Today is World Aids Day. I know this thanks to BBC, since this isn't being much publicized here in DC. BBC and NPR are picking up a lot of stories in the last week about HIV/AIDS.
This epidemic tears the world apart, tears families apart, tears lives apart. Secretary-General Kofi Annan termed it "the genocide of a generation." Entire continents are losing stability from this disease that does not discriminate.
Currently I have picked the largest AIDS charity with a US address for donations. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is a grant-making entity that funds other programs. Right now I send 1.5% of my takehome pay biweekly to them, which according to the nice woman I talked to at the fund, is not annoying at all to them, even though it is so many tiny checks. They send me a snail mail thank-you after each donation for my records.
I've put the pictures up from the Act Up Demonstration in DC on November 24th (2003). I particularly liked this sign.
There was a point where it seemed like we could sink this disease by just getting everyone to use protection. (Of course, the Vatican and many other brilliant world powers haven't helped that goal.) Now, it looks like we need to put 41 million people on retroviral therapies in order to keep their societies from collapsing.
Posted by argus at December 1, 2003 08:42 PM