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| Anthony Fauci | |||
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Anthony Fauci, MD, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was on The Colbert Report on Tuesday, March 29.
Stephen Colbert did a great job at setting up questions for Fauci to knock down. And Fauci did a great job at setting up punchlines for Colbert.
Here are some excerpts:
Colbert: Why aren’t we talking about it [AIDS] if it’s still a big deal?Jokes aside, not once (at least in the edited version that appeared on air) was “HIV” uttered. I’m sure that wasn’t deliberate, but I’m disappointed.
Fauci: Well, people get used to it being around, they get complacent about it...
Colbert: Why are so many still people getting it, because we have abstinence education--
Fauci: That rarely works, that rarely works...
[Fauci explains that African Americans are disproportionately affected.]
Colbert: Is their a vaccine?
Fauci: Not yet.
Colbert: Sounds to me like the vaccine is to be a rich white person.
Colbert: Let’s go over some of the basics. I know you can transmit AIDS through sex. What about kissing?
Fauci: No.
Colbert: And crying?
Fauci: No. You’re OK, you can kiss and cry.
Colbert: That’s good, because I also do those during sex.
Making the distinction between HIV and AIDS is necessary for people to understand the disease. What a missed opportunity.
That said, the segment did shed some much-needed light on a topic that doesn’t get anywhere near the kind of media attention it used to get.
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