Title: HIV/AIDS - Prevent It! Word Count: 225 Summary: AIDS. The very sound of the word scares some, and makes other cringe. How did we let it get so far? There is no cure for very few diseases, and aids is one of them. Yet we still have unprotected sex, and we still share dirty needles. Come on! Granted, HIV/AIDS will never be a thing of the past, but we can do better in making the condition less common. Keywords: hiv, aids, symptoms, cures, treatment Article Body: AIDS. The very sound of the word scares some, and makes other cringe. How did we let it get so far? There is no cure for very few diseases, and aids is one of them. Yet we still have unprotected sex, and we still share dirty needles. Come on! Granted, HIV/AIDS will never be a thing of the past, but we can do better in making the condition less common. HIV/AIDS kills. In 2004, it was responsible for 3.5 million deaths globally. Thats not even the worst of it. 6.4 million people newly contracted the virus in the same year! Instead of diminishing the deadly condition, we are multiplying it. This needs to stop. It's as if 3.5 million wasn't enough dead in 2004, so we decided to boost the numbers for 2005. What are we thinking?! Mothers can share AIDS with their infants during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, and there is no way to stop it short of not becoming pregnant. But here is the list of preventable HIV/AIDS transmissions: - Penetrative oral, vaginal, or anal sex (Unprotected) - Blood transfusion - In health care settings - Drug injection So if these ways are all preventable, why is HIV/AIDS still such a major problem? The human race needs to wise up, stop sharing needles, screen blood transfusions, and USE CONDOMS. Let's beat AIDS before it beats us.