Is this the weirdest HIV/AIDS awareness ad ever?

Seriously, LOOK AT THIS.

For most of us (and good god, I hope it’s most of us), chances are we already know that you can’t get HIV or AIDS from playing hide and seek. And please try to avoid the lame hide-and-seek sex jokes. I know, we all already have one in our heads. Let’s just leave ‘em there and move on.

But the sad thing — even sadder than this ad — is the fact that there are still kids, and even adults, who are so uneducated about HIV that they think skin-to-skin contact is a way to contract the disease. There are people who don’t understand that a simple condom can drastically reduce the risk of getting HIV. And there are a lot of people who don’t know how effective antiretroviral medication is for not only reducing the risk of transmitting the disease to others, but also for suppressing it in the body of someone who’s affected so that the damage is lessened. Hell, most people who contract HIV today will actually have normal lifespans as long as they take their medication.

We’re lucky that we live in an era where HIV is, if not a curable disease, one that is at least manageable. If you’re responsible and you don’t run into any bad luck (accidents do happen), then you can avoid HIV. That being said, we still have to educate ourselves enough not to treat those with HIV with less respect.

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