Today was World AIDS Day. Not the most pleasant topic to begin the month of December, but a topic that needs to be talked about.
According to the World Health Organization at the end of 2008, 33.4 million people were living with HIV and two-thirds of the world’s HIV infections are in sub-Saharan Africa.
With statistics like that, it’s easy to retreat from the issue and regard it as someone else’s problem – until you consider the fact that right in our backyard, in our nation’s capital, AIDS has reached epidemic proportions. In March, the Washington Post reported that 3% of DC residents are HIV positive and that statistic is based on the reported cases.
It’s also easy to lack sympathy for consenting adults who are engaging in risky, promiscuous behavior. However, it’s much harder to ignore the 2 million children under the age of 15 who are living with AIDS today. It’s also hard to ignore the fact that millions of children are orphaned each year because of it.
The fact of the matter is that HIV/AIDS is everyone’s problem. It knows no socio-economic boundaries and no geographic boundaries. It’s not limited by race, religion or social status. The remedy to this problem should be the same and government should work toward making it that way.
Universal access to medications and anti-retroviral treatments combined with massive education campaigns could make all of the difference. And yes, the conservative Republican in me thinks that abstinence and monogamy have an important role to play in those education campaigns.
I realize that all of this is easier said than done (I’m reminded of the West Wing episode titled “In This Whitehouse”). I also realize that the issue won’t be solved in a day. But in the meantime, we should keep talking about it – even if it’s not a pleasant topic – and we should continue to push for solutions, both at home and abroad, that will combat and prevent this terrible epidemic.
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