SWOSU,
You should read a little on health belief models. The HBM is a theoretical framework that is used by public health officials in preventative education. The basic model has stages:
quote:
Perceived Susceptibility - Each individual has his/her own perception of the likelihood of experiencing a condition that would adversely affect one's health. Individuals vary widely in their perception of susceptibility to a disease or condition. Those at low end of the extreme deny the possibility of contracting an adverse condition. Individuals in a moderate category admit to a statistical possibility of disease susceptibility. Those individuals at the high extreme of susceptibility feel there is real danger that they will experience an adverse condition or contract a given disease.
Perceived Seriousness - refers to the beliefs a person holds concerning the effects a given disease or condition would have on one's state of affairs. These effects can be considered from the point of view of the difficulties that a disease would create. For instance, pain and discomfort, loss of work time, financial burdens, difficulties with family, relationships, and susceptibility to future conditions. It is important to include these emotional and financial burdens when considering the seriousness of a disease or condition.
Perceived Benefits of Taking Action - taking action toward the prevention of disease or toward dealing with an illness is the next step to expect after an individual has accepted the susceptibility o f a disease and recognized it is serious. The direction of action that a person chooses will be influenced by the beliefs regarding the action.
Barriers to Taking Action - However, action may not take place, even though an individual may believe that the benefits to taking action are effective. This may be due to barriers. Barriers relate to the characteristics of a treatment or preventive measure may be inconvenient, expensive, unpleasant, painful or upsetting. These characteristics may lead a person away from taking the desired action.
Cues to Action - an individual's perception of the levels of susceptibility and seriousness provide the force to act. Benefits (minus barriers) provide the path of action. However, it may require a 'cue to action' for the desired behavior to occur. These cues may be internal or external.
SourceUsing the key components of this framework, if a cure for AIDs was found, the perceived susceptibility and seriousness would dramatically decline, while the perceived benefits of taking action [sexual gratification] would increase. This could be applied to homosexuals as well as heterosexuals. But, then what prevents promiscuous sex? If it is fears if STIs (also including AIDs), then a cure for AIDs would not necessarily lower the barriers for risky behaviour.
As far as drug use, I would hypothosize that the percieved benefits of a high generally outweigh the percieved risk of infection and the percieved risk to ones future. Drug use can impede one's future, and AIDs is but one of many risk. Therefore, I would think drug use would not statistically change due to an AIDs cure, ceteris paribus.
Smoking is a bit different. If a cure for lung cancer was found, then smoking would probably increase. However, the side effects (asthma, burning eyes, odor) would still persist and it would probably continue to be a stigmatized action.
