Looking at the spread and layout of AIDS today, we can see that the most concentrated areas all are regions of poverty. The “third world” one may call it. Even in AIDS ads we see the targeted face of an infected African child, or of a child who has lost parents due to the disease. The question here is why we don’t see ourselves on those posters? AIDS is not just a problem in Africa, but its a problem here too. AIDS rates in the US are quite high and yet we are not the focus. Why is this?
AIDS is an opportunistic virus. It kills off the immune system and the end result is an influx of disease to the body that it would usually be able to fight off. Therefore, people will AIDS die of the flu, or meningitts etc. In a country like ours where people have food and clean water, and sanitary living conditions: The body is much more able to fight. When you look at a person who barely eats a day, not to mention doesn’t come close to the necessary nutrients to stay healthy, their immune system is already dissapated. The AIDS virus works fast and is almost unstoppable.
People diagnosed with HIV here are given treatments to slow the weakening of the immune system. These drugs and cocktail mixtures of medicines can push off the transition to AIDS for decades in a healthy individual. Although some are not so lucky even with treatment, the medicines have been proven highly effective and yet are unavailable to those who need it most. How is it that when we have such drugs and protective measures, the availability is none existent in Africa and other beat down areas of the world?
Social Justice becomes the real question. If we have the technology to help, then the treatments should be given to anyone in need. We see the same issue with malaria and tuberculosis. These are diseases we not only have treatment for, but we have vacccinations to prevent it from happened. Yet they are two of the biggest killers in Africa. We need to help those in need or the disease will just continue to spread and become even more of a problem.
Some say this is impossible because of the safety of administering drugs across seas or the financial burden it could be on the US…but there are other ways to stop the spread of AIDS. This is a 100% preventable disease. Education alone can be the key to the stop of the spread. With the knowledge we have today it is a duty to educate those who are unaware. Providing care to hospitals to assist with HIV+ births is something else we can do. We can stop the spread from the mother to child or be there to provide care.
There is absolutely no reason that something we can help and prevent should be a world killer. This is not a minor problem but has just increased more and more through the decades. We need to realize everyones right to treatment and survival to put an end to the epidemic.
This is a complicated topic, how is it fair to give someone with money privilage to life when someone without money does not get that chance? I appriciated you bringing up the common arguments about administration issues etc. It is good to expose readers to both sides. I think my favorite part of this post was your reference to the lack of “us” in the posters and awareness campaigns. AIDS effects people all around us, but they are never the face of AIDS. It is almost like we are too scared to admit that we can be victims too.
I liked this post! So where does that leave the average person – should we be donating to ‘the cure’ or to prevention? If we focused on prevention would that solve most of the problems, or is that even a realistic expectation? Talking about areas of the world where only the small minority of children are able to go to school period, let alone get accurate medical information, is it realistic to expect to be able to distribute condoms, teach about AIDS and follow through on those lessons? Just a few thoughts… I like this topic! Way to go!
It’s interesting to think about the right to life and health– how some people, even though treatment is available, are denied it. It seems like a nightmare to be denied treatment because you can’t pay, but it happens so much! Hopefully we get that free healthcare thing going pretty soon….