November 30, 2002

World AIDS Day 2002

December 1 is World AIDS Day. It's a day meant to commemorate the dead and raise awareness among the living. I'm sure there will be many other folks in the Link and Think project who will be talking about current research, private histories, political activity and the like, so I thought I'd provide links to some historical background about HIV/AIDS.

If you're unclear about the beginnings of this modern-day Black Death, here's an informative history of the pandemic. Here is a timeline of the disease's progression; it may go as far back as 1675 A.D. Initially, the World Health Organization was responsible for AIDS information and country-by-country program development, but in 1996 the UN recognized that WHO alone was being overwhelmed, and the UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) was created. A brief history of its mission and history can be found here. The US Food and Drug Administration has created a timeline of its own knowledge and actions to counteract the disease, and the National Institutes of Health has developed an oral history project with its own researchers as the storytellers. The University of California-San Francisco has put together a history of that city's response.

I've been lucky; I've lost no friends or acquaintances to AIDS. But:

"The number of people living with HIV in the world today has risen to 42 million, up from 40 million at end 2001, according to a new UNAIDS and World Health Organization update on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Five million people were newly-infected and 3.1 million people were killed by the disease in 2002."

Think about that number. There are roughly 280 million people in the US; 42 million is approximately 15% of the entire American population. And that's the least of it. Many of the dying are leaving orphaned children behind, and many of those children live in societies and countries ill-equipped to care for them. Additionally, those dying are in many cases the most productive people in their countries, meaning the economic harm is also devastating. The loss to each person's country is incalculable. Who knows what talent the world loses each time an individual dies so young?

That's why I care.

Posted by Linkmeister at November 30, 2002 08:38 PM
Comments

Nice piece, Steve.

Thanks!

Posted by: dan at November 30, 2002 11:39 PM

As always, you are an excellent source of information and insight, Steve. :) Great post.

Posted by: Jen at December 1, 2002 03:08 AM

Like him or hate him, someone else had some of the same thoughts as I.

Posted by: Linkmeister at December 1, 2002 08:36 AM

Very nice article, Linky! :-)

Posted by: Lee at December 1, 2002 03:57 PM

the Clinton article is wonderful -- he is a brilliant man, there is no question about that. (personally, i've never held the bit about the intern against him).

Posted by: kd at December 1, 2002 05:52 PM

Bright as a tack, I'd say. (Hey, he talked about the same things I did). ;)

Posted by: Linkmeister at December 1, 2002 07:15 PM