The Daily Echo 7 December 2006

Written by Sandra Gidley and published in The Daily Echo 7 December 2006 on Thu 7th Dec 2006

Last Friday was World AIDS day. I wore my red ribbon and attended a lovely service, organised by Christian Aid, in Romsey Abbey.

A few years ago red ribbons were very popular, especially among the young. This year I was surprised to be asked, on a number of occasions, what the red ribbon was for. There were also a large number of people who spotted the ribbon and said, "Oh it's AIDS day. I had forgotten all about that." The friends and families of the 8,000 people a day who die from AIDS will not have forgotten about the disease.

An article in Student BMJ put the scale of the AIDS epidemic into context when they described it as the equivalent of a tsunami a month. The world rallied around for myriad tsunami appeals and initiatives but where is the help for AIDS patients?

The disease has been with us for some 25 years. The early days of doom and gloom and tombstone adverts seem but a distant memory. At times it seemed as if there was a mass hysteria and many of us can recall the haunting images of those in who were slowly and painfully dying of AIDS.

Today, in the UK, there are many drug therapies available which can keep the illness under control and many people who are HIV positive live normal and fulfilling lives but they do not generally tell their friends and neighbours because there is still a great deal of stigma associated with the disease.

Those who contract the disease in developing countries are less fortunate. A campaign to treat 3 million people by 2005 fell well short of its target and the stark reality is that three quarters of adults and 90% of children do not receive treatment. Amongst the adults it is frequently the women who do not receive treatment.

There have been advancements as some manufacturers do make cheap versions of the early drugs available but some developing health systems do not have the basic infrastructure necessary to deliver the treatment. For some years there have been hopes of a vaccine but the product always appears to be "about ten years away" .I do believe that the current Government is committed to tackling the issue but they can only do so much but if you want to know how you can help then take a look at the HIV/AIDS Alliance website.

Published with kind permission of The Daily Echo