I'm Pissed Off!

Millions of orphaned children are left to care for themselves and grandparents are becoming parents again as a generation of mothers and fathers are lost to AIDS.

The United States government, knowing full well that condoms are 99% effective at preventing the spread of AIDS (when used correctly) still only provides funding for "abstinence only" education in our schools. By the same token The Catholic Church, while acknowledging the effectiveness of condoms, still condems their use as a "sin".

In 2003, President Bush announced that the US would commit to spending $15 billion over five years to combat AIDS in the "developing world" and yet millions of people are dying each year because they either cannot afford or do not have access to anti-retroviral drugs. Where the hell is that $15 billion dollars going?

We are approaching the 25th year of the AIDS epidemic in this country, and yet in America 14,000 people per year still die of this disease with another 40,000 being infected. Statistics that have not changed since 1998 according to the World Health Organization.

Over 40 million people world wide are currently infected. 3 million die each year (that's an average of 5.7 people, every minute of every day). Massive pandemics are breaking out in India, Africa and Russia, because people in these countries cannot afford treatment and there is no education.

I am PISSED OFF.

Why the hell is it that I can watch Gilmore Girls on an Ipod while on the bus but we can't get drugs that are effect yet affordable to treat what is possibly the largest global health crisis in history?

I can't fathom how many billions of dollars has been earmarked by either private donations, political parties and governments to stop the spread of AIDS. Where the fuck is that money going? Why is no one being held accountable for that money not getting to where it needs to go to actually do somebody some good?

So, now I'll get off my soapbox, but do me a favor today, on World AIDS day...

Get Tested, Get Educated, Ask Questions and Demand Answers.