It is most certainly a humanitarian crisis. Thousands dead. An impoverished nation battling to deal with the human carnage left behind. An inadequate health system to provide the care they need. A nation shaken to its core.
But here I don’t speak about Haiti. Here I speak about us. South Africa has been shaken to its very core by the HIV virus. It has left thousands dead, in fact every day thousands die. The number of dead makes it difficult for cemeteries to find place. The health system does not provide enough care, it cannot provide enough care because it is poorly financed and poorly managed.
Yet somehow the crisis of this crisis has been muffled. The fear and incapacity to help has not appeared in hundreds of photos on the news because there is simply not space. The fact that through government inaction, denialism and lack of funding we are losing creators, musicians, workers, lovers and friends has been silenced because talking about it seems too difficult.
Enough though. I ask now for the spending that is going to Haiti to be mirrored by spending going into HIV research and palliative care in our nation and in other nations affected by HIV. You may not be infected, but you are affected by this virus and it is time to wake up and realise that you should be doing more.
That’s the funny thing about us humans; if a single tree falls in the woods, none of us hear it. But if an entire rainforest…wait, bad allegory. It took forever for us to care about rainforests.
What I’m saying is this: when lives ebb away one at a time, none of us notice. It’s only when there is massive loss, 9/11, boxing day tsunami, katrina, haiti, that we suddenly notice.
Even beyond HIV and AIDS, there is poverty. Masses of it and people die as a result of it. But it’s one at a time…easy does it…there you go son…into the grave boy. No pledges, no national campaigns SMS campaigns, just more gripes about the economic crisis, and crime, and the bloody Proteas can’t win a thing, and…
**** that.
Revolution now!
“Yet somehow the crisis of this crisis has been muffled”?
Not sure I agree with the authors comment.
The crisis has not been muffled, the stats may be conflicting, but everyone in this country is fully aware of the impact of this disease, ask those who bury their families’ everyday.
I would suggest denial if you havent seen billions in international currency pumped into this country to alleviate the AIDS crisis, year upon year money pours in from Western Countries….
But when govt heads pour scorn on its very ‘roots’ and shower the problem away, sympathy turns into apathy.
Show me someone in this country who hasn’t heard about the dreaded disease? The question is, why are people not taking responsibility for their own actions and sexual beaviour (I am tired of the cultural excuse)…Choose to deny its existence at your own peril…the evidence and awareness now far outweighs any previous ignorance towards AIDS by the ANC and a large portion of the population.
I acknowledge the tragedy of a person who is raped by an HIV infected person, or similarly when a baby is born with the disease, but the country has been on a massive campaign for many years now to teach people of the effect of Aids, only to be met with ignorance, my sympathies diminish during every passing day!
Wake up and realise that you should be doing more to help yourself, stop waiting for handouts and medicine and money and sorrow,
Just a few days ago I was having the same thought about the HIV Disaster in South AFrica and how it does not get the attention that the disaster in Haiti is getting. Let’s also not forget that the USA encouraged Haiti to give up on its sucessful agricultural programme in order to make it dependant on the USA for importing food. Now surely the World Bank will move in to rebuild Haiti which Haiti will be forever in debt to pay back.
http://www.lavidalocavore.org/diary/3098/haiti-and-the-global-food-crisis
While I agree with the sentiments here there has been billions spent on HIV/AIDS research globally far more than Haiti will receive in immediate humanitarian relief.
Sad for Haiti they also have a massive HIV infection rate and a really sub-standard health-care system.
How can you compare the two? At the end of the day those with HIV or who spread the virus to their loved ones have to bear some of the responsibility for their infection and failure to practise safe sex. Having a building fall on you because of an act of God is an entirely different matter!
BoyInterrupted I hear what you are saying. Every loss is a tragedy of enormous scale to those left behind. And it feels like the rest of the world just keeps on going…
Francis is completely right. Internationally, HIV has received a lot of attention because treating it is profitable for the Western ruling class. Support for Haiti has received little attention because disaster relief for that country is not profitable for the Western ruling class.
You are right, and if we are looking at relatively better of countries like ours (African Context). If it wasnt for one Dr Beetroot we might have been better off.
In my field of experience (I work in these worlds of Sudan- Darfur etc)RSA could have been at the forefront of reducing the impact of HIV but we had dinialists in power and that left a major negative impact within the international institutions such as WHO and countries that would have given us extra dimes to effectively implement a preventive programme and plausible treatment activities.
Oh please, here we go again with the pointless blame shifting… Who is this ‘Western ruling class’ in Haiti? They kicked the French out some time ago if I’m not mistaken? Being free means you are responsible for your own welfare and economic development. And treating HIV is profitable for everyone in a country whether infected or not. Consider the implications of the economically active portion of the population being decimated by Aids. We are all going to suffer for it in the coming years.
If you know are planning to make a donation to assist those in need, please consider the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund.
‘It will not happen to me’ is a common belief which we humans cling on to in the face of possible threats to our existence. HIV/AIDS is one such possibility. It is not just denialism it is also continued clinging to the above belief by too many South Africans including our President.