Different people cope with different diagnoses in different ways. Some believe that their lives are over, or are not worth living. David Lee Magnum admitted to having sex with 12 people at the times, which who he did not disclose his HIV status to as well. The 'Pyramid of Risk' helps us identify unhealthy sexual behavioral risks a person engages in, such as a person having a high number of partners and/or multiple partners at a time. Some people even intend to harm others, by spreading the disease they're diagnosed with. In Missouri, a man named David Lee Magnum intentionally exposing his partner to HIV. David Lee Magnum was not only increasing the chances of his sexual partners contracting HIV from him, but the people his partners were unknowing spreading the virus too. He defended himself by claiming he initially was receiving treatment, however after moving to a different location he stopped adhering to treatment due to lack of transportation for his doctor’s visits.
Of course, the Internet and certain smart phone apps definitely have their role in facilitating and speeding up the ‘dating’ process by offering an open channel of advertisement and communication however it would be interesting to know how new technology can reduce the stigma that remains in the conversation of HIV/AIDS epidemic.The number of lives David Lee Magnum has actually affected, won't ever be certain. I suspect the domino effect of his actions had on other lives was drastic whether it was on a few lives or many. When prompted with the question of why Magnum infected others, he blamed it on the lack of transportation which made him stop going to his doctor visits. Although it is still a very sensitive subject to speak out about especially for those who are positively diagnosed with the virus, I believe he could’ve stopped his behavior and came out clean to his sexual partners but decided not to. In Britain, the number of people living with HIV have doubled in the last decade to 110,000 with a quarter of those people are unaware that they have the virus. More than 50% of the six thousand newly diagnosed cases in 2013, were gay men.
1. Migiro, Katy. “Goal to End AIDS Epidemiology 2030 ‘Ambitious but Realistic’: UN Chief”. New York Times. July 14th 2015: 1 Page. www.NewYorkTimes.com.October 15th 2015.
2. Goodnough, Abby. “Missouri Man Gets 30 Years for Exposing Sex Partners to HIV”. New York Times, July 23rd 2015: 1 Page. www.NewYorkTimes.com. October 15th 2015