Name Name Professor Name Course Number, Section Number 2 December 2003 HIV-Infected Athletes The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a viral infection that gradually destroys the immune system and eventually causes AIDS, or the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. HIV is a progressive disorder, meaning that a person can show no symptoms for a number of years. According to the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) National AIDS Clearinghouse, “HIV infection often goes undetected for months or even years because of the initial lack of outward symptoms,” (HIV/AIDS and Sports 2). AIDS usually develops within ten years after initial HIV infection, and can be transmitted in a number of different ways. One way is “through sexual contact with an infected person” (2). It can also be spread through the sharing of needles or in rare occasions, transfusions. Athletic competitions provide yet another way for HIV to be transmitted. Unfortunately, “no cure currently exists for HIV infection, but medical treatments can prevent, postpone, or treat many illnesses associated with AIDS. People who seek medical care to monitor and treat their HIV infection typically can carry on with their normal lifestyles, including exercising and participating in sports” (2). Neither HIV nor AIDS were issues regarding athletics until recently, when HIV-positive athletes publicly announced their status. These athletes include Earvin “Magic” Johnson, a professional basketball player and Greg Louganis, the 1984 and 1988 Olympic gold medallist diver. Uninfected athletes now fear HIV transmission during competition and as a result, HIV-positive athletes are not receiving equal treatment. This unequal treatment is apparent discrimination and voluntary HIV testing and preventative techniques are the only possible long-term solutions. Magic Johnson shocked the world in November 1991 when he announced his retirement from the National Basketball Association due to his positive HIV status. The media began to focus on HIV and athletics after this announcement. Because he was not showing any outward symptoms, Johnson returned to basketball in 1992. He made an appearance in the NBA All-Star game and also played on the gold medal-winning United States Olympic team. Unfortunately, this was a brief return because of fear of HIV transmission on the court. Gerald J. Stine, a renowned AIDS author of the University of North Florida states, “an Australian Olympic Federation medical official recommended a boycott against the United States basketball team if Magic Johnson played in the Summer Games” (175). Brian Sando, senior medical director of the federation’s basketball program, also saw Johnson as a threat: “I would certainly recommend that our basketballers not compete with a team of which Magic Johnson was a member. That risk- even though it’s small- you cannot absolutely say it’s never going to occur” (175). This comeback “ended in the exhibition season when a cut on his arm elicited a look of horror from other players” (Springer D1). Johnson tried to return to the National Basketball Association a second time in 1996, but this was also a brief attempt. Further interest was sparked when Greg Louganis revealed his HIV status in an interview with Barbara Walters in 1995. Louganis knew that he was HIV-positive before the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, but “was discouraged from telling the United States Olympic Committee about his condition” (Sandomir A1). His HIV-positive status became an issue when he failed his reverse two-and-half pike and hit his head on the springboard. Louganis bled into the pool and was sutured by a doctor who was not wearing protective gloves. After this incident and Magic Johnson’s brief comebacks, “the athletic implications became controversial” (Swift 1) and the fear of HIV transmission during competition was rekindled. Because of this fear of HIV transmission during athletics, infected athletes are being treated unequally. They are often “excluded from sport competitions, encouraged to retire prematurely, or have been subjected to random, mandatory HIV testing” (Luke 2). According to the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse, “…nearly two-thirds of college athletes participating in contact sports would support a ban restricting HIV-infected players from competition” (HIV/AIDS and Sports 5), but the exclusion of HIV-infected athletes is not justified. There are certain policies that protect infected athletes, including the Americans with Disability Act and Section 504 of the IDEA. According to the Americans with Disability Act, “an athlete who is HIV-positive is protected and has the right to participate in sports if they wish to do so. It also states that ‘anyone who creates a significant risk of communicating an infectious disease to others may be excluded from sports if reasonable accommodation will not eliminate this risk” (Luke 1). Section 504 of the IDEA “supports an HIV child’s right to an education and participation in sports and activities” (1). The unequal treatment of infected athletes is a result of apparent HIV and AIDS discrimination. As the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse has said, “discriminatory attitudes surfaced in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1992 when Magic Johnson first attempted to return to professional competition with the Lakers” (HIV/AIDS and Sports 5). These “discriminatory attitudes” (5) may have caused Johnson’s early retirement. Johnson stated, “the pressures of being an HIV-positive athlete became too great when he was introduced to the world of AIDS discrimination” (Almond 1). The CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse states, “the issue of mandatory HIV testing of athletes has arisen in discussions of HIV and sports” (HIV/AIDS and Sports 4). Uninfected athletes believe that HIV testing should be mandatory because it is the responsibility of infected athletes to disclose their HIV status in order to protect fellow athletes. “Most professional and collegiate athletic organizations encourage, but do not require, testing” (HIV/AIDS and Sports 4) because “routine HIV testing of all athletes is unnecessary, impractical, unmanageable, and costly for many reasons” (5). “When HIV testing first became available, there was great fear that it would be used to identify and discriminate against infected persons” (Richards III 78). Unfortunately, mandatory testing verifies these fears because it indeed “endangers confidentiality and can lead to discrimination” (Grantham 10C). Possible long-term solutions to alleviate the fears of uninfected athletes, as well as the apparent discrimination of infected athletes, include voluntary HIV testing and preventative techniques. Voluntary HIV testing assures that athletes freely consent to this testing. Once athletes receive their results, it is their decision to disclose them. Another solution is to use preventative techniques prior to, during, and after competition. One technique stresses “…prevention in off-the-field settings. Schools, professional organizations (for example, those representing physicians, coaches, and trainers), and other institutions have unique opportunities to educate athletes, coaches, trainers, and officials about preventing the transmission of blood-borne pathogens” (Mast 2). Prior to competition, all wounds, abrasions, and cuts “…should be securely covered with bandages or simple wraps to prevent leakage of blood or serous fluid” (3). If during a competition “an athlete is bleeding, play must be stopped and the wound covered with a sturdy dressing. The athlete must be removed until the bleeding is controlled” (Fact Sheet 1). “Blood on the skin of the injured athlete and on that of the other participants should be washed off thoroughly” (Mast 3) and if there is a significant amount of blood on an athlete’s equipment, the equipment should be changed as soon as possible. All health care personnel “should use disposable examination gloves to prevent exposure to blood when treating athletes who are bleeding profusely” (3). Unfortunately, voluntary HIV testing and preventative techniques are only possible solutions. Until recently, HIV and AIDS were not issues in athletics. Because several professional athletes, including Magic Johnson and Greg Louganis, began to announce their HIV-positive statuses, the media started to focus on HIV, AIDS, and athletics. Uninfected athletes became fearful of competing with infected players because they did not want to contract the disease. HIV-positive athletes became the subject of apparent discrimination. These athletes were treated unequally by uninfected athletes through exclusion and proposed mandatory testing. Preventative techniques and voluntary HIV testing are the only long-term solutions. Works Cited Almond, Elliott. “Defusing Fear Still Problem HIV: Mellman Says He Has Intensified Effort to Educate the Sports World as to the Real and Imagined Risks of Virus.” The Los Angeles Times 5 Dec. 1992: 1. “Fact Sheet.” Online. Internet. 24 Oct. 2003. Available: http:www.ncaa.org/sports_sciences/sports_med_handbook/2h_blood_borne.pdf. Grantham, Charles. “Topic: HIV Testing for Athletes // Equitable Program for Players at Top of Agenda.” USA Today 12 Nov. 1991: 10C. “HIV/AIDS and Sports.” Online. Internet. 24 Oct. 2003. Available: . Luke, Wendy. “HIV/AIDS & Sport.” Online. Internet. 24 Oct. 2003. Available: http://coefaculty.valdosta.edu/mpmaina/KSPE%207220/HIV%20presentation.ppt. Mast, Eric E., et al. “Transmission of Blood-Borne Pathogens during Sports.” Online. Internet. 24 Oct. 2003. Available: . Richards III, Edward P. “HIV Testing, Screening, and Confidentiality: An American Perspective.” HIV and AIDS: Testing, Screening, and Confidentiality. Ed. Rebecca Bennett and Charles A. Erin. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 75-90. Sandomir, Richard. “Olympic Medalist Louganis Has Aids Kept Illness Secret at Games.” The New York Times 23 Feb. 1995: A1. Springer, Steve. “Magic’s Announcement* 10 Years Later; A Real Survivor; Johnson Has Learned to Live with HIV and Thrived in Business Community.” The Los Angeles Times 7 Nov. 2001: D1. Stine, Gerald James. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome: Biological, Medical, Social, and Legal Issues. Englewood Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1993. Swift, E.M. “A Message Worth Repeating.” Online. Internet. 24 Oct. 2003. Available: .