AIDS fatigue is a phenomenon wherein individuals or societies who previously were concerned about the impact of HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

 or AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 become desensitized

Desensitization (psychology)

In psychology, desensitization is a process for mitigating the harmful effects of phobias or other disorders. It also occurs when an emotional response is repeatedly evoked in situations in which the action tendency that is associated with the emotion proves irrelevant or unnecessary...

 to the 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 Fauci

Anthony S. Fauci is an immunologist who has made substantial contributions to research in the areas of AIDS and other immunodeficiencies, both as a scientist and as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases .-Education and career:Anthony Stephen Fauci was born on...

, director of the United States' NIAID at the NIH

National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

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