HIV/AIDS
- Attacks t-cells and CD4 cells
- Over time, so many CD4 cells are destroyed that you can no longer fight infections- AIDS
- HIV medicine can keep it from reaching this point
- AIDS: Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome
- One or more OI’s, certain cancers, or a very low number of CD4 cells will classify as AIDS as opposed to HIV
- 35 Million people with HIV/AIDS worldwide (2013), 3.2 Million children
- 2.1 Million newly infected in 2013, 240,000 were children, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa from infected mothers
- 19 Million of the 35 million do not know that they have the virus
- 71% of those infected are living in Sub-Saharan Africa
- HIV is the world’s leading infectious killer
- Most people who are infected do not have access to prevention, treatment, or care
- Most countries hardest hit also suffer from other infectious diseases, food insecurity, and other issues
- However, prevention and treatment has increased in small but noticeable ways
Swaziland
- 26.5% of the 15-49 age group are infected
- Average life expectancy (m/f): 52/55
I’ve always loved statistics. I love the cut and dry, this is the way it is, no questions asked (but you totally still should) way that they put things. I love the way that they can detach you from the situation, educating you without involving you. I’m sure you read those facts up there, thought “Oh, that sucks. The world shouldn’t be that way” and then moved on, if you even read them at all. And I don’t blame you. Those numbers, the country, they don’t hold any meaning to you. You don’t have faces to go with the statistics.
But I do.
When I read that 35 million people are infected, I think of Franny. I think of the talks that we’ve had, the walks that we’ve gone on. I think of sitting in the sunshine next to her in the shade, talking about nothing and talking about everything.
When I read that 3.2 million children are infected, I think of Sarah. I think of Sam. And I think of Sean. I think of tickling them. I think of belly laughs. I think of throwing a ball back and forth for hours. And I think of their inevitable end. I think of the pain and suffering that they’re going to experience, over something they didn’t have any control over.
When I read that 19 million people don’t even know that they have the virus, I think of Mr. Donald, who didn’t know he had HIV until it had progressed so far he couldn’t live independently anymore.
But when I see the fact that prevention and treatment have increased in small but noticeable ways, I think of Hope House. I think of the caretakers who have dedicated their lives to these people. I think of the medical advances that have been made to allow people to live normal lives, and I think about how those are becoming more than a treatment for white people. I see how it is offering a future.
I have the names, the faces, to go along with the statistics. I have the stories of these people. My story has now become intertwined with theirs, and their story will now live on through mine.
Through all of the sadness, the hopelessness, I have seen joy, and I’ve seen hope. I’ve researched facts for Franny so that she can write a poem for World AIDS Day. I’ve seen the hope in her eyes, the thought of a better tomorrow. I’ve seen the love the caregivers pour out on the children, seeking to make them a family in a world where they are alone. I’ve seen the beauty and the care that is given to each of the individuals, and the beauty and the care that is inside each of them.
I have seen hope in a hopeless place.
