Today is World AIDS Day. Ever since the World Health Organization established December 1st as this day in 1988, it has been observed. HIV and AIDS doesn't get the headlines it once did, for good reasons and less encouraging ones. As you may know, HIV attacks the immune system and once your cells have been depleted enough by HIV, you reach AIDS status.
Since the 1980s, there have been incredible achievements in treating HIV/AIDS so that many people diagnosed with HIV never even find their immune system compromised enough to have AIDS--the many medicines and treatments help keep the virus at bay to the point where it is basically undetectable in their system. When HIV/AIDS was considered a terrifying death sentence, it got tons of press and was at times horrifically misrepresented and used as a way to demonize entire groups of people. Now, HIV/AIDS is something people can live with and eventually--when older--die with, not of. This is encouraging, but the lack of attention HIV/AIDS now gets is discouraging, as it is still here and has killed so many before we achieved advancements in treating patients.
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| With treatment, the tide turned. |
The current Trump administration has drastically cut funding for research into the treatment of HIV, and the U.S. isn't officially recognizing World AIDS Day for the first time since 1988. Donald Trump and his cronies cutting money to programs that help people isn't surprising, but refusing to even acknowledge World AIDS Day just feels like an extra twist of the metaphorical knife in the back for those who do want to use today for remembrance of the past and hope for the future.
At one point, I was employed by a nonprofit that assisted individuals with HIV/AIDS via a grant and the Ryan White Care Act to ensure those with HIV/AIDS would have any expenses relating to their diagnosis that insurance/Medicare/Medicaid did not fund covered. It was a great job, and I met and served a wide range of people, which goes to show how HIV/AIDS impacts us all. I had to leave the job when our first child, Clarkson, was born prematurely, and it was necessary for a parent to stay home. Researching how to help those with HIV/AIDS, how to prevent it, and how to maybe even someday hopefully cure it is important. Even if there is less attention paid to HIV and AIDS now, that doesn't mean it is of little concern.
Some parts of the World struggle to get access to preventative methods or lifesaving drugs, there is still much to be done, and that is why World AIDS Day remains important in 2025. Even if our viciously incompetent and spiteful politicians in currently in power choose to ignore the importance of today, millions of people will mark it on their calendar and use the time to reflect and then be ready to react as needed. Today is World AIDS Day, and HIV/AIDS has impacted our planet and continues to do so. I can only hope a day comes when we only need to reflect (as I mentioned earlier) as a cure has been found/made. Someday.
