WORLD AIDS DAY, 1 DECEMBER 2005

Thursday, December 1, 2005, is International HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, also known as World AIDS Day. On December 12, I will acknowledge the 20th anniversary of learning that I am HIV positive. This is my annual note to remind me and others that we are fortunate to be alive and that there is much work to be done. Please wear your red ribbons on 1 December to show support for your family, friends and compassionate strangers who are involved with HIV/AIDS. This is, indeed, all of us…throughout the world.

AVERT.ORG estimates that as many as 3.5 million lives were lost to HIV/AIDS last year. Other estimates state that more than 29 million people have died of AIDS since 1981. The most frightening statistics involve new infections and AIDS orphans. AVERT.ORG estimates that there are over 12 million AIDS orphans in Africa alone and that over 6,000 people are infected with HIV daily. Current estimates indicate that as many as 44.3 million people are living with HIV worldwide and that only 1 in 6 people living with AIDS in the developed world are receiving therapies to fight the virus. I admit that I have taken the worst-case scenarios in citing all of these statistics because that is within the realm of possibility and to anyone infected, infection can be the worst-case scenario.

We must continue to educate about the spread of HIV, and perhaps, about the consequences of HIV. Many of the newly infected are too young to remember the specter of death that AIDS used to be. It is a fine line to walk. On one hand, we need to make the horrors of this disease apparent to those who are unaware of how ugly it can be, but we also need to make sure that those living with AIDS are treated compassionately and with respect. We must give hope to survivors and prevent new infections at the same time.

For so many people in the world, treatment is simply not an option when even the cost to test for antibodies to the virus is prohibitively expensive. We must make all medications more affordable and more accessible to everyone. Equally, we need to pressure our politicians to make money available to support AIDS Drug Assistance Programs for indigent people more accessible and fully funded to meet the needs of the community. In North Carolina, USA, you must live below a poverty level income of $12K/year to qualify and the program is capped for new applicants because of lack of funds. When one medication alone can cost up to $1K/month and you make less that $12K/year, something has to be done.

Research for vaccines and less toxic medications must be continued. There is evidence that many of the people who are taking the multi-therapy cocktails are beginning to develop resistance to one or more of their medications. When other medications prove too toxic for an individual, that person can suddenly be faced with a limited arsenal of drugs with which to work.

I feel we should also drop the use of the term “cocktail”, originally borrowed from cancer treatment. That term has been used successfully by pharmaceutical marketing, inadvertently trivializing the progression to the horror of AIDS. People are not as apt to be diligent about protecting themselves when they feel that can have a “cocktail” and everything will be ok. If we were to call it “permanent non-stop chemotherapy” as it truly is, then they might feel differently.

Please recall that African-American woman aged between 25 and 44 are the fastest growing demographic group for AIDS in the US. Because of homophobia, men who have sex with men do not identity as gay and consequently do not see themselves as at risk for the disease. If they then go on to have unsafe sex with their wives or girlfriends, then they are putting those women at risk. To quote the film American Beauty, “Never underestimate the power of denial.” In fact, according to one AIDS clinician, a 21 year old African-American male in North Carolina who has sex with men has a 1 in 10 chance of becoming infected within one year.

Finally, we must not forget those of our friends who have lost their fight against this disease. My prayers and thoughts go out for them and to those who continue to struggle with AIDS and the cancers that are starting to show up in long-term survivors.

Persuade, contribute, volunteer!

In the memory of my friends:

Ralph, North Carolina, USA
Jorge, Havana, Cuba and Washington, DC
Donald, Washington, DC and Raleigh, NC
Kenny, North Carolina, USA
Jamie, North Carolina, USA
Jim, Chicago, IL and Durham, NC
Yorgo, Greece and Washington, DC
Chuck, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
François, Paris, France
Daniel, Paris, France
Thiérry, Paris, France
Thomas, South Carolina, USA
Randy, North Carolina, USA
Charly, North Carolina, USA
Johnny, Tennessee, USA
Dip, Washington, DC, USA


Useful links:


Alliance of AIDS Services Carolina

Avert.org

Evening With Friends

Fight AIDS.com

HopeChild Sponsorship

Donna Kline's AIDS Marathon Donation Page

The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt

The ONE Campaign

Project Inform

World AIDS Day

Categories: World+AIDS+Day LGBTQ HIV/AIDS summary progress remembrance loss