Aids Day +20: And The Band (Still) Plays On….........

[Are_grits_groceries]

Today is the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. It is also the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the AIDS virus (or 27th, depending on whose calculations you are reading).

The fact that AIDS remains the #1 health threat worldwide ought to be an eye-opener for the complacent. Sadly, it is no news to folks whose lives have been touched -- personally or through family and friends -- by HIV/AIDS.

One area of contention is still access to the expensive drugs which help to better manage the infection and education about prevention of HIV/AIDS. This includes disputes over funding condoms and other preventative measures like screening.
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In case you think this is a problem only in some distant part of the world and that we have things under control in the US, think again:

...For each new person treated, six more become infected. In the United States last year, at least 56,000 people became infected - a much greater number than was expected. About one to two people are infected in this country every 15 minutes. In San Francisco, three to four new infections occur every day.

Importantly, up to 25 percent of infected people in the United States do not know they are carrying the virus....

So many lights lost to AIDS. So many lights...and perhaps so little time to reach out to all of those who remain.

http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/01/and-the-band-plays-on/

I was living in DC in 1980. Watching the horror unfold was unreal. I have too many lights to remember......

[HamdenRice]

1. I've lost too many friends to count. It's such a horror.

My grad school roomate, Daryl.
My law school roomate, El.
My research assistant and translator in Africa, Nyaniso.
My greatest professor (religion), ever, Prof. Boswell.
My childhood friends, Bret and Steven.
My mentor in non-profit work, Richard, and his partner.
My friend in grad school, Tony.
My next door apartment neighbor when I lived in Brooklyn, "Uncle" Bill.
My favorite high school teacher (English), Mr. Rifkin.

The list is endless, and these are just a few.

The loss is sometimes unbearable to think of.

[Are_grits_groceries]

2. The song I think of is "Bring Him Home" from 'Lez Miz'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFbsZu7ZN7A

I think of home as a place of eternal peace and rest.
Just somewhere to belong. I don't think of it as
heaven necessarily as the song implies. This is just
my feeling.

[Deja Q]

3. It is tragic, but despite all sorts of campaigns and awareness these days,

the problem isn't any better. (At least in America, where we have campaigns and awareness. It's worse in other countries.)

And because relationships obviously aren't valued anymore, I don't see the problem getting any better. A lot of the media just hypes up the usual stereotype of people looking at each other and then instantly hopping to bed and saying "Use this" (and we know people in real life WON'T).

Drugs can only go so far.

Condoms can fail too.

Even people with skin conditions still get jiggy, despite the usual stereotyped campaigns where only good looking people stain the sheets.

Sex is like a credit card. Not the best analogy, but you can choose to use either of them.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. So many things I could say

But let's just start out with the fact that for many of those who are becoming infected today, the sex they are having is not a free and informed choice. Many are people forced to sell themselves for food. Many are wives whose husbands are not honest about their other contacts-this is a big one here in the US.
So for many of the people who are becoming ill, your assumption of power and information are about as true as assuming they can all sprout wings and fly away to a heavenly home.
And on one more seperate note, how amazing that you can say 'relationships are not valued' while watching the demand for marriage take center stage. I value my relationship very much, the heterosexualist society does not. Fighting that bigotry is job one. Have you seen all those people wanting to be married? Think about it.