The McCollumn - 12/3/10

End the madness

I had intended this week to write about my trip to the Iron Bowl and the hilarity and fun that ensued.
Perhaps I shall next week, dated though it may be.
No, as I sat to write this column this week, it was Wednesday morning and I was checking Twitter, as I habitually do multiple times daily.
World Aids Day was Wednesday. It was amongst the sites worldwide trending topics, as thousands upon thousands of Twitter users from across the globe incorporated that phrase into their tweets.
You read through the tweets and you got statistics that give pause and break one’s heart.
430,000 children were born with HIV last year. Born with HIV. Could not help but contract the disease.
Most of these children are in Africa, and at least half of them will die before the age of two without medical intervention.
33.3 million people around the world are estimated to be living with HIV.
An estimated 2.6 million became newly infected last year.
If we are the America we are supposed to be, the great moral leader in this world, why aren’t we at the forefront on this issue?
Preventable deaths are happening every single day.
We can and we must do more.
Of course, we don’t do enough at home to help fight this disease either.
AIDS is one of the last great stigma diseases.
Have any other disease and your loved ones will flock to you to show their support.
Contract this disease and you generally become shunned and thought of as less than human.
We’ve all been inundated with safe sex rhetoric and have been taught through school to know enough not to share needles when we do our heroin.
Surely anyone who contracts the disease these days deserves it for engaging in risky behavior.
Wrong.
Dead wrong.
How they got the disease may have been a monumental mistake in their lives. I dare say it would probably rank as their life’s greatest regret.
But, having that disease does not make them less than human.
They deserve the same love and compassion we should show anyone who is facing a life- threatening disease.
We do not know each victim’s story.
We don’t know what paths took them to the place they are.
All we should know and all we should see is a person before us in need of comfort and care.
If we are the people we claim to be, we should all step up and do what’s right here.
Spend some time and volunteer with AIDS Outreach.
Write a check; their funding is always dependent upon such help.
Take some time and learn more about the disease. Awareness is a step to prevention; understanding is a step to compassion.
Write letters and e-mails to your political leaders and ask them what they’re doing to help solve this crisis.
Just do something.