June 5 of this year represents 25 years that America has been fighting AIDS. This war has gone on longer than any war in the history of America. It has out lasted the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, and will probably out last the current war in Iraq. What is interesting is that in all of this time, there is still no cure or even a plausible vaccine. We still don’t know the origins of this disease, which would have me to believe that this is a bioterrorist weapon. Until scientists can prove otherwise, America better get hip and see it in that light. With that being said, who then should be held accountable for the millions of lives lost, as well as the millions of individuals living with this disease in America; on top of the 40-60 thousand new cases popping up each year? One thing we can do is have our government invest more funds in education & prevention, treatment, and ideally, a cure.
The question you may ask is, where would we get the funds to pay for such programs and research? My answer is simply this, take it out of the budget that we waste, and probably will continue to waste, on this war with terrorism. It is going to take active participation from the American public to insist that our government protect us from this global terrorist threat. Instead of send our kids off to war, let’s teach our children about the real consequences of war, and the lives and taxpayer dollars that our lost and taken away from research that should be done to save us from this real and present danger.
Because what you don’t know can kill you! AIDS has killed millions in our country and continues to kill at an alarming rate. While some argue and believe that we have come a long way since 1981, those who live with the virus and those whose virus has become immune to the medications (the “super-virus”) probably would say a different story. Yes we do have life sustaining drugs, if you are able to tolerate them and the virus you have doesn’t become resistant to the meds. Is taking pills the way you want to go for the rest of your life? Is living a life of shame, guilt, and blame the way you want to live and be remembered? But, the sad part of about all this is how millions of Americans are living each year wondering whether they are going to live or die.
There are folks walking around right now, looking and feeling healthy and don’t know or even care to know that they are infected with the HIV virus; all the while, infecting and spreading the virus to other people because they don’t want to get an HIV test. Nowadays with the rapid test people can get their results in under a half-hour, in comparison to the two long weeks (in previous years) which people had to endure to get their results. So my hope is that these 25 years that AIDS has existed, has taught us a few things about life and human behavior. Hopefully, America and the world for that matter, doesn’t have to endure another 25 years of the war on AIDS. Because in all honesty, the U.N. has said the world is already losing the war on AIDS, and I don’t think we’ll be able to survive another 10, let alone 25 more years of this pan-epidemic.
