Please donate to see a world without HIV/AIDS

[sckeener]

Ok it is a charity form letter...but it includes all the links I needed, so I copied & pasted. Basically as outlined below, I am participating in an AIDS walk in Houston and can use all the donations I can get. So...how generous is Enworld?

A message from Sterling Keener sterlingk@chevron.com.

On March 9th I will join thousands of other AIDS Walk Houston participants in showing our commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS, as well as our love and compassion for everyone affected by HIV/AIDS. For this reason, and for so many more, I ask you to share your compassion by supporting me with a pledge to my AIDS Walk effort. It all begins with one step, and I hope you will join me in this Walk.

To place a pledge on my behalf you can click on the link below to get to my personal web page and make a simple and secure contribution by credit card. If you would like to write a check instead, please make it out to AIDS Walk Houston and mail it to P.O. Box. 56347, Houston, Texas 77256-6347. Please remember to write my name in the memo line.

On behalf of those who are living with HIV and AIDS and those who have been lost, thank you for your compassion and generous support.
Visit my personal page
or you can visit the web address:
http://www.aidshelp.org/site/TR/Even...0&s_tafId=5643​

 

[Megaton]

I participate in a walk for DC, otherwise I'd contribute to that one. HIV is a huge problem in the district... I read a statistic that 5% of DC residents have HIV. 1 out of 20 seems ridiculously high, and honestly a little scary.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

I participate in a walk for DC, otherwise I'd contribute to that one. HIV is a huge problem in the district... I read a statistic that 5% of DC residents have HIV. 1 out of 20 seems ridiculously high, and honestly a little scary.

You think that's scary there are places where the percentage reaches 20-30%. And entire swathes of Africa where it exceeds twice the level of DC. AIDS once it hits a saturation point like it has in the hardest hit areas can pretty much destroy the entire social structure. Unfortunately far as I can tell all the attempts to help don't actually seem to do any good at a systemic level and I'm not sure what could.

 

[moritheil]

You think that's scary there are places where the percentage reaches 20-30%. And entire swathes of Africa where it exceeds twice the level of DC. AIDS once it hits a saturation point like it has in the hardest hit areas can pretty much destroy the entire social structure. Unfortunately far as I can tell all the attempts to help don't actually seem to do any good at a systemic level and I'm not sure what could.

Well, some specific cases come to mind where the people at risk (or the ones in charge) did not believe the science involved, or did not believe it applied to them, so policy could not be implemented.

It's very much a cultural issue as well as a scientific and medical issue.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

It's very much a cultural issue as well as a scientific and medical issue.

I know and agree, I was just remarking that for all the effort none of it actually seems to help at a level beyond the personal and local. Even the local level is questionable at best. And for all that I've researched the region, done dissertations on it. I can't come up with anything that might change that.

And unpleasant as it is to consider might it be better to stop providing that aid? The aid may actually be part of the many problems contributing to the situation in the first place.

 

[Megaton]

I've always been of the mind that resources should be used for research toward prevention and cures before anything else. It seems like a lot of money is spent on resources for people living with diseases when the money would be best spent in the labs.

I'm certainly not advocating that programs like Make-a-wish are useless, but I just would prefer more funding be done in research to eradicate the problem.

 

[moritheil]

I'm certainly not advocating that programs like Make-a-wish are useless, but I just would prefer more funding be done in research to eradicate the problem.

Well, the point I was trying to make is that even if we do have some treatment options, if people refuse to make those options available to everyone or refuse to avail themselves of them, that's not going to help as much as it could.

Certainly, I would not mind more money going into research.

 

[sckeener]

I’ve reached a plateau and was hoping you could help me reach my personal goal! See the links above to donate! So far no web forum that I've posted on has donated. I'd like Enworld to be the first. So please, if you can....every bit helps!

I've always been of the mind that resources should be used for research toward prevention and cures before anything else. It seems like a lot of money is spent on resources for people living with diseases when the money would be best spent in the labs.

Very true...research and education are key...but so is political will....ex: even having a vaccine for Polio and a world wide effort to eradicate it hasn't eliminated Polio.

Take Uganda. They had a successful education program that was working...was. Their policy was called ABC, "Abstinence," "Be faithful," and "Condom use." Uganda felt it was a national security issue because the government looked around and saw that AIDS was going to wipe out their military.....but then Bush promised money...the string was that Uganda had to drop the C in ABC or drop the Condom part. Uganda took the bait and now that country's AIDS rate is rising. There is a PBS Frontline episode about this controversy.

Politics can interfere with stopping this disease. It is possible to stop it. Education is key. I'm sure Polio would be wiped out if mother's knew their babies would be safe if they got a vaccine. I'm also sure if enough people harped on condoms there would be a reduction in the AIDS numbers.

There is a reason the legal prostitutes in Nevada have never come down with a disease. They always insist on condoms....because the Nevada state government insists on it...political will....

0% increase is possible.