Guest Posted July 12, 2002 From CNN.com: </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Sesame Street to introduce HIV-positive Muppet July 12, 2002 Posted: 12:35 AM EDT (0435 GMT) Talks are under way to add an HIV-positive Muppet to the Sesame Street gang, which includes Ernie and Bert. The character -- which has yet to have a name or final color or form -- will travel to many if not all of the eight other nations that air versions of the educational children's show that began in the United States in 1969, said Joel Schneider, vice president and senior adviser to the Sesame Street Workshop. Schneider announced the new character this week at the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, where he spoke by telephone on Thursday. "This character will be fully a part of the community," Schneider said. "She will have high self-esteem. Women are often stigmatized about HIV and we are providing a good role model as to how to deal with one's situation and how to interact with the community." The program is aimed at children from 3 to 7 and the messages delivered by the new character will be "appropriate," said Schneider, meaning that there will be no explicit mention of sex. "Not every show will deal explicitly with HIV/AIDS," Schneider said. "We want to show that here is an HIV-positive member of our community who you can touch and interact with. "We will be very careful to fashion our messages so they are appropriate to the age group. What do I do when I cut my finger? What do I do when you cut your finger? That sort of thing." "Takalani Sesame" will be the second children's show in South Africa to have an HIV-positive character. But it is believed to be the first among shows designed for preschoolers, said Beatrice Chow, spokeswoman for the Sesame Street Workshop in New York. In some parts of South Africa, 40 percent of women of child-bearing age are infected with HIV, and in 2000, about 40 percent of adult deaths in South Africa were attributed to AIDS, according to the U.S. State Department. <span id='postcolor'> CNN Article Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Major Fubar 0 Posted July 12, 2002 Bizarre...truly bizarre. is there any need to put this in a kids TV show/ i'm all for AIDS awareness, but aren't the viewers of Sesame street just a little too young to get this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IsthatyouJohnWayne 0 Posted July 12, 2002 In the rest of the world maybe, but not in South Africa. South Africa needs this, it needs anything to help it with the aids epidemic (including less expensive or free drugs from the US companies that make them) Aids in parts of Africa is at insane levels. Its shocking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oligo 1 Posted July 12, 2002 Do you understand how much money the drug companies have invested on research and development to come up with the AIDS drugs? How the hell are they going to finance the development of the next generation of drugs, if they give the current drugs out for free? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LauryThorn 0 Posted July 12, 2002 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Aids in parts of Africa is at insane levels.<span id='postcolor'> Oh yes. I did a small research when I was in high school, that was in geographic class. Then, 1 out of 8 citizens in Uganda had HIV. Like George W. Bush said, </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Africa is a big nation with big problems.<span id='postcolor'> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Longinius 1 Posted July 12, 2002 "Do you understand how much money the drug companies have invested on research and development to come up with the AIDS drugs? How the hell are they going to finance the development of the next generation of drugs, if they give the current drugs out for free?" God forbid they'd find an actual cure though. Then there would be noone left to sell all those drugs to! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oligo 1 Posted July 12, 2002 So far there isn't a cure for ANY viral disease whatsoever. All we can do is ease the symptoms and let the immune system of the patient kill the viruses. If antiviral drugs are ever developed, I doubt HIV (with the nasty mutating tendencies) is the first one to be tackled. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IsthatyouJohnWayne 0 Posted July 12, 2002 The drug companies in Africa are trying to do more than just recoup their development costs(perhaps it has changed for the better recently but i doubt it). A few companies having something of a monopoly, theyre trying to make a vast profit selling them to desperate governments at inflated prices- I just find that rather distasteful. Its not as if those companies are going bankrupt anyway, i seem to remember they waste hundreds of millions financing senators to think favourably of them. Ah i just found this relevant story http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/07/10/aids.drugs/index.html Prices have finally started to go down (in some countries at least ) But if one company can afford to cut prices by 97 % ( !!! ) then think how much they were ripping them off before Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EveronVetsAgainstTheWar 1 Posted July 12, 2002 I think there should be a muppet with the Ebola virus. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sadico 1 Posted July 12, 2002 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">How the hell are they going to finance the development of the next generation of drugs, if they give the current drugs out for free? <span id='postcolor'> Don't you think they get more than enough money from first world countries that have the money to pay? That shouldn't be financed by private companies, the AIDS problem is serious enough to be financed by the governments. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 12, 2002 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Oligo @ July 12 2002,12:35)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">So far there isn't a cure for ANY viral disease whatsoever. All we can do is ease the symptoms and let the immune system of the patient kill the viruses. If antiviral drugs are ever developed, I doubt HIV (with the nasty mutating tendencies) is the first one to be tackled.<span id='postcolor'> Well, isn't it so that we can treat specal cases of viral diseases if we manage to get the proper antibodies? The problem with HIV, as I understand it, is that even if we produced antibodies, they would be useless after a couple of minutes since the virus mutates so fast. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Warin 0 Posted July 12, 2002 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Oligo @ July 12 2002,12:12)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Do you understand how much money the drug companies have invested on research and development to come up with the AIDS drugs? How the hell are they going to finance the development of the next generation of drugs, if they give the current drugs out for free?<span id='postcolor'> Do you have any idea how much money these companies actually make?? Yes, the development of a new drug is an expensive procedure. But these companies are raising the price of drugs they have already developed and still have exclusive patents on. How will they finance the next AIDS drug, when they give out the current ones at a reasonable price? It's not like these companies develop each drug as a seperate company. So Pfizer gives away one drug, and recoups the loss with say.... VIAGRA. You can bet there wont be a lot of guys in the third world paying the insane price for Viagra...but there are a lot of first worlders who need the help and will pay for it. There comes a time where companies need to stop padding the bottom line and be responsible to humanity as a whole... and making AIDS drugs available at reasonable prices is one of them. As for having an HIV positive Sesame Street character...why not? They've had two implicity gay ones for years... Bert and Ernie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ralphwiggum 6 Posted July 12, 2002 I think this is pretty much the first time Denoir has gone more to the political right extreme than I did. I don't see problem with having HIV-positive character in a country where HIV is an epidemic of great proportion. Sooner or later, reality has to be taught and its better that they learn about it earlier. Don't be surprised about maturity of kids. I read Guns And Ammo magazine starting from 4th grade and was akin with NRA propaganda crap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 12, 2002 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (RalphWiggum @ July 12 2002,19:31)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I think this is pretty much the first time Denoir has gone more to the political right extreme than I did.<span id='postcolor'> It has nothing to do with the fact that it is AIDS. I think it is questionable to introduce a character that is fatally sick to children. Sure kids should at some point learn about death, but please, Sesame street is for the really youngest kids. I really don't think they can learn anything from it, except for that it might scare them. To me it is the same like saying that they will introduce a character that is going to die in a car accident. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sadico 1 Posted July 12, 2002 They should leave Sesame Street alone! I loved that program when i was a little kid. If they want to teach the kids about AIDS why don't they kill the Teletubbies!? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cloney 0 Posted July 12, 2002 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (residuum @ July 12 2002,15:27)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I think there should be a muppet with the Ebola virus.<span id='postcolor'> ROFL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tex -USMC- 0 Posted July 12, 2002 I think that is about one of the funniest things Ive ever read. You know, they dont even have to add a new muppet; After all, everyone's always wondered why Oscar the Grouch is always in such a bad mood. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ralphwiggum 6 Posted July 12, 2002 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Sadico @ July 12 2002,19:51)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">They should leave Sesame Street alone! I loved that program when i was a little kid. If they want to teach the kids about AIDS why don't they kill the Teletubbies!? Â <span id='postcolor'> i thought they killed teletubbies from TV already.! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ralphwiggum 6 Posted July 12, 2002 on the subject of virus and etc. If my 2 classes of biology and one life science taught me anything,(one in cancer, another in HIV) is that cost of developing a drug is tremendous. and those pharmacuetical companies want to rip the benfit as soon as, as much as possible. and since the cost of research is obnoxiously high, it goes without saying that price of drugs will be high. plus, add power of 'invisible hand' that drives price up since demnad for those drugs are quite high and inelastic. result is high price. we can't totally call pharmaceutical companies assholes since they came up with a solution. that's why mnay gov't rely on healthcare system(gov't driven) to subsidized users. so disappointment for not having a cure is substituted with disappointment for not being able to afford it easily. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PitViper 0 Posted July 12, 2002 Considering the reduced life expectancy of AIDS carriers, how long would this character be on the show? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ralphwiggum 6 Posted July 12, 2002 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (PitViper @ July 12 2002,20:38)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Considering the reduced life expectancy of AIDS carriers, how long would this character be on the show?<span id='postcolor'> depends if he gets AZT or cocktail treatment or not... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
