Okay, so today, I’m going to step outside of the hospice and write about AIDS on a broader level. With World AIDS Day approaching December 1st there are some harsh truths and facts about this epidemic that need to be heard.
At last count, there were 33 million people infected with HIV/AIDS according to the UN. Every week AIDS claims as many lives as American fatalities in Vietnam. Again, EVERY WEEK AIDS kills as many people as American deaths in Vietnam. Everyday 6,000 children will be orphaned to AIDS…..Everyday.
Kenneth Cole and amfAR have launched a new campaign themed “We’re Forgetting AIDS.” So true, and so appropriate, AIDS has taken a backseat these last years. People need to understand that even with anti-retroviral drugs the disease still kills. It’s destructive and vicious and there is no cure. The end result of AIDS is always death. The younger generation who did not see the discovery and devastation of AIDS play out on the nightly news (when they actually began to report it) don't comprehend how deadly this disease is. All they know is that “Magic is still alive.” When you’re 18 years old, you think 10, 15, 20, years is a lifetime. You don’t realize that those years are consumed with fighting the disease, leaving little room for much else.
I’ve searched the “hip” boutiques that carry pink and yellow ribbons; I have yet to find a red ribbon among them. 25 plus years and the stigma and ignorance of AIDS is once again permeating through, diminishing the accomplishments of our predecessors who fought hard for facts that we now ignore. Like they don’t pertain to us? “We’re Forgetting AIDS,” and we’re still getting AIDS. The demographics may have shifted, but AIDS still exist and it still kills. It’s one of the leading killers in society and the fourth leading killer of women in America.
World AIDS Day is December 1st; I will be speaking at an event in my community. There are many events taking place to commemorate the day and what it means to those infected and affected. Pick an event, show your support, learn something new and pass it along.
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2 comments:
The mortality rate is incredible and yet we rarely hear anything about AIDS anymore. So sad. I look forward to hearing you speak at the Covenant Church.
Claudine please join our group and share some of your Knowledge..We are a group of artist's and I can tell you I have witnessed friends deplete from the disease, and all we have been doing is selling sex and not providing education about it--The Artist's Group by Paine Calabro- at google groups
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