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AIDS The disease AIDS has become the leading cause of death among young adults in America. Much recent American culture deals with people living with or dying of AIDS. The story of AIDS and its effect on American life is not story today on the VOA Special English program THIS IS AMERICA. AIDS is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The human immunodeficiency virus called HIV is believed to cause AIDS. There is no cure. People who get the disease will die. AIDS itself does not kill. However, it attacks and destroys the body’’s defense system that fights against infection. When this happens, a person has little ability to fight off many other diseases including pneumonia, cancer and tuberculosis. A recent government report says AIDS is the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 25 and 44. The report says deaths caused by AIDS in this age group have increased every year since the disease was first recognized in 1981. Last year more than 80 thousand new AIDS cases were reported in the United States. Studies show that in 1993 most of the new cases were among minority populations, especially African-Americans and Hispanics. A new study says the number of women in the United States with AIDS has increased sharply. The study says AIDS is increasing faster among women than among men. Eighteen percent of AIDS patients are women. This is almost 3 ties the rate 10 years ago. Most women get the AIDS virus from having sexual relations with men. Pregnant women with the disease can pass it to their babies. The effect of AIDS in America is greatest in large cities. AIDS is the leading cause of death among all people in 79 cities. It is the leading cause of death among women in 15 cities. These include New York City and Miami, Florida. Doctors in the United States first noted AIDS 14 years ago in homosexual men in New York and California. In the United States AIDS spread first among homosexual men. Then it appeared in people who shared needles to put illegal drugs into their blood. It also appeared in people who had received infected blood products at hospitals. The AIDS virus is spread through the exchange of infected blood or body fluids released during sexual activity. It also is spread by having sexual relations with someone who has the virus. And it is spread by sharing drug needles that have infected blood on them. Health officials in the United States believe that public education is the best way to limit the spread of AIDS. In the past few years, public programs have taught children and adults the facts about AIDS. Teenagers and adults have been taught how to protect against AIDS. One method is to use rubber devices called condoms during sexual relations. More than 440 thousand people in the United States have gotten AIDS since the disease was first recognized. More than 250 thousand of them have died. Facts about AIDS are collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. Harold Jaffe is an official there. Dr. Jaffe says the effect of AIDS on American society is greater than the numbers of death. This is because AIDS mainly kills young people—the future of the nation. AIDS has created many kinds of reactions in America. Many people are frightened by the threat of AIDS. Some have changed their sexual activity to reduce their chances of getting the disease. Some hate and fear people with AIDS. Others have great sympathy for people living with the disease. AIDS activists have tried to reduce the public’’s fear of people with AIDS. They want to show that people with AIDS are just like other people. Private groups have done a lot to help people with AIDS. They organize support groups where people with AIDS and their families can discuss their problems. These groups also have established many special centers where people with AIDS can receive treatment. Many people with AIDS are involved in the arts. They are writers, actors, musicians, painters and dancers. They have organized many events to gain money for AIDS education, research ad treatment. And they have used the arts to help educate the public about AIDS. In recent years the subject of AIDS has become a large part of American culture. There have been books, television programs, movies, songs and plays about people with AIDS. Many have won awards. Last year, for example, the first major motion picture that dealt with AIDS was released. It is called PHILADELPHIA. It was about a lawyer with AIDS, who was dismissed from his job. Several plays about people with AIDS have been produced on Broadway in New York City. The most famous is called ANGELS IN AMERICA. It is about AIDS, sexual religion and politics during the 1980s. Many art museums across America take part in a yearly event called DAY WITHOUT ART. It is a way of remembering the people who have died from AIDS. Some museums close on that day. Some remove paintings from the walls and cover statues. Activists have worked to increase sympathy for people with AIDS. Several years ago, activists created a huge cloth covering called the AIDS Memorial Quilt. It is made of thousands of pieces of material joined together. People made each piece to honor a friend or family member who died of AIDS. The quilt has been shown in many American cities. American advertising has begun creating messages about people with AIDS. For example, Nike, a company that makes sports shoes, has a new television advertisement. It shows an athlete who runs long distance races. He is identified as having HIV. The ad is meant to show that many people with HIV, or AIDS, lead active lives. AIDS has affected several famous American athletes. Two years ago, former tennis player Arthur Ashe died of the disease. At about the same time, former basketball player Magic Johnson announced that he has the AIDS virus. The most recent athlete to be affected is Gregory Louganis. Louganis won a number of gold medals in Olympic diving competition. He announced on television that he has AIDS. President Clinton met with Louganis and praised him for discussing his sickness. Mr. Clinton said it is important to educate the public. Activists have succeeded in educating Americans about AIDS and the people who have it. They also have been urging the federal government to increase efforts to find a cure for AIDS. Scientists first identified the virus that is believed to cause AIDS in 1983. Many of them then thought they could produce an anti-AIDS vaccine. Such a medicine could be given to people to protect against the disease. However, scientists at American government agencies, universities and drug companies have failed to produce an anti-AIDS vaccine. But they are continuing effort to find better treatments for a cure. In 1993, most of the new AIDS cases were among minority populations, especially African-Americans and Hispanics.