It’s not the book I thought it was going to be.
Whether it is any good at what it is remains to be seen.
But what came up time and again – as I re-read
classic books by Randy Shilts and Larry Kramer and watched new documentaries on
the history of ACT UP – was the frustration and anger that still exists today.
And it exists because AIDS still exists.
Even the victories have unintended consequences. The
AIDS cocktail of drugs that has saved so many? Can you afford it? Can you
tolerate the combination of drugs? Can you even get it? If you’re one of the
69% of those living with HIV/AIDS, that means you live in sub-Saharan Africa,
so the answer to these questions is ‘probably not’.
Do you live in a country that considers AIDS a
health crisis? Despite the focus on it here in the US, there has been – due to
medical advances – a change in thinking that is both heartening and disturbing.
AIDS is now considered a chronic disease – like diabetes: something that is
treatable, if not curable. Getting infected is “no big deal”. People even get infected
deliberately.
But it is a big deal. Thirty-one years into the
epidemic 30 million people have died, and another 30 million live with AIDS. In
the US, 1.2 million people live with HIV/AIDS…but 230,000 don’t know it because
they haven’t been tested.
We’ve come a long way, but
we’re not done yet. People are infected every day – sometimes deliberately,
sometimes unknowingly. At the beginning of the fourth decade of the epidemic,
superstitions still abound, including one that insists that sex with a virgin
will cure you of AIDS.
If you want to know
more about AIDS – both here and around the world – here are some organizations
that will help.
And take a minute
tomorrow, December 1 – World AIDS Day – to remember those who died and those
who have fought for 31 years to wipe AIDS off the planet.
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