The Stench of Death

Cheery title, huh? Well, I don’t want you to feel cheery today. Today, (December 1st) is World AIDS Day. World AIDS Day began in 1988 to promote awareness and action in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Back then the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 84,256 cases of AIDS worldwide. Today, over 40 million people are infected with HIV. That’s the entire state of California plus an extra 4 million (South Carolina? Kentucky?) people living with HIV. Over the past year, 3.1 million people have died from this disease (all of Mississippi or Iowa). Of those 3.1 million deaths, 1.2 million were women (Hawaii, New Hampshire, Rhode Island) and 510,000 were children under the age 15 (the whole state of Wyoming).

Thankfully, with international attention and the generous financial assistance of folks like us, groups like The Global Fund has begun programs in developing countries to educate people about how to avoid contracting HIV and how to avoid spreading it if they’re already infected. They also raise funds and launch local programs to ensure that everyone has access to the anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) they need to live (and for expectant mothers not to pass the disease along to their children in childbirth).

Interested in learning more about the global AIDS epidemic? The One Campaign has a great one-page fact sheet you can read to get quick info. For more detailed information, the UNAIDS-WHO partnership has published the AIDS Epidemic Update.

As we all know, AIDS isn’t just ‘out there’. America currently has over 1 million people infected with HIV (CDC estimates that a quarter of those infected are undiagnosed and unaware of their infection). That's a lot less than the 1 in 10 people in Rwanda who are infected, but it's still 1 million too many. Something I didn’t know until I started snooping for this post was this – AIDS is a scourge in the American black community. Some information I found from the Black Coalition on AIDS:

• AIDS now accounts for 1 in 3 deaths among Black men aged 25 to 4
• More children with AIDS are Black than all other race and ethnic groups combined
• Every day in the U.S. about 100 people of color become infected with HIV
• More than two-thirds of all women in the U.S. who are infected with the AIDS virus are Black
• Blacks represent 57% of all new AIDS cases in the United States, though comprising only 13% of the population
• AIDS is the leading cause of death of Blacks, age 25-44
• AIDS is the leading cause of death for Black women

Monday we reflected on what it means to love our neighbor. The author of 1 John told us that we demonstrate our love of God by loving our brothers in sisters. Our brothers and sisters are sick, and those who don’t have money (and that’s most people, don’t forget) are dieing simply because they’re poor. Knowing that this deadly disease robs millions of people of their health, hope, families, and futures, what is our response?

First, we have a responsibility to educate our own children, youth, and friends about how HIV is contracted and how responsible, protected sex can help prevent our infection. Oh, and how ‘pseudo-sex’ acts don’t necessarily keep us safe – those of us who abstain and still fool around? We’re fooling ourselves. Ditto for those who use intravenous drugs. The drugs will kill you if you give them long enough; the infected blood on the syringe used will do the trick as well.

Second, Most towns have a group that serves their HIV positive community. Just google “AIDS volunteer ‘your town’” and see what comes up.

Third, President Bush is making a speech today on World AIDS day. You can share your thoughts on U.S. policy in combating AIDS by writing to The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500; calling 202-456-1111; or emailing comments@whitehouse.gov. You can learn more about what our government is doing by reading here.

Fourth, the Global Fund can certainly use all of our help. If you would like to help, check them out here.

What else can we do? If anyone knows this issue, please let us know!

Love you,

Becky