Entries Tagged 'World AIDS Day' ↓

World AIDS Day 2008: Does anyone still care?

20th anniversary logo

Another December 1st and another World AIDS Day. This year in fact is the 20th anniversary of the commemoration.

Around the world, 33 million people are living with HIV with nearly 7,500 new infections occurring each day. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that about 1.1 million people live with HIV, while the country has yet to enact a national AIDS policy. There is hope that President-elect Barack Obama will make this a priority.

The statistics change little from year to year. What does seem to change however is the level of attention paid not only to this day but to the virus and the epidemic itself. Interest in “AIDS issues” seems to be on the decline. Popular perception is that anti-retroviral medications have made HIV a manageable disease or that it’s really only a problem in third world nations.

World AIDS Day has started to become almost a private little affair, marked only by those directly affected but otherwise unnoticed by the vast majority of people. There will be the usual public readings of the names of those who have passed, church services and solemn tributes, and people will wear red ribbons. The nightly news will stick a story somewhere in the middle of the broadcast. But most Americans will go about their business oblivious to what this day means. They will also likely spend the next 364 days thinking that HIV/AIDS is “someone else’s problem” or that it only affects people who “deserved” to get it. On a day when education and public awareness should be at it’s highest, there remain those who willfully disengage on this issue.

For this commemoration to have any lasting impact, we must connect with more people in more ways and on a broader range of intersecting issues, beyond this single day.

When we are talking about health care disparities and how millions of Americans work without health coverage, we are talking about a contributor to the HIV epidemic because people with no health insurance are less likely to know their status or to seek treatment in a timely manner.

When we talk about economic inequities that force people into homelessness, we are talking about a major contributor to the spread of HIV because many of those who become infected have been forced to compromise their values and their bodies just to find a place to stay.

When we don’t talk about homophobia, or do anything about it, we are contributing to the marginalization of an entire group of people, which has been proven to have a negative impact on the self-esteem and self-worth of gay men, increasing their likelihood of engaging in high-risk behavior.

When we cut funds for AIDS outreach, education and treatment, we only exacerbate the problem.

This disease affects everyone, in ways some may not even be aware. The sooner we acknowledge this fact, the closer we’ll come to holding the last World AIDS Day.

World AIDS Day 2008: Resources

20th anniversary logo

A sampling of community informational resources:

World AIDS Day activities

National HIV and STD Testing Resources

Centers for Disease Control

Black AIDS Institute

POZ World AIDS Day

CHAMPCommunity HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project

Gay Men’s Health Crisis

The BODYAfrican American HIV/AIDS Resource Center

World AIDS Day 2008: Across the Blogosphere

20th anniversary logo

As we have in years past, the blog community stops to mark World AIDS Day. If you have posted an entry on your site, send me a link via the comments field below and I’ll post it in this space, updating through out the day.

Sadly, over the last few years, we’ve seen a marked decline in bloggers posting WAD entries. Perhaps it was more fashionable years ago and less so now.

Gay Persons of Color

GreasyGuide.com (There are several WAD entries on this site.)

Living Out Loud With Darian

SGL UniverseThe Gayte-Keeper

Cuppa Joe

Fumbling Toward Divinity

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force OutSpoken Blog

Front Porch Storytellin

Blog-AroundHarlem.com

SistersTalk

Noctuary: a record of what passes in the night

Rod 2.0

JustBThat.com

BlackGayBlogger.com

Keepingitreal

J’s Theater

Randy Boyd’s Blocks

World AIDS Day Across the Blogosphere

In our annual blog community observance of World AIDS Day, here is what others have written:

Blabbeando

culturekitchen

Gay Persons of Color

GreasyGuide.com

Hisdailyvariety

His Story

J-Notes

Justbthat

KeithBoykin.com

Kenyon Farrow

Lauderdaleboi1500

Living Out Loud with Darian

Rod 2.0

The Mad Professah Lectures

Pam’s House Blend

SGL Universe

Soulbounce.com

thebrotherlove.com

thegayte-keeper
If you have a World AIDS Day blog entry, add a link in the comments.

Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise

This is the first World AIDS Day in a very long time when I have no professional connection to the AIDS community. For five years I was employed by a supportive housing provider for PLWHAs doing training and technical assistance; before that, briefly as a health educator with an ASO.

While my life has now taken me in a different direction, my personal commitment to raising HIV/AIDS awareness and working for policy and funding changes to address the epidemis remains unchanged.I may not be on the frontlines of this battle any more but I want to make you aware of others who are.

Prevention Justice Mobilization is a newly-formed grassroots efforts to refocus the discussion about HIV around social justice issues. Prevention Justice believes that the best way to prevent HIV/AIDS is to ensure that all people have the economic, social, and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about our bodies, sexuality, and reproduction for ourselves, our families, and our communities.

This weekend, they are making their prescence felt in Atlanta, as the CDC National Prevention Conference gets underway.

With the 2008 presidential race heating up, Gay Men’s Health Crisis has prepared a report (available as a PDF) on where the candidates stand on establishing a domestic AIDS strategy. The current administration has no strategy other than to limit or cut existing funding (which is how I lost my last job) and not a lot has been said on the issue by candidates of either party in recent debates.

HIV infection rates continue to climb in the United States, especially among Black gay men. Old prevention messages are for some reason falling on deaf ears. This year we must commit ourselves to protection on a personal level and increased political activism in our communities.