12/02/07

Thoughts \ Developed Thoughts \ Rants \ Raves \ Writing

02/12/2007 03:45 -0600 GMT

WAD 2007

I didn't do anything special for World AIDS Day today. I wonder if I am suffering burnout after ten years of involvement.

I was at a party last night, and in the flow of conversation, I interjected that today was World AIDS Day (WAD). My buddy, John Hunter, with whom I was conversing, said, "Really? I didn't know that. Wow. Well every day is World AIDS Day. That's so huge."

I was glad to hear that view from someone else. That is how I feel, but more often than not, I feel that it is a forgotten disease. So many will die tomorrow - thousands - as result of this illness, but there is little made of it, even today, on the day that is set aside to mark its significance. It gave me good sustenance to hear my colleague - a colleague who isn't directly involved with the epidemic that defines our generation - refer to the day with such regard.

Every AIDS Day since my first return from Lusaka, I have made efforts to be involved with whatever community activities were going on. Not so today. Maybe it's because it was a Saturday.  Maybe it's because I am deeply focused on the decisions that will shape my career - where to go for residency foremost - that include whether to move, what city to live in, what quality of life will be best for my family, etc.

I almost feel guilty for not being involved this time.

Yesterday morning, I found myself talking to the CNN broadcaster as he made statements that illustrated his and that network's lack of understanding of the facts of HIV. Any of you ten readers who have had inside knowledge of a news story and have heard a report on that story know what I mean. News broadcasters never have a clear understanding of the facts. Their dedication to sensational keywords that will get viewer attention takes precedence over communicating a deeper understanding of any issue. In their pursuit of gaining viewer attention, they fail to tell the whole story. And in their failure to tell the whole story, they cheapen their endeavors.

Ideally, this is where I would put an example in from the broadcast I was talking to yesterday morning. I can't remember what he said that set me off. Now I can only recall that it was incomplete.

Candle light vigils, remembering the lost souls to a disease that steals the young. Reading names, in an effort to remember those who could easily be forgotten. And the numbers, the numbers are overwhelming. The gravesites are unmarked, and continue to grow by the millions every year. Worse, the number of new infections is greater than the number of deaths. Over 32 million on our planet are infected now, including nearly 40% infected in some African countries. That is astonishing to me.

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I have friends with newly diagnosed HIV, and I am reminded of the life-stopping impact this has on an individual. There is the bewilderment and surprise. There is the shame, and the stigma-driven silence. There is the intense emotion of it all ending - one's life is altered forever. There is hope though, if one can be carried through the difficult emotions of an HIV diagnosis, and life can be normalized, thanks to amazing medical advances to combat this disease.

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