35,5million people are estimated to be living with HIV globally with over 30 million having died from AIDS
I'm not a 'numbers' person at all so usually when I see figures they don't automatically jump out at me or excite me in any way. Statistics dont do anything for me. But, of late something has been on my mind. What's in those numbers that get thrown around in everyday media? You see, while numbers do not interest or excite me, people do. It's the realization that there are real individuals embedded in each of the singular numbers adding up to the huge figure that catches my attention and affects me deeply.
There have been many theories and studies done to determine the origins of this virus and the reality is that it has wiped out many people and there are many more whose lives have been sabotaged by it. Even though the statistics are alarming, what I find more alarming is the fact that AIDS still remains a kind of taboo to mention or even talk about openly for most people affected by it. Maybe it's because of the shame and embarrassment that stems from one of the main ways in which it is transmitted that arms the plague with the chains of secrecy to imprison those it attacks and weaves its way silently through the masses 'unseen' but wounding and killing. Those who die from it would rather have the cause of death known only as the opportunistic infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, cancer etc....This incurable monster has been left to cause havoc and untold suffering in some ways yet too feared to even be mentioned by name in some societies. In fact in some places its referred to only as 'The Disease'.
For the millions worldwide who are living with HIV and AIDS they have not only had their health stolen but their dreams , ambitions and aspirations too. In a lot of ways there is still a certain stigma and a level of discrimination towards people affected. I remember years ago, when I was still a little girl, listening in on a conversation between my mum (who is a nurse) and some relatives as they prepared to head off to the funeral of someone who had died of AIDS. It was still quite a 'brand new' disease and I heard some of the women ask and wonder whether or not they would need to wear protective clothing as they had heard that this illness was such that once it killed its victim the virus would then spread all around the corpse and just like the flu , those within close proximity of the corpse could easily become infected. They asked if the body would be covered and well wrapped in impermeable thick plastic so as to keep the virus well contained? How safe was it for them to attend? I wondered too, as I listened in. Of course , such ignorance is hard to comprehend now, but back then, this angry and merciless virus was just newly spreading its wings and marking territory, carefully planting misconceptions that it was only for the promiscuous before hungrily ravaging through the masses for decades to come. What I heard that day, these grown women sounding afraid and unsure,was interpreted by my childish and immature mind to mean that anyone with AIDS, whether dead or alive should be kept at arms length.
Years later when I was much older I was shocked to learn that an aunt that I loved had died of AIDS and yet I had been with her until just a few hours before her death. She left behind a daughter...orphaned at just 3 years of age. She was not promiscuous at all. In fact she was a God fearing woman with a lovely smile , a kind heart, full of life and so loving. I had talked with her as I sat by her hospital bed only hours before she passed on and she had not wasted away and neither was her body covered in sores oozing all sorts of virus loaded fluids (as my vivid imagination had conjured up on that day as a child ). She had been shivering the last time I saw her and said her feet were freezing. Then she died. Something inside of me was stirred. How many children were being orphaned in the wake of AIDS? How many people were still living with embraced misconceptions causing them to stigmatize those battling with HIV and AIDS?
In Africa, death has never been something of an 'illusion'. It is real. Life expectancy is low so even young kids are forced to come to grips with this reality, grasp its meaning and comprehend it through experiencing painfully heart tearing losses that in an ideal world ,no child should ever have to experience. And now with AIDS that awareness of the impermanence of our earthly existence has become even more profound. People are dying by the thousands daily. In fact in some undeveloped countries where unemployment is high, it had become very profitable to sell coffins (even by roadsides!) and it has been reported that some of these vendors milking the AIDS crisis even went as far as digging old graves and reselling caskets....but , appalling is this may be, it's a story for another day. Right now the focus is on this epidemic so we can hopefully as the human race, become more aware, support those infected and remove the stigma ( as well as put the unscrupulous coffin vendors out of business!)
In the Western countries, mention AIDS and automatically it is associated with Africa, mention Africa and more often than not AIDS is one of the epidemics associated with it alongside poverty, hunger, corruption, orphans, wars, crime... and more poverty. True, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of people living with AIDS. However,it is not localised to Africa only.....its a global epidemic. True, AIDS related deaths however, are higher in sub Saharan Africa than anywhere else in the world BUT the disease is a global crisis. Statistics show that people infected with HIV in developed countries generally have more hope of longer lifespans. What is it that's available and 'already developed' in the developed countries that is still 'undeveloped' and 'out of reach' for the developing countries' pockets?
My prayer is that the world (developed and developing nations) would awaken fully to the truth that AIDS is a real epidemic and without vigilance when it comes to educating our children , our young ones, then noone really will be IMMUNE STATISTICALLY....EVEN THOSE NOT INFECTED WILL BE AFFECTED as loved ones bear the burden of battling with the life threatening grip of Aids.
What has been your default attitude towards people with AIDS? Why is it viewed as an 'African problem'? This campaign is to rebuild brick by brick what AIDS has destroyed by raising awareness, lifting off the veil of stigma for those infected and aim to have the 'good meds' available and accessible to those in the poorer nations. As long as there is a blanket of discrimination towards the infected ,it means our loved ones in the generations to come will not be immune to 'those numbers'. Here's to all those whose loved ones are a part of the 30million that have lost their battle with HIV and AIDS and to the 35,5million+ estimated to be living with HIV....may you find the support and strength to carry on and give yourself permission to live.
