NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’ Interviews Magic Johnson About Responsibilities, Challenges of Being HIV-Positive
NPR's "All Things Considered" on Friday included an interview with former NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson -- the "nation's most visible symbol of the increasing longevity" of HIV-positive people -- about the responsibilities and challenges he faces as an HIV/AIDS educator in the African-American community, which is "in the bull's eye of the AIDS epidemic," according to NPR. "Over 60% of all people living with HIV are people of color. Right now the message is not strong enough or is not working or they're not reading the pamphlets ... and so we must change our attitude and make sure we're able to bring the numbers down. That's our biggest challenge there," Johnson said. Some AIDS advocates say that Johnson's "healthy image" presents a "confusing message" that HIV/AIDS can be cured, NPR reports. Although Johnson is a spokesperson for GlaxoSmithKline's antiretroviral drug Combivir, he is "hesitant" to discuss his specific HIV/AIDS treatments to prevent other HIV-positive people from following his regimen instead of something that works better for them, according to NPR (Norris, "All Things Considered," NPR, 9/24). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
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