stigma and discrimination

Kofi Annan, on the stigma of the AIDS virus:

But there is another terrible burden imposed by AIDS, which each and every one of us has the capacity to relieve: the burden of HIV-related stigma. The impact of stigma can be as detrimental as the virus itself. The solitude and lack of support it imposes are deeply wounding to those who suffer it. It should also hurt every one of us, for it is an affront to our commom humanity. Some people with AIDS are being denied basic rights such as food or shelter, and dismissed from jobs they are perfectly fit to perform. They may be shunned by their community, or most tragic of all, by their own family. The fear of stigma leads to silence, and when it comes to fighting AIDS, silence is death. It suppresses public discussion about AIDS, and deters people from finding out whether they are infected. It can cause people - whether a mother breastfeeding her child or a sexual partner reluctant to disclose their HIV status - to risk transmitting HIV rather than attract suspicion that they might be infected.

"silence is death"

here is more about the stigma. important reading.

here are some numbers from the world AIDSday site:

Worldwide, and in 2000 alone, AIDS claimed 3 million people last year. That's over 8,000 people every day. But the story does not end there: just under 14,000 new cases of HIV infections occur every single day. 95% of all AIDS cases occur in the world's poorest countries. In several southern African countries, at least one in five adults is HIV positive. In 2000, the HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women in South Africa rose to its highest level ever: 24.5% bringing to 4.7 million the estimated total number of South Africans living with the virus.

42,000,000 people in the world living with AIDS
5,000,000 people newly infected in 2001
13,200,000 children orphaned by AIDS

i wrote the numbers with the zeroes, as looking at '13.2 million' doesn't have quite the effect, at least for me, as all those zeroes. all those people, all those children.

"silence is death". let's be anything but silent.

and if you follow only one link in this post, please read this message from a South African, sent to AVERT on 26th November. silence is death.

edited to add:

538 sites participating at this writing -- that's a lot of non-silence!