AIDS fatigue is a phenomenon wherein individuals or societies who had been concerned about the impact of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

become desensitized to having a strong emotional response to HIV issues after receiving continual messages about the danger over a long period of time.

Causes

Anthony Fauci Anthony Stephen Fauci (; born December 24, 1940) is an American physician-scientist and immunologist serving as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the chief medical advisor to the president. ...

, director of the United States'

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, ) is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIAID's ...

at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

(NIH), said that one of the causes of AIDS fatigue are huge successes in treatment which subsequently have made some people perceive the disease as less concerning. Fauci noted that whereas in the 1980s in America "we had 30-40 percent of the hospital wards in inner-city hospitals occupied by people with advanced HIV disease, now because of the success of the therapies - which is great news - we don't have that."

Consequences

Some of the consequences of AIDS fatigue include the following: * the stigma of having HIV decreases * individuals' fear of disclosing HIV status weakens * media coverage becomes easier * media interest and coverage frequency reduces * less blame directed for infection * sexuality and gender issues become easier to discuss * less adherence to medicine regimens * less care taken to engage in safer sex

Examples

HIV infection is increasing at a rate of 12% annually among 13–24-year-old American men who have sex with men. Experts attribute this to "AIDS fatigue" among younger people who have no memory of the worst phase of the epidemic in the 1980s and early 1990s, as well as "

condom fatigue Condom fatigue is a term used by medical professionals and safer sex educators to refer to the phenomenon of decreased condom use. It is related to decreased effectiveness of safer sex messages because people who realize the necessity of condoms st ...

" among those who have grown tired of and disillusioned with the unrelenting

safer sex In cryptography, SAFER (Secure And Fast Encryption Routine) is the name of a family of block ciphers designed primarily by James Massey (one of the designers of IDEA) on behalf of Cylink Corporation. The early SAFER K and SAFER SK designs share t ...

message. The increase may also be because of new treatments.

References

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Fatigue Fatigue describes a state of tiredness that does not resolve with rest or sleep. In general usage, fatigue is synonymous with extreme tiredness or exhaustion that normally follows prolonged physical or mental activity. When it does not resolve ...

Public health education Sex education Condoms Sexual health

Causes

Consequences

Examples

See also

References