I was surprised to hear that yesterday was the thirtieth anniversary of the first reported AIDS patient. HIV and AIDS were probably around for years, even decades, before researchers realized what they were dealing with, but the discovery began the process of diagnosis and developing drugs and strategies which would prolong the lives of those with HIV/AIDS.
I have written before about being recruited to serve on a community AIDS committee in Sudbury in the late 1980's. I did so with some ambivalence as I sorted through the moral issues. I was a father of young children at the time and I was concerned that visiting HIV/AIDS patients might put my health and theirs at jeopardy. This sounds foolish now, but there was a lot of fear and uncertainty during those early years. Some nurses and doctors refused to work with AIDS patients until it was ascertained that they didn't have an airborne contagious disease. It was a big deal for me to hold the hand of a sufferer in a hospital bed and pray. Extending compassion in Christ's name took on a whole new meaning for me.
Today there are about 34 millions people with HIV/AIDS around the world and two million die each year. Three people a day contract HIV in Canada. Drugs now make a huge difference in longevity, but they aren't a cure and in poorer nations they aren't available.
Have you known someone with HIV/AIDS? Has this disease gone off your radar screen in recent years? What about compassion as the Christian community?
ARV drugs do not cure people of the HIV virus or AIDS, they only make people sick. Most people do not realize that ARV drugs actually feed the HIV virus so that the virus doesn’t go into full blown AIDS and consume the entire body. Thus, ARV drugs keep one alive but at the expense of immense pain and suffering, feeding the virus their happiness and energy. Listen to the audios to see how aids is being cured without drugs.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.merkaba.org/audio/aids.html/
I was only a school kid when the virus when mainstream, but I do remember the amount of misinformation and subtle fear that was out there about it. It's definitely a good thing that the ignorance surrounding the disease has gone.
ReplyDeleteIt's been noted in the last five years or so how quickly the disease is devouring people in Africa, as well. That proliferation is worrisome, to say the least.
Here's hoping a cure can be found in our time.
I did know someone with AIDS and it was in 1982 when he passed away. He was a brother of friends and we all knew he was gay but did not know he was sick. We came back from vacation and were surprised to hear he was gone. It was a few years later we heard it was more than pneumonia. He contracted the disease in New York city and it was hard for his family to discuss his lifestyle. He was only 34 and there was not a lot known about the disease then, it was very mysterious and lots of myths too. We still see the family and they often refer to their son and brother and speak of the medical advances that have been made since the 80's.
ReplyDeleteYou point out the negative impact of fear and misinformation and that is very true.
ReplyDeletedmy, maybe twenty years ago I conducted a memorial service for a guy who died of AIDS which was organized by his friends. The family had a funeral but they told people he had died of cancer. The service was quiet out of respect for the family, but they invited the parents. The father asked in the service if he could speak. I think we were all apprehensive, but he gave a loving tribute to his son.