Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

World AIDS Day

Aired December 01, 2003 - 11:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: With the observance of World AIDS Day comes some sobering statistics about the disease.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here to explain some of the numbers to us.

It makes you open your eyes, exactly.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It does make you OPEN eyes.

Officials are calling it prevention fatigue. In other words, for two decades, we've been talking to people about preventing AIDS, and they fear now that people have this prevention fatigue. So 20 years later, millions of dollars later, those numbers are still going up.

Let's take a look. In the United States, for example, 900,000 Americans have HIV. That is the largest number ever, 20 years into the epidemic. And one big problem, one out of four of these people don't even know that they have it, so they don't know -- they go around spreading it, and they don't realize they're infected, and this has left many public health officials very frustrated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, CDC DIR.: We are more than 20 years into this epidemic and it's intolerable that today, we still are seeing 40,000 new cases, and that over 100,000 people don't know they have HIV infection. So when you have people who don't know they're infected and they continue to engage in risky behavior, the epidemic is constantly being fueled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: And by engaging in risky behavior, Dr. Gerberding means several things. Among them, sharing needles and participating in unsafe sex, and the message just isn't getting out there the way that it used to.

KAGAN: It's not, but the disease is getting out there. You hear these huge numbers that can make your eyes glaze over. But we're not talking about one monolith. There are certain groups that are being affected more than others.

COHEN: Yes, they have noticed, there are certain groups where the numbers are going up more than others. For example, more than half, about 55 percent of the people in the United States, who have HIV, are African-American. Infections among Latinos and other specific groups, up 26 percent, of infections among gay and bisexual men, up 17 percent.

And so the CDC and other public health folks are trying to target their messages to those groups. I think it's interesting, they've been trying to do that for a long time. These specific groups are nothing new, but there's sort of the feeling that 10, 15 years ago that people were more attuned to hearing these messages than they are now.

KAGAN: So there's a thing, prevention fatigue. People are tired of hearing of it, they think there may be drugs that can cure it like that. None of that is true. What do you do to fight the prevention fatigue.

COHEN: That's one of the actually problems is the drugs. AIDS and HIV are actually victims of the success the medical community. They came out with these drugs that make you actually be able to live with AIDS. I think in many public health people think in the back of people's minds, oh, well, so if I get HIV, I'll take the drugs and everything will be OK. Well, those drugs have some serious side effects. They can be very unpleasant. Prevention is, obviously, much better than living with HIV and having to take a whole host of drugs. Another thing the public health folks are trying to emphasize more and more is testing. There's a rapid test out, which wasn't always there, and they're trying get doctors more involved.

I can remember 15 years ago going to the doctors as a young single person for an ear infection, and the doctor said here's some antibiotics. Now let's talk about AIDS. They were into it. I don't think doctors aren't as into talking to their patients about AIDS and how to prevent it.

KAGAN: And you're right, the information is out there, as well as the testing, but have you to want to get it.

COHEN: That's right, and you have to have a doctor who wants to talk to you about getting it.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, thank you for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 1, 2003 - 11:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: With the observance of World AIDS Day comes some sobering statistics about the disease.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here to explain some of the numbers to us.

It makes you open your eyes, exactly.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It does make you OPEN eyes.

Officials are calling it prevention fatigue. In other words, for two decades, we've been talking to people about preventing AIDS, and they fear now that people have this prevention fatigue. So 20 years later, millions of dollars later, those numbers are still going up.

Let's take a look. In the United States, for example, 900,000 Americans have HIV. That is the largest number ever, 20 years into the epidemic. And one big problem, one out of four of these people don't even know that they have it, so they don't know -- they go around spreading it, and they don't realize they're infected, and this has left many public health officials very frustrated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, CDC DIR.: We are more than 20 years into this epidemic and it's intolerable that today, we still are seeing 40,000 new cases, and that over 100,000 people don't know they have HIV infection. So when you have people who don't know they're infected and they continue to engage in risky behavior, the epidemic is constantly being fueled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: And by engaging in risky behavior, Dr. Gerberding means several things. Among them, sharing needles and participating in unsafe sex, and the message just isn't getting out there the way that it used to.

KAGAN: It's not, but the disease is getting out there. You hear these huge numbers that can make your eyes glaze over. But we're not talking about one monolith. There are certain groups that are being affected more than others.

COHEN: Yes, they have noticed, there are certain groups where the numbers are going up more than others. For example, more than half, about 55 percent of the people in the United States, who have HIV, are African-American. Infections among Latinos and other specific groups, up 26 percent, of infections among gay and bisexual men, up 17 percent.

And so the CDC and other public health folks are trying to target their messages to those groups. I think it's interesting, they've been trying to do that for a long time. These specific groups are nothing new, but there's sort of the feeling that 10, 15 years ago that people were more attuned to hearing these messages than they are now.

KAGAN: So there's a thing, prevention fatigue. People are tired of hearing of it, they think there may be drugs that can cure it like that. None of that is true. What do you do to fight the prevention fatigue.

COHEN: That's one of the actually problems is the drugs. AIDS and HIV are actually victims of the success the medical community. They came out with these drugs that make you actually be able to live with AIDS. I think in many public health people think in the back of people's minds, oh, well, so if I get HIV, I'll take the drugs and everything will be OK. Well, those drugs have some serious side effects. They can be very unpleasant. Prevention is, obviously, much better than living with HIV and having to take a whole host of drugs. Another thing the public health folks are trying to emphasize more and more is testing. There's a rapid test out, which wasn't always there, and they're trying get doctors more involved.

I can remember 15 years ago going to the doctors as a young single person for an ear infection, and the doctor said here's some antibiotics. Now let's talk about AIDS. They were into it. I don't think doctors aren't as into talking to their patients about AIDS and how to prevent it.

KAGAN: And you're right, the information is out there, as well as the testing, but have you to want to get it.

COHEN: That's right, and you have to have a doctor who wants to talk to you about getting it.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, thank you for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com