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By Tempest Wright Since the first outbreak in the 1980s, HIV/AIDS has been a hot-button issue shrouded in fear, stigma, misinformation and confusion. Today, more than 1.2 million people in the United States are HIV-positive. Of that 1.2 million, 1 in 7 individuals do not know they are infected, ac- cording to AIDS.gov. Despite the prevalence of false rumors and mis- conceptions about HIV, medicine has advanced to the point where the disease can be successful- ly managed and made harder to spread. Howev- er, despite this progress, teenagers, like most Americans, remain uninformed of the realities of HIV/AIDS, including how it spreads and a person's risk for contracting the disease. A study done by the M.A.C. AIDS Fund (an initiative of M.A.C. Cosmetics) revealed one-third (33 percent) of teenagers don't know that HIV is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Additionally, only 31 percent of teens believe having unprotected sex is a hazard to their health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports more than half of youths aged 13-24 who are infected with HIV are unaware of their status. Subsequently, these young people are not being treated for the infection, which allows it to be spread much easier. Although this has much to do with the misinformation sur- rounding the spread and presence of HIV, social stigma attached to those who are HIV-positive also plays a large role in why people don't get tested. Discrimination against those who are HIV-positive leaves at-risk individuals reluctant to learn their status. People who are uneducated about HIV often believe they can contract the disease by touch- ing, kissing or sharing drinks with a person who is HIV-positive, but this is not true. And while HIV is spread through bodily fluids such as blood, breast milk, semen, vaginal fluid and their con- tact with openings in the skin and mucus mem- branes (such as genitals), it cannot be spread through tears, sweat or saliva. Additionally, HIV can be spread through intravenous drug use, by sharing needles and other methods of injecting drugs. There is a belief that people who contract HIV somehow did something to deserve the infection. But this is never true. Oftentimes, people in monogamous relationships are infected by their significant other who doesn't know they are HIV-positive. Moreover, some people are born infected. In an online interview with the digital publication Vox, 19-year-old activist Paige Rawl, who was born HIV-positive after her father infected her mother and left the family, describes how she was bullied out of middle school after her best friend learned of her diagnosis. "When I told my best friend at the time, it spread throughout the entire middle school and I started being bullied. I really started to understand the disease, and understand that there's a stigma out there and some people are never going to accept me for it. After everything I went through, though, I realized that having HIV shouldn't define me," she said. "After coming out, I lost a lot of friends because of it. I was frequently beat up. I had a nickname that I was given. It was really hard for me. I was surprised at how people were treating me over something I was born with." Rawl goes on to say that her experience with bullying, while difficult to endure, gave meaning to her life. She travels the country speaking on HIV/AIDS in an effort to dismantle the miseduca- tion and discrimination surrounding the disease and to raise awareness and urge people to get tested. In an interview with CNN, 25-year-old Masonia Traylor, also an HIV/AIDs youth advocate, infect- ed with HIV when she was just a teenager, recounts how inadequate education on the topic of HIV was at her high school. "In school we learn that HIV can lead to AIDS and AIDS can lead to death. ... It's a fear and that's it," she said. One of the most important keys in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDs is learning about it. The more people are informed, the more they can do to protect themselves and educate others who lack proper information. Education can also reduce the stigma and discrimination individuals who are HIV-positive face when their status is made public. And as stigma and discrimination lessons, more people may be willing to get tested and treated if they are infected. If you or someone you know is at risk and you think you need help, there are a number of resources available to assist you. Call the Nation- al Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-274-TALK (8255) - they help with more than just suicide - or visit https://www.AIDS.Gov/locator/ to find testing and information near you. You can also contact the CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636) or your local health department for information on free testing. Finally, you can look for home testing kits (the Home Access HIV-1 Test System or the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test) at a drugstore.

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