World AIDS Day 2014

Today, December 1, is the 27^th annual observance of World AIDS Day.

Since that first year, when I dropped a few pounds in the collection can at the curtain call of a play in London, I’ve marked the anniversary.

The second year I coordinated a fundraising event. Some years I went to a special Mass or memorial service. Other years I simply made note of it and went about my business.

This year I’ll be part of a reading and panel discussion at Women & Children First bookstore in Chicago about the generation gap in the AIDS community. This reflection on Huffington Post last week will give you an idea of what that means in terms of fighting the epidemic.

The theme for World AIDS Day this year is “Focus, Partner, Achieve”.

This year the epidemic looks like this:

            1.2 million people in the US are living with HIV; 14% don’t know they’re infected.

            The annual number of new infections has held steady for 10 years: 50,000/year.

            13,000 people with AIDS in the US will die this year.

The African-American community – particularly men who have sex with men – is disproportionately affected.

So, how do we follow the theme for this year?

Focus:              Target education and prevention efforts to the communities most at risk: African-Americans and young people 13-24

Partner:            Work with faith communities, schools, government agencies and nonprofit organizations to reach those communities.

Achieve:          Make an AIDS-free generation our goal.

What does all that mean?

It means that 30+ years into the epidemic, there’s a hell of a lot of work to do, in the US and around the world.

It means we have to reach out to make sure that every conversation- whether it’s about education, affordable housing, access to healthcare, affordable medications, anti-discrimination laws, aging – includes a recognition of how those issues impact people living with HIV, and those at risk of infection.

There is no cure. There is no vaccine. But unlike the early days, we have powerful tools: scientific knowledge, antiretroviral drugs, PReP (Truvada, which can effectively protect against infection).

That’s where reaching out to partner with others is important. The drugs won’t help you if you don’t know about them. They won’t help if you can’t afford them. It’s hard to keep to a regimen if you’re living in a homeless shelter. Unpredictable health won’t help you keep a job.

We’ve come a long way in 30+ years, but there is such a long way to go.

And I for one would like to see a day when, on December 1, people have to be reminded of what the world was like before AIDS was eradicated.

And the only way we do that is by working together, every day.

For more information on HIV, AIDS and what you can do to help:

www.AIDS.gov

www.amfAR.org

www.housingworks.org

www.actupny.com

www.ejaf.org

A Look at “Love is the Cure”

From the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous:

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

If you or someone close to you has been in a 12-step program, you’re familiar with steps 8 and 9.

Singer/songwriter/philanthropist Elton John’s new book, Love is the Cure, documents his climb out of addiction and how he continues to make amends, most importantly through his AIDS charity.

If you’re a fan of his, like me, you probably wonder how he managed to come out of the 80’s alive and healthy. So does he.

Honestly, the book was a surprise to me. I expected it to be mostly about the important work of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and how it came to be. It is, but it’s much more. It’s about him working those steps every day.

Elton John cruised (pardon the pun) through the 80’s and into the 90’s, a privileged gay man whose addictions were hurtling him towards an early, inevitable demise. But he came out of it HIV-negative. How the hell did that happen? Luck, he’ll tell you, pure luck. By all rights, he should’ve died a long time ago.

But he didn’t. Deep in the fog of those addictions he knew he was killing himself. It wasn’t until he heard about the horrific treatment of Ryan White, the Kokomo, Indiana teenager who’d contracted AIDS from tainted blood products to treat his hemophilia, that the change began. It was a slow change, though; even White’s death wasn’t enough. People who loved him were scared.

It wasn’t until his lover checked himself into a treatment center, and Elton raged for a while, that he himself faced reality and got the help he needed, too.

What followed was survivor guilt. He knew writing checks to AIDS charities wasn’t enough. He knew he’d spent over a decade watching his friends die (there’s a plaque for each one hanging in the chapel he built at his home): watching, but not helping, not using his celebrity to help others.

And so EJAF was born, and it is the greatest passion of his life. He has surrounded himself with the best and the brightest in the international fight against AIDS. He’s not just a name on the letterhead; he is involved in a hands-on way.

But it is that first experience, the sweet friendship between Elton John and Ryan White, that drives him most of all. His life has changed completely, and he knows exactly who to thank:

“I miss my friends Elizabeth (Taylor), (Princess) Diana and Robert (Key) more than you can imagine, and every single day. I think about them constantly, and EJAF would not be here but for their herculean efforts, inspiration and support. With their help – and David’s (his husband) – and thanks to John, our small but dedicated staff , and our wonderful board of directors – within only a few years, we were becoming a major player in the fight to rid the world of AIDS. There was much work to be done, huge mountains to climb. But wherever he was, I hoped with all my heart that another dear and departed friend, Ryan, was proud. Indeed, I felt a sense of pride in myself as well. I was sober. I was giving back. I was alive. For the first time in years, I was really, truly alive.”

And we’re glad he is.

 

 

For information on how you can support the Elton John AIDS Foundation, click here.