Charlie Sheen announced he was HIV positive last November and apparently that served as the best public-service announcement—ever. A new study shows that online searches about HIV quadrupled beyond the usual number the day after Sheen made his announcement.
LIKE DailyVitamina.com on Facebook! Get Your Daily Vitamin…FOR LIFE!
“Charlie Sheen’s disclosure is potentially the most significant domestic HIV prevention event in the last decade,” said study author John Ayers, a research professor with the Graduate School of Public Health at San Diego State University. He and his colleagues analyzed news stories and Google searches in the years before Sheen’s announcement and in the weeks afterward. The study is published in this month’s JAMA Internal Medicine.
“More searches for HIV occurred on the day of Sheen’s disclosure than have ever occurred on any other day” since Google began tracking the number of searches in 2005, said study co-author Eric Leas, a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego.
Why does this matter? Ayers says that this reveals what the public is thinking and how they are actively engaged in trying to improve their own health and health awareness. Even though the study doesn’t provide any information on whether people found reliable sources or were screened for HIV, a site called STDcheck.com, which provides HIV testing kits did grow by 70% around this time.
This small study shows the impact that celebrities have coming forward with their own personal stories and how they can potentially help save or improve the lives of others. We must say that Charlie Sheen is a “winner” in our eyes! Check out the interview that started it all:
