More than 33 million people worldwide have HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS, according to the United Nations. That includes 2.5 million children younger than 15. More than two million people have died of AIDS, just this year. That includes 330,000 children. And over 25 million have been lost to the disease in its short history of existence.
It is a common cause. Especially among the global socially conscious. And despite the scope of the crisis and the deadly extent of the disease, it is a epidemic that does have tangible solutions—solutions that Saturday Dec. 1, of every year, attempts to address, as World AIDS Day.
In America, the typical regimen for an HIV patient was about $1,140 in 2004, and this is not for the most effective treatment. Those outside developed nations don’t have access to these treatments or the funds for them. While tangible help and solutions, such as medical supplies and treatment, are available and necessary for those suffering with AIDS, most will never receive any. The only way to combat this epidemic is to halt its spread to those who remain healthy.
Unfortunately most of those at risk do not have access to information about how to prevent infection.
The 2007 World AIDS Day theme was leadership. In the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “Today still 70 percent of infected people don’t have access to life saving therapies. Many still face stigma, economic deprivation and rejection because of their infection. Many still don’t have access to basic information or simple interventions that will reduce risk. This is not the time for complacency nor apathy. It is the time for compassionate leadership that recognizes that the voicesless are often those who suffer most—who can they turn to if their leaders do not listen and heed their cries?”
Bush has called for an additional $15 million from congress toward expanding the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Other leaders throughout the world are also involved.
While it may seem like a problem for Africa alone, Over one million people in the United States live with the same deadly disease. It will take everyone, joining the cause and taking a leadership role to slowdown the spread of AIDS and end the excessive deaths of innocent people. We already have enough of relentless murders inflicted by ourselves—without the help of the HIV/AIDS disease.
While World AIDS Day attempts to raise attention to the importance of each and every persons roll in combating AIDS, it is one day throughout the whole year when we stop to think about the implications of this epidemic. In order to really effectively change the future for all those at risk, we must start living everyday as World AIDS Day.
