Every year, there are programs on alcohol and binge drinking or relationships and rape, but two weeks ago Alpha Gamma Delta hosted a speaker who brought a message we have all heard at some time, but many people don’t seem to remember as they should: the issue of safe sex.
While everyone would agree that safe sex is a good idea while they are sober, when one is under the influence of alcohol, people tend to ignore these warnings. Many people feel they can judge based on someone’s looks and character whether or not they have an STD. The only problem is that judgment is impaired when you’ve been drinking. What if that person who looks and seems as though they would always have safe sex made the same judgment about someone else earlier and was wrong?
Only one in eleven people who have AIDS know that they have AIDS. Those are frightening statistics for two reasons. First, that means for every one person trying to protect others from the disease, there are ten who are not simply because they don’t know they should. Secondly, how do you know you aren’t one of those ten in eleven?
I would encourage anyone out there who thinks they could have the slightest possibility of having AIDS to get tested. So basically if you have ever had unprotected sex, get yourself to a clinic and take the test. I do want to warn everyone though that there is a window period between when you contract HIV and when it will show up in the testing, so make sure you’ve been practicing safely for awhile before assuming the test is perfect.
If we get more people out there to know their status, then maybe we can help to stop the progression of the disease. Knowledge is power, and in this case, not having the correct knowledge could kill you.
