Prevention

Before we can stop any epidemic, we first have to recognize the magnitude of the disease. HIV is still a threat across the United States. And even though there are treatments to help people with HIV live longer than ever before, AIDS is still a significant health issue. Surprised? Get the facts:

Every 9½ minutes (on average), someone in the United States is infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

In 2006, an estimated 56,300 people became infected with HIV.

More than 1 million people in the United States are living with HIV.

Of those 1 million people living with HIV, 1 out of 5 do not know they are infected. (People who have HIV but don’t know it can unknowingly pass the virus to their partners.)

Despite new therapies, people with HIV still develop AIDS.

Over 1 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with AIDS.

More than 14,000 people with AIDS still die each year in the United States.

You Can Prevent HIV

Although HIV infection is completely preventable, every 9½ minutes, someone in the United States is infected with the virus. That person could be you—or someone you know—your brother, sister, father, mother, friend, co-worker, or neighbor. It is important for everyone to get the facts, talk about HIV/AIDS with partners and loved ones, reduce risk behaviors, and get tested to learn their HIV status. It’s not always easy, but we all must be willing to talk about sex. To protect yourself, you need to understand how a person gets HIV or passes it to someone else. HIV can be passed on when blood, semen (cum), pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum), vaginal fluid, or breast milk from a person who has HIV enters the body of a person who does not have HIV.

Prevention is the means of attempting to stop something from happening that would otherwise not be good for another. A critical role for Ozzy’s Journey is to educate and counsel youth from making mistakes that will not only be costly, but may also carry severe consequences. These consequences may potentially be one that will follow them for a lifetime and deter their paths of success to other negative influences outside of their control. For these reasons Ozzy’s Journey will focus on several prevention issues that are relevant in issues of teens today.