statement applies, although it is not expressly stated on the web page. Per Wikipedia: “A work of the United States government, as defined by the United States copyright law, is ‘a work prepared by an officer or employee” of the federal government“as part of that person’s official duties.’ [1] In general, under section 105 of the Copyright Act, [2] such works are not entitled to domestic copyright protection under U.S. law and are therefore in the public domain.” –from “Copyright Status of Works by the Federal Government of the United States,” in Wikipedia … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_works_by_the_federal_government_of_the_United_States … Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ..

(2) On the Drug War and Prison Overcrowding. Our law enforcement officers are, I feel, doing their very best to deal with a difficult situation, considering the drug war and overcrowding in penal facilities.

In the longer run, I feel our nation will turn to making drugs legal, so that the tax on drug sales can be used for drug use education and rehabilitation. If the sale of drugs were legal, there would be less violence around this sector of the economy … as is the case with the sale of cigarettes and liquor. Thus the job of law enforcement would be less dangerous. It could also be that law enforcement might have an opportunity to assist with drug use education and rehabilitation.

Penal facilities have already turned to Work Parole and similar programs, and that is a good step; education and rehabilitation by law enforcement for those in Work Parole programs might also be helpful. In short, in the coming years, I see the role of law enforcement turning, overall, to education and rehabilitation programs.

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