This week, a northwest Iowa man was sentenced to 26 years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal transmission of H-I-V. An AIDS advocate says it’s ironic the case got so much publicity, since World AIDS Day was Thursday. Summer Elgin is education coordinator for the Red Cross’ Central Iowa Chapter. Elgin says the case is sad on many levels and it “hinders our education efforts because people see cases like that and they think that’s the majority of people out there living with H-I-V and the fact of the matter is, it’s not. It’s a very small minority.”
Some say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, so in that vein, Elgin says the case -did- help raise AIDS to the forefront of state news this week. While it raised awareness about H-I-V and AIDS, it did so in a manner that wouldn’t make people want to educate themselves about the subject, but rather to shun away from it. 31-year-old Dwayne Boyd of Milford was accused of spreading the virus that causes AIDS, exposing four women, including his wife. He agreed to plead guilty to one count of criminal transmission of H-I-V and possession of meth. Boyd admitted in court that he engaged in intimate contact with a woman knowing he was H-I-V positive.