Thursday, December 1, 2011

Please take a moment

And read this piece by Bono on ending the AIDS epidemic. Today is World AIDS Day, and as someone who grew up in the San Francisco area in the 80's and 90's, I've always felt a special tug for this disease. Because of the work my father did, and still does, I was aware of AIDS almost before President Reagan said the word in public. How we've moved from Rock Hudson living only six months after discovering he was HIV positive to Magic Johnson living 15+ years since his diagnosis had been amazing to watch. I think one of the defining people for my generation was Ryan White and his early death. I remember crying when I found out that Arthur Ashe was positive. This is a disease that hopefully will be eradicated in my lifetime, and the amazing breakthroughs that have come in both prevention and making it a manageable disease are mind-blowing. But it is still a death sentence in too many parts of the world.

You won't find me saying many good things about President George W. Bush, but he did launch PEPFAR, and that will be one of the his finest moments.

So take a moment, read Bono's op-ed, and be thankful that we live in a time when medicine can make such amazing strides.

No comments:

Post a Comment