AIDS HIV – Lest We Forget!
The AIDS/HIV virus was first discovered in the early eighties among the gay community in New York and California. Prompting it to be called as the Gay Cancer and therefore provoking a lot of prejudice against the gay community. Perfectly healthy men were falling ill suddenly with a acute virus which the doctors were having a tough time to deduce.
In 1983, researches in France’s Pasteur Institute were able to isolate the virus which was then confirmed upon detailed investigation that in fact it does relate to the outbreak of the AIDS Virus. And by the end of that year nearly 35 countries confirmed to have the virus which was only believed to be in New York and California
In 1984 a French Canadian flight attendant by the name of Gaëtan Dugas dies of AIDS related disease. He is considered by many as Patient Zero. He is allegedly responsible for single handedly spreading the disease among the gay community to an estimated nearly 2,500 people.
By 1990, more than 1 million people had been affected and now the world is waking up to this monster. The Western countries start to use a triple cocktail of vaccine hoping to contain the virus, but in a few years it is clear the AIDS virus has the ability to mutate or “hide” in the body and therefore it can never be completely terminated. By the beginning of 2000 nearly 31 million people have been affected. The US Food and Drug Administration in 2004 approve the first generation of HIV medicine. India surpasses South Africa as the world’s largest HIV population.
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear, after 28 years and billions of dollars in research, we are as close to finding a cure as we were back in 1981. This is a global pandemic which can effect anyone, anywhere in the world and no one is safe. Data shows that even wearing a condom only gives a 80% safety if the partner is effected with HIV. Therefore, prevention is the only way to go. If you love your partner, get yourself tested for HIV/Aids before taking the relationship forward.
Elton John: The Last Song
As light as straw and brittle as a bird
Today I weigh less than a shadow on the wall
Just one more whisper of a voice unheard
As fear grows please hold me in your arms
Won’t you help me if you can to shake this anger
I need your gentle hands to keep me calm
I only thought I’d win
I never dreamed I’d feel
This fire beneath my skin
I can’t believe you love me
I never thought you’d come
I guess I misjudged love
Between a father and his son
The hidden truth no longer haunting me
Tonight we touched on the things that were never spoken
That kind of understanding sets me free
