World AIDS Day - II

In 2011 the World Health Organization announced that the slogan for World AIDS Day for the next 5 years would be: Getting to Zero.  As I posted last year this has to be more than a theme, or even a hope:  this has to be a goal.  A goal that all countries try to achieve - but one that sadly many countries - including my own -  are ignoring.

There are still nations in the world where people are told that AIDS is a "foreigner's disease"; countries where people are shunned because of the disease; countries where children are forced into prostitution and spread the disease and are discarded when they are too sick to "work"; places where it is preached as a less-than-loving god's punishment for an abnormal life style; and countries where promises are made and then  once the photo-op has passed ignored or given only lip service.  It would be nice to think that these are what were once called "third world" nations but sadly my own country is one of those nations that made grandiose statements and promises and claims to be a "world leader" is really only a bit player.

I made the statement at work the other day that I was ashamed of Canada but was quickly corrected and told that I had no reason to be ashamed of my country - we were still a nation of caring people.  What, I was told in no uncertain words, I should be ashamed of is my government.  And looking at events in the past few days I am in complete agreement with that sentiment.

On Thursday evening C389 an amendment to a bill that would have made generic pharmaceuticals affordable and available in third world countries was defeated.  A bill that would have gone a long way to meeting our commitment to be a nation that cares about AIDS at home and abroad lost by seven votes.  The next day on radio Mike Lake, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry mouthed weak excuses and platitudes about our continued role as a "world leader"in the fight against AIDS - unfortunately he could not give any concrete examples of that "leadership".  And in the interview that followed Stephen Douglas, a strong voice for AIDS advocacy, put paid to the party line as spouted by Mr Lake.  I found it strange that something so centred around health was addressed by someone with the Industry portfolio.  But then that is what it was really all about - protecting the pharmaceutical companies.  It had little or nothing to do with our role in combating AIDS in the world but more to do with making sure the big corporations were happy and protected.

And in our country a whole segment of the population has been, if not neglected, relegated to a minor concern in AIDS education process.  Yesterday figures were released by the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network; figures that indicate that our First Nations, Métis and Inuit are more at risk than any other group in our country.  According to statistics (2006 census) that though they represent only 3.8% of Canada's population, they account for 7.5% of Canadians living with HIV.

In 2008 aboriginal people accounted for 12.5% of all newly reported cases of HIV infections in Canada.  This was 3.6% higher than the rate for other groups that year.  Research is being carried out to find out why the rate is so high and there is real concern that an alarming number of aboriginal Canadians are engaging in risky lifestyles.  And in most communities the stigma attached to AIDS is ever present and a barrier to working together with the Federal Government to education people.  Families shunning members with AIDS and turning them out of the community is a not uncommon reaction.  And the remoteness of many communities means that treatment - and even diagnosis - is not always readily available.  There is a program in the works to produce educational material in aboriginal languages and groups like the Network are attempting to stem the rise in HIV and AIDS cases among aboriginal people by teaching young people — in a culturally appropriate way — how to protect themselves.  As with all organizations and people concerned with the spread of HIV and AIDS their goal is ZERO.

The Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network programme is an example of what must be done:  to reach that goal of ZERO there must be ZERO fear, ZERO stigma, ZERO discrimination, ZERO risks before we can reach ZERO new cases and ZERO deaths.

 The CBC has published an interactive map charting the global reach of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic.

 02 December - 1763: Dedication of the Touro Synagogue, in Newport, Rhode Island, the first synagogue in what became the United States.

World AIDS Day II - A Few Thoughts and Figures

There was a time when the world seemed obsessed with finding a "Patient Zero" - for a time a work colleague of mine was unjustly branded as the culprit  - someone who brought AIDS to the wider world and could be blamed.  Now with this year's theme for World AIDS Day we are looking at "Zero" in a more positive way: Getting to Zero  - Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.  A theme?  A wish? A hope?  A goal!

In those first frightening and confusing years when the world grappled with the "gay plague" I  lost many friends  and under the most horrendous circumstances.  Visits to one friend - only the second person in Ottawa to diagnosed with AIDS - were carried out with visitors wearing protective face coverings and clothing.  Doctors and even some nurses were reluctant to go into hospital rooms and the atmosphere was one of fear.  And fear was the prevailing atmosphere in many gay - and straight - haunts and homes; sadly there was the odd medical professional who exploited that fear while others became compassionate care givers despite their own battles with the virus.  It was a time of ignorance and ignorance breeds fear.

As time went on we became more aware, better informed of possible causes and precautions and we became less fearful.  We now know that AIDS is not a "gay" disease; that like any disease it knows no sex, sexuality, race or age nor, despite what we hear from some religious groups,  is it "god's punishment".   We know that it is no longer an automatic death sentence and the fear has been replaced with some hope as research continues and advances are made.  Sadly it has also been replaced in some quarters with complacency as drug companies laud their products as a panacea for the effects of AIDS.  And the temptation is there for developed countries to lessen the enthusiastic support they proffered 6 years ago as statistics level off.

Certainly recent reports show a leveling but those levels themselves are still alarming.  In 2009 it was estimated that 3.3 million people were living with AIDS and 2.5 million of them were children.  In that year it is estimated that 1.8 million people died of AIDS or AIDS related diseases and that approximately 16.6 million children were left orphaned.  16.6 million children!  From newborns to teenagers left without mother or father or in some instance any family.  I knew from my association with the Wakefield Grannies that the figure was staggering but that number in one year is beyond comprehension.

Much has been done since those days when a diagnosis was a death sentence but much is left to be done in not only developing ways to live with AIDS but in finding a cure.  Much has been done to educate people about how to control the spread of AIDS but much is left to do in the way of education particularly in developing countries. Much has been done since those first dark days when friends saw fear and ignorance on the faces of those around them but there is still much to do to combat the fear and ignorance that still clouds so many people's perception of the disease and those living and dying with it.  Much has been done but much is left to do before we can reach the goal set out for this year's World AIDS Day.

Getting to Zero  - Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.  A theme? A wish? A hope? No, a goal!

01 decembre/December - World AIDS Day