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The 2004 International AIDS Conference is taking place in Bangkok, Thailand this week. Delegates are discussing program initiatives, anti-viral medications, orphans, and funding.
The implications AIDS has on not only individual health, but also on initiatives to fight poverty, are tremendous. It is estimated that 12 million of the 15 million people infected with HIV/AIDS live in sub-saharan Africa, with the majority of those infected being among working-age adults. How can we fight poverty when the working-age demographic is being diminished by disease? How do we support the children who become orphans when both parents die? Will they grow up? And if so, how will they react to how the international world did or didn't respond?
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UPDATE
Here's another interesting article: Mandela, AIDS & TB
This one was interesting as well on the role of the US: The Bush Administration Stands Alone
that's why i love you, charity... (maybe not *why*, but certainly a reason). you never fail to bring up really important issues like this one, that i could otherwise overlook. as the conference continues, will you keep us posted in blogworld?
so what do you think is the best way for the international world to respond, charity? i saw an article in the paper today, kind of hashing out the urging abstinence vs. handing out condoms idea...perhaps the most realistic view is some sort of combination. what do you think? i'm definitely in favor of getting meds to those already infected.
This article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13501-2004Jun28.html?
is pretty good at laying out the complexity of how to go about addressing the epidemic in reference to women.
Obviously, I don't think there is one right answer and shy away from the extremes (i.e. abstinence only or just condoms). I remember in Kenya that there were always signs up regarding safe sex and places marked where you could get free condoms. But honestly, when you get down to the root causes of the disease we're talking a lot about worldview issues; the way we view God, man, and evil affects how we live life. And it works itself out in the treatment of women, not acknowledging the value/role or institution of marriage, etc. Plus, poverty can be seen as both a cause and effect of infection. Women (and men for that matter) enter into prostitution, whether because they were tricked into believing they would be making money legitimately and were in a sense kidnapped, or trafficked, or they felt they had no other choice in earning money for themselves or their families.
All of that to say that there is a lot more to addressing the HIV/AIDs issue than the "ABC"s, though that's part of it...
i was reading an article this morning and my numbers were way off. they said 38 million were infected with 25 million in sub-sarahan Africa & 7.2 million in Asia. sorry about the wrong numbers... also, NPR has a bunch of segments that are worth listening on the subject as well.
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