Three speakers from David’s House led a discussion last night on AIDS, HIV and the issues that surround the disease. Jim Flynn, a volunteer speaker for David’s House, talked about his life after finding he was HIV positive.
Flynn found out he was HIV positive in 1992. He now speaks about the disease to make people aware of the facts and myths of HIV and AIDS.
“I think that there is a great apathy for the disease today, part of that is with the new drugs available, there aren’t as many deaths,” Flynn said. But, he added, the infection rate has not gone down.
Flynn takes four types of medicine for HIV. He said that the issue of HIV has been neglected by the media, and he is amazed at the lack of knowledge people have.
“Yesterday I was watching the news because it was World AIDS Day and I wanted to know how much coverage it would get and the broadcast was a minute and a half,” Flynn said.
Richard Starn said that people do not realize that this disease reaches far beyond the gay community and African Americans.
Thirty-seven percent of the clientele at David’s House in Toledo are women. Ten years ago it was two percent.
“People bury AIDS, they don’t want to see it,” Starn said, “young kids especially, they think they are immune to it.”
There is now a procedure that has been tested among pregnant HIV positive women. This procedure treats the mother with a drug called Zidovudine (AZT) and also treats the child with the same drug for six months after birth.
The drug was tested on 67 pregnant women and 65 of the babies were born HIV negative, Starn said.
“It just gives hope to mothers,” Flynn said. Women often do not know they are HIV positive when they become pregnant. This is another problem that can be prevented, said Flynn.
“Twenty years after the discovery of the disease doctors should be making women aware of how important it is to be tested for HIV,” Flynn said.
According to Starn, education is the key for future generations. “There can never be enough educators because it is the only tool we have,” Flynn said.
Kent Hansen, a youth educator at David’s House, said he heard his calling to help when he saw the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Parts of the quilt will be available for students to view today through Thursday in the Union Multipurpose Room.
Flynn said his call to volunteer is for personal reasons.
“I do what I do because I saw my first friend die from AIDS when I was 24. Twenty-four-year-olds shouldn’t see other young people die,” Flynn said. “I don’t want another generation to see their generation die.”
Hansen said David’s House is always looking for volunteers and can be contacted at 419-244-6682.
