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Volume 6
Issue 47
February 3 - 9, 2010




Breaking News

Stirring the Pot

Death by ignorance 

(Editor’s note: The following piece is, in part, an encore to a previous column paying tribute to the millions of people across the globe who have lost their lives to AIDS.)

Dec. 1 marks the 21st anniversary of World AIDS Day. 

It will be a time when many people — in this country and beyond — will gather for ceremonies, memorials and educational events to bring attention to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS — the final stage of HIV infection. Locally, there are numerous events being held throughout next week shining light on the global epidemic, including a roundtable discussion on Dec. 5 at the Marriott Hotel in Oakland.

“Act Against AIDS” — sponsored in part by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention and the Bay Area Black Journalists Association — will bring media specialists, community leaders and CDC experts together to discuss the HIV/AIDS crisis in the Oakland African-American community. This free event is open to the community and will include several local panelists, including myself. 

It’s great there is a day to shed light on the AIDS epidemic, but what about the other 364 days of the year? 

It wasn’t Dec. 1 when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a new “gay cancer” that would soon affect millions of people globally, regardless of race, sex, age, religion or sexual orientation. 

And it wasn’t Dec. 1, but early 1991 that I stood with a dear friend as an untrained, unqualified receptionist told him that he was HIV-positive. Unfortunately, by that time, he had full-blown AIDS.

The next year and a half is one I will never forget and will always treasure. And although he finally succumbed to the disease, that experience is one I wouldn’t trade for the world. You see, my friend’s death was inevitable … choices he made prior to my knowing him are the reason he contracted the disease. However, what I learned is HIV/AIDS isn’t only about me, or my friend. 

Today, the World Health Organization reports about 33.4 million people are living with HIV globally. In 2008, an estimated 2.7 million new HIV infections occurred worldwide, and about 2 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses. 

The epidemic continues to escalate because too many people — especially in this country — have become too complacent with the reality of the disease. Too many people are in denial that although it can hit close to home, it just can’t happen to them.

There is a stigma that continues to wrap itself around the growing epidemic that needs to be eliminated. We need to understand that no one — no one — is immune. HIV/AIDS is an equal opportunity infectious disease and unless you’ve never had unprotected sex (or sexual abuse), regardless if you are in a relationship or not; unless you’ve never been an intravenous drug user; and unless you’ve never had a blood transfusion, you are at risk — albeit minimal — and need to put your own personal views and fears in the closet and educate yourself and those around you.

People need to understand the best way to stop HIV/AIDS is to talk about it … not ignore it. 

Ignorance may be bliss. But it also can kill you. 

Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig is an award-winning journalist who resides in the Bay Area. If you have an individual, organization, issue or other topic that may be of interest to the Globe’s readers, contact her at talk2mfc@yahoo.com. Visit her blog at www.stpminute.blogspot.com.
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