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Once again, December approaches, and once more, “World Aids Day” arrives: the world’s attention is temporarily riveted to a health crisis.
But why should the “remembrance” of AIDS be consigned to one specific day? Isn’t AIDS a daily reality for millions? Are we going to turn our engagement with HIV-AIDS and related issues into a once-a-year event during which we wear red ribbons, attend a rally, visit a gallery, sign a visitors’ book, and then take a deep breath and move on to a new chapter in our lives?
Will December the 2nd be a new day with a new cause and with different concerns completely disconnected from those of the 1st of the month?
It’s highly likely that for several people the answer to these questions will be “Yes”. After all, it is typical in this day and age for us to devote our full attention to a given issue for a short period of time before fatigue sets in and we lose all zeal for the cause. The question is, “Why do we behave this way”? The answer is probably that we don’t know what else to do.
Any problem is our problem only for as long as it touches us, and then, if it has no direct bearing on our daily lives, we leave it behind. Interestingly enough, though, the very problems that we refuse to “own” are the same ones that claim us and pull us down years later. The fact staring us in the face is that all our problems are interconnected. While several in the “developed” world might think of HIV-AIDS as a problem limited to the “undeveloped” world, it is unrealistic to do so.
HIV-AIDS has had a huge impact on every aspect of human life. On a personal level, millions have lost their parents, siblings and friends: families and communities have been broken apart or even annihilated. Do we have any idea what impact child-led households are going to have on our societies? Not really, but this is a reality that is facing several regions. National economies are already facing the challenges associated with shrinking workforces. The lack of access to formal education is becoming an even more pressing problem and religious groups are facing existential crises. Malnutrition, which was already a major problem, is only going to become more acute. The future impact on the global economy is looming. Keep in mind that this is only a minuscule part of the picture. For each issue or problem mentioned, there are thousands more that go unnoticed or unarticulated.
The trauma that is HIV-AIDS first came to our attention in the early 1980s and yet, more than 20 years later, we still don’t know what to do. It is still a highly stigmatized condition, and we still insist on condemning the subject to whispered conversations. Why are we unable to talk frankly and openly about it even today? Is it because we think of it as a sexually transmitted disease, or is it because it is so often fatal? Is it because we think that it is a disease that only strikes individuals of a certain race or of a certain sexual orientation? Is it because we view it as a punishment from God? And why don’t we talk about AIDS when we talk about urban planning, “development,” urbanization, finance, governance, safety and security? Several barriers remain to be crossed, but few want to be the first to attempt the crossing.
AIDS is very much tied up with the events and conditions of the 20th century. For this reason, perhaps, it is still a murky subject about which people say much without actually reaching any conclusions. Everything about AIDS is still being contested on some arena or another. A cursory glance at the literature on the subject reveals that not everyone is in agreement about the origins of the disease, about what methods should be used to limit its spread and about its epidemiology.
One of the myths concerning AIDS is that it is associated with a specific race. However, its impact has already been felt on more than two continents. The fact of the matter is that AIDS is very much associated with poverty and with the trauma of colonization and rapid urbanization. The 19th, 20th and now 21st centuries have seen revolutions in several aspects of human society. All these transformations, associated with “development,” have caused such disturbances in social relations, in sexuality, in family structures, and in nutrition that it is not surprising that HIV-AIDS has taken on epidemic proportions in specific regions of the world.
HIV-AIDS is certainly not solely an urban disease. However, its spread cannot be separated from the mushrooming of urban centers, and the growth of the transportation systems linking them.
Case in point: the lorry drivers who plied the road networks linking the coastal towns of Eastern and Southern Africa to the landlocked nations in the heart of the continent were among the first sizeable known group of victims in the region. And in Southern Africa, where thousands upon thousands leave their rural homes, often crossing national borders to seek employment in mines, husbands and wives are separated for years at a time. Not surprisingly, patterns of sexual behavior are affected; both men and women seek extra-marital sexual partners. Driven by a need to feed and clothe their families, several move to and from urban centers, carrying the infection with them.
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R Kahendi
The opportunity to learn from people from different walks of life has opened my eyes to the larger problems affecting us all.
I enjoy doing creative writing, poetry, and pieces on social issues. You can read some of my writing on my weblogs: KAHENDI'S BLOG, Ouagadougou's Weblog and Kahendi's Korner
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Comments
Greetings mamadou baldeh | Jan 30th, 2006
I can`t talk about hiv/aids because these is very difficult and not willing to give us chance to live. these is especially when it have support from poverty, and to be a prostitute etc..
africa we should introduce a operation campaign called ~Operation no sex for youths until marry because the youths are the future leaders.
Good Henry Ekwuruke | Feb 20th, 2006
I am very passionate about AIDS and the overall eradication in Africa. At least, I have something to gain from your good article.
It is cool.
Henry
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