This is World AIDS Day.
This is a shitty day.
This is they day we cannot allow ourselves to forget the people living and dieing with these diseases.
HIV and AIDS are not pretty diseases, or particularly epic. Your body simply becomes so weak it cannot defend itself from the smalest of infections. You won’t die of AIDS, or anything to dramatic. You will most likely be snuffed out by a common cold.
Death by runny nose.
And there are 40 million people who have experienced this so far.
Forty Million.
That is just an insane number.
Nearly 1 out of every hundred people is infected with at least HIV. That would be like wipeing out all of the Metro New York area, and beyond. This is an epidemic. And it is not going away.
Don’t be lulled into a sense of security by the lack of news reports. These reporters just can’t find a story any more after 2 decades of overindulging themselves on it.
This is a uniquely human disease too. What other species would continue to so rapidly spread a disease that is so hard to transmit. I mean no insult to the people living with AIDS or HIV, but in todays world, you would be hard pressed to not know about it, and how it is spread. Only an radical exchange of bodily fluids.
Of course I am wierd, but it has been a long time since I had contact with a major dose of anyone else’s bodily fluids.
So how do we have 40 million people suffering?
While I hope and dream we find the resources to cure this disease, I am more seriously concerned with educating people to the point where a cure is not so vital.
This brings us to the close of my brief attempt at being someewhat meaningful.
I leave you with a few links, to organizations who deal with AIDS, that I have personally worked with. These are not business people. They generally make little money. And have no hope of curing the disease or making a major difference to the world. But they saw people suffering, and they want to do whatever they can to help.
AIDS Nutrition Services Alliance
National Episcopal AIDS Coalition
National Minority AIDS Council