AIMHF, AMA, and testing

[picasso]

SK,


Now, as far as I understand this so called quarantine listing is prepared & released by the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, not some organization that I would bet my life on but that's just me.

Exactly SL. The AIMHF exists primarily to keep government health authorities from going in and possibly shut down the industry when an incident like this happens. It is not sanctioned by the AMA or any other reputable medical organizations that I'm aware of.

 

[HonestAbe]

Exactly SL. The AIMHF exists primarily to keep government health authorities from going in and possibly shut down the industry when an incident like this happens. It is not sanctioned by the AMA or any other reputable medical organizations that I'm aware of.

Picasso,

I'm not trying to put words in your mouth but your sentiment sounds like you believe that this organization is just a "token" of some sort with no real or legitimate purpose and that the industry isn't particularly concerned with this issue. Nothing could be further from the truth and the reasons are obvious.

All these actors and actresses lives depend on this information being given to them so they can be tested and stop work til they are cleared in order to stop the potential spread of the virus amongst themselves. Such a spread wouldn't take too long considering the activities we see taking place in adult movies today.

I would bet that absolutely no one was more concerned about this issue than Judy Star and Patricia Petite since it was their health at stake. As far as the adult industry as a whole, it could be brought to a grinding halt if any kind of widepsread infection was suspected which would cost all involved big money and no one wants that. That is why current STD tests are mandatory to get work and must be updated constantly. I've personally met more people with HIV than I have ever heard of from the porn industry who have it. They are cautious to the extreme in this business.

If Ron Jeremy wasn't in porn and slept with as many women as he has he would have died from Aids 10 years ago, being in Porn probably saved his life. Actually Ron never would have gotten laid that much if he wasn't in porn but I'm sure you understand the point. No one WANTS to get HIV and most people will bend over backwards to avoid contracting it, especially porn stars.

 

[picasso]

Picasso,

I'm not trying to put words in your mouth but your sentiment sounds like you believe that this organization is just a "token" of some sort with no real or legitimate purpose and that the industry isn't particularly concerned with this issue. Nothing could be further from the truth and the reasons are obvious.

All these actors and actresses lives depend on this information being given to them so they can be tested and stop work til they are cleared in order to stop the potential spread of the virus amongst themselves. Such a spread wouldn't take too long considering the activities we see taking place in adult movies today.

HA,

With all due respect, I think you misinterpreted my comments. Let me clarify where I'm coming from then. The first question for me is I'm not sure whether the medical standards or practices used by the AIMHF are identical to the guidelines recommended by well-known medical organizations such as the AMA. The second question in my mind is that in the porn business there is a balance between pushing the boundaries in certain sexual practices such as ATMs vs. HIV risk reduction. So when you have a self-regulating entity like the AIMHF, I'm curious how they balance the health and safety of porn actors/actresses vs. their need to make a living. Bottom line, i'm just wondering how much self-denial of the problem there is right now in the industry. You mentioned Ron Jeremy as an example of a guy who's managed to maintain his health in all of those years in porn. But I would argue that he was really from another era when high risk practices such as unprotected anal sex and ATMs, as well as sexual partners from high risk places such as Thailand, Eastern Europe, Africa are not as prevalent as they are today.

 

[HonestAbe]

Slight turn on the conversation

Point taken Picasso,

Ron Jeremy however has participated in what I can only estimate to be 100's(1,000's maybe?) of acts of unprotected Anal intercourse, the most risky form of sexual contact(especially when you are hung like a Donkey), along with unprotected everything else over his career from day one and after +/- 30 years in the industry he is still clean. While its conceivable that there could be a motivation for someone who has HIV to remain silent if they have no other way to make an income, that discounts to a great degree every other "Actors/Actresses" desire to not contract it. If contraction of STD's in the adult industry was rampant it would be a lot harder to find new talent and would drive up production costs for the industry as a whole.

The industry stands to lose more if they DON'T protect their greatest assets (The stars) which is why I believe they do in fact test regularly and quarantine those who have possibly been exposed to STD's until they are cleared. Of course there are examples where someone has contracted an STD and spread it to others who they performed with. Nothing is perfect, but I would venture to say, generally speaking, that the porn industry is safer than our hobby.

It would be nice if we all had this insurance given to us by the SP's we see, that they are in fact tested regularly but since there is no "governing body" overseeing the issue we can hardly expect such a courtesy. The only way this would happen would be if certain escorts voluntarily did it on their own or if the government got involved and passed legislation requiring the practice which many escorts revile the thought of, meaning being "policed" by the government. This leads me to believe that there is far more likelihood of STD's being hidden in our hobby than in the porn industry. Not just by the Sp's to be fair but by the clients as well.

I am on record as preferring GFE service just like the vast majority of those who participated in EB's poll and I would have no problem if an SP would only perform GFE on me if I showed her current STD test results at the time of our encounter. I would of course expect the same from her. Not that I'll stop booking GFE girls if this doesn't happen, it just seems like a logical idea that would take a lot of the risk out of the GFE equation.