Last week I watched another family member die an unnecessary death from HIV/AIDS. He wasn’t the first (or even second or third) but my hope is that he will be the last.
You see, while Cancer and Heart Disease are the leading causes of death in most American families, my family members tend to die from AIDS and Alcoholism. Diseases of choice, not in the sense that we chose to acquire the illness, but that they typically come as a result of the choices we make in life. Most of those in my family who acquired AIDS lived what they call “high-risk” lifestyle, drugs, alcohol and sex, so it’s not a surprise that their lives ended they way they did. But not all of them lived on the edge—my mother passed from pneumonia as a result of advanced AIDS at the age of 32. She was not a drug user, nor did she take on at-risk sex partners. She was a single mother of 3. She worked by day for NYC Social Services and at night for McDonalds in order to support 3 children ages 3,7, and 11. As I’m told she acquired it in 1985 from a blood transfusion (this was prior to modern screening and testing requirements), whether this can be confirmed is another story.
Now why do I mention this? As a matter of fact, why I am I even speaking about AIDS at all? It’s because we’ve all become too complacent with the state of this epidemic. In the mid 90s when the rate of infection began to fall, we began to pat ourselves on the back for wearing condoms and not sharing dirty needles. The media presented a brighter day on the horizon and used Magic Johnson as it's shining example of how AIDS wasn’t such a big deal anymore. As we moved into this present century we somehow became convinced that the problem of HIV/AIDS had become centralized in Africa. Bill and Melinda Gates, along with Warren Buffet poured Billions of dollars in the programs for the continent of Africa to fight AIDS, George W. Bush pledge 20 million more dollars and Bill Clinton chaired several foundations with the purpose of helping end AIDS in Africa. Unfortunately, someone neglected to inform these ever so well meaning people that there millions of people living with and dying from the disease right here in this country, most of whom have families and friend who suffer right along side their loved ones.
Now of course, we now have to ask ourselves, “What needs to be done?”.....
