Conviction: A Fighting Chance

We now know that HIV/AIDS is a disease that anyone could contract without proper precautions, and while once contracted it is eventually fatal, often, it's symptoms can be treated successfully for a long time. But a question still remains: Why do so many people still die from HIV/AIDS, especially internationally?

Here, in the US, treatment and prevention of disease is pretty closely tracked by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. You probably remember the CDC as a big player in the recent H1N1 shenanigans, but they also have records on things like HIV and AIDS -- keeping track of cases as well as providing educational information on the disease. However, a less developed country, like many in Africa, may be struggling to keep power, and disease control and prevention can be pushed to the wayside.

The only way to change this is education, learning! In the same way that I had to educate myself on HIV/AIDS, people everywhere need to be informed of just what HIV/AIDS is and how you contract it. By doing this, fewer people will get the disease, and the stigma that comes from ignorance about the disease can be relieved.



Another factor in the health and survival of people with HIV/AIDS is how clean their environment is: if they live in a clean environment, they are less likely to get any other infection or sickness. I know even in my dorm room, we have clean running water, a refridgerator to keep our food at a safe temperature, and oven to cook food and be sure that no harmful germs can get into our stomachs. Unfortunately, a lot of the rest of the world is in a different situation. World Vision lists this statistic:

"Worldwide, 884 million people lack access to safe water, and 2.5 billion lack basic sanitation."

That's rough. And again, I'm not writing this to make you feel guilty about your running water. Please continue showering on a regular basis. (That means you, Russel Brand!)

When you don't have clean water, it affects every facet of your life. You drink dirty water which leads to illnesses and often diarrhea, which will lead to dehydration. When you are too dehydrated to find your next meal, soon enough, without outside help, you have very little time left. Clean water can prevent all of that.


These are the big two, really. If people in less developed countries can be educated on the risks that can lead to HIV, and then we can do our part to provide clean water, the change would be remarkable.


Isn't it wild the things that are so easily changed? Stay tuned for some ideas coming up on how you can help, and who you are helping.

Conviction: AIDS Here and There

Now that we have a little better understanding of what HIV/AIDS is and what it does in a general sense, we can discuss what impact it has on an individual level.

Bringing it down to scale like this is a familiar concept. We think that stealing is bad and people should be punished, but when someone steals our car, we have a much stronger reaction. The same holds true of something like AIDS or Malaria or hunger. We are in agreement that those things are bad, but when your best friend gets HIV, or your mom gets malaria, or it is your daughter who doesn't get to eat tonight, aren't you going to spring into action? I know I am.

To look more accurately at what HIV/AIDS does, I think that we should differentiate between what happens when you contract HIV/AIDS here in the US and what happens if you were to contract it as a citizen of (for example) sub-Saharan Africa. (Please understand that these are generalizations, but that does not mean they don't happen. See World Vision for more information on the situation in other countries.)

As an American, you can get HIV/AIDS from having unprotected sex, coming in contact with blood that is infected (if you are a doctor or caregiver for someone who is infected) or by receiving it from your mother at birth or soon after being born. If you were an African, the risks are identical.

After exposure to the disease, and after potentially experiencing symptoms, an American would go to a doctor and be tested for various sexually transmitted diseases, then test positive for HIV/AIDS. However, an African who is fearful of the stigma against people who carry the disease might avoid seeking a medical diagnosis.

After a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, an American patient would decide a proper course of treatment with their doctor, and a series of medications would be prescribed to support the immune system and fight off disease and infection. Since the African has not received a diagnosis nor a treatment plan, their compromised immune system has no chance against any infection. His or her imminent death may leave an entire family helpless and without hope.

Do you see the discrepancy here? HIV will infect anyone -- location is irrelevant. It is after contracting the virus that something goes wrong. Why should a person here live a longer life than someone who is in Malawi or Uganda or Haiti if they have the exact same disease?

I can't think of a good reason either. It's because there is no good reason. It comes down to differences in the environment of these two people.

The American lives in a place where education on sexually transmitted diseases is important and frank. The stigma against those who contract HIV/AIDS is minimal if not nearly non-existent. Treatment is available and the likelihood of infection and illness is very slim thanks to our standards of health for food and drinking water. But the African may not be aware that they can contract HIV/AIDS through unprotected sex, and if they contract the disease, might be too scared to see a doctor. Medication for AIDS is scarce, and the rate of infection and illness high because of dirty water and various pests and parasites.

Now what did you notice about the situation of the African?
Every one of those problems is one that can be resolved.

Conviction: A Deeper Understanding

Many people are aware of the ravages that HIV/AIDS has wreaked on our world. It does not respect the boundaries that separate our map, it cares not for race, class or social standing. When it attacks, it leaves children alone and helpless, families searching for a means to survive. However, many of us are able to see HIV/AIDS as a far off issue -- a boogieman that we in the developed world can easily sweep under the rug.

Instead, let's look a little closer. The Mayo Clinic has great resources on what HIV/AIDS is all about:
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is a illness in which a persons immune system is weakened and unable to properly defend against sickness and infection -- it causes a lowered white blood cell count which means that your body is not equipped to combat disease. While a healthy immune system will fight and eliminate viruses and bacteria in order to keep you alive and well, the immune system of a person who has AIDS is unable to fend off intruders. HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus is what leads to AIDS, though it can take years for HIV to develop into AIDS. The virus is spread through bodily fluids, meaning that sex, childbirth and coming in contact with infected blood are all possible ways to become infected.

There is no cure for HIV or AIDS. Both are like many of the cancers that we are familiar with -- the symptoms are treatable, but eventually fatal. However, in places like sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti where living conditions are not as we are used to, the disease and its complications kill much faster. These facts from World Vision illustrate the impact:

An estimated 32.9 million people are living with HIV and AIDS worldwide.

Every day, nearly 7,400 people become infected with HIV and more than 5,400 die from AIDS.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected, accounting for 67 percent of all people living with HIV and 72 percent of AIDS deaths.

It's devastating, isn't it?

But let's recap: if we have established that yes, HIV/AIDS can be treated though it is eventually fatal, why are 5400 people dying every day from it, and why are so many of them in sub-Saharan Africa?