RANT ON: World AIDS Day ... What's the Point???

I would love to sit here in the year 2005 and answer the question, "What's the point of World AIDS Day?" with something like this:

"There really is no point anymore. The HIV virus is all but eradicated, the vaccines have completely stopped new infections, and the meds for those living with HIV have made the disease completely manageable and nearly side-effect free. AIDS is really not something most people need to think about anymore."

I would love to answer with something like that, but it's the year 2005 and the point is none of what i just wrote is true. None of it.

1. HIV is still spreading. It's not something that just went away because we stopped talking about it as much (even though i'm sure that's what some folks would love to believe). As a Black Gay Man, i know how hard the virus has hit in my community in particular. Stop and ask yourself how many people you know who are living with HIV. If you said "none," either you don't know many people or you don't know them well. (For more information on the purported 46% of Black Gay Men who tested HIV positive in one recent study, see Keith Boykin's intelligent look at the study.)
2. There is no vaccine. Not one today, won't be one tomorrow, nor two or three years from now. Vaccine research and trials take time. Even the most promising studies would take years to develop into viable vaccines. And they won't be developed without people willing to participate in the studies. What do you know about HIV clinical trials?
3. Current medications for treating HIV have improved over the days of toxic AZT doses. They have. But not a one of those meds is projected to completely and permanently halt the disease progression of the virus. And don't be tricked: not everyone is getting access to the meds. THEY COST MONEY. Do you own a house? Are you ready to sell it (or at least take out a new mortgage) for a year's worth of prescriptions? Annual costs to someone paying out of pocket for their care can run around $15,000 - $25,000. Of course that assumes you don't need hospitalization.

In February of 2003, the United Nations lowered its population projections for the year 2050 by 400 million people. That's almost half a billion people fewer than originally expected to be alive 45 years from now, and it's primarily due to expected mortality from AIDS. The point is the epidemic isn't over and it isn't projected to be over anytime soon.

I still like the slogan from National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day that they came up with a couple of years ago: Get Educated. Get Tested. Get Involved. The point is to do something in your life that will make a difference, even if it's only for yourself. The point is to choose to live a healthy and strong and informed life, with or without HIV. The point of World AIDS Day is to keep reminding people that AIDS isn't going away. Not without all of us doing something about it.

If you're in the Atlanta area, and would like more information or resources, continue reading below.

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Once again, the blogger community is joining together to raise awareness about the world wide AIDS epidemic. Please click here to view the list that has been updated throughout the day of individuals raising their voices.

For free, anonymous HIV antibody testing, visit AID Atlanta anytime Mon-Thu 12:00-7:00 pm. (For more details, see www.aidatlanta.org.)

For answers to your general questions, call the Georgia AIDS & STD InfoLine toll-free at 1-800-551-2728, or go to www.infolineGA.org. All calls are anonymous.

If you are living with HIV and would like to talk to get help dealing with mental stress, issues around relationships, or disclosing your status to partners, family and friends, contact Positive Impact Atlanta at www.positiveimpact-atl.org or call 404-589-9040.

Comments

[j. brotherlove]

It's amazing how very little conversation BGM have about HIV/AIDS. You'd think we would be more involved collectively, since our lives are on the frontlines. Instead, many seem content to hide behind their sex chat screen names, willingly and unwillingly engaging in risky behavior. There is a serious disconnect with our folk.

BTW, I tried to trackback you but your blog hates me.

[The LoveHater]

I wonder how many of those 400 million will be our own...?