Monday Morning Update on HIV/AIDS!

It's been a whole week since our last update -- I know, it seems like a long time. *rolls eyes* I'm sure you've all been dying to know what's going on in the world of HIV/AIDS.

But, I actually have some interesting gossip this week:

• For starters, Bushes extremely popular, effective, and well-respected chief of PEPFAR (Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), Dr. Mark Dybul left his post this week. There is some seeming miscommunication between the powers that be and the media about whether this was a firing or a voluntary exit, but it does leave us with the question: who will lead PEPFAR under Clinton? It is almost uniformly agreed upon that George W. Bush's greatest legacy will be the US's expanded involvement in global AIDS relief. Please note I said nothing about "domestic AIDS," "sensible sexual health policy," "fair and culturally sensitive family planning measures," or "balanced" anything. I just said "expanded involvement." A lot of this expansion has been credited to Dr. Dybul, so the question this week is now: why is he gone? And, more importantly, who's next? (And some, it seems are suggesting that perhaps the chief of this position should be vetted by the Senate before they get their job).
• The Democratic Stimulus Plan includes one of the most amazing pieces of "pork" (as I'm sure Boehner will call it) I've ever seen: nearly $400 million in funding for the CDC and for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Really. That's amazing and wonderful. So, even though they caved at the family planning bit in the bills, at least we still have this to rely on.
• Finally, it seems that Senegal decided to put a gay AIDS activist behind bars for 8 years for ... well, being gay. Great, put the homo in jail. I'm sure he'll never have homosex again. Jeez. Thanks Senegal, go back to the 18th century.

See? That wasn't so bad. It was actually... gasp... interesting.

OH! And don't forget about February 7th, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day!!! And we also have National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on March 7th!

Why no National Homosexual HIV/AIDS Day? Because every day is national homosexual HIV/AIDS Day. We still make up 65% of new infections (est.) ... and I think we would spend too much time whether we should call it "Homosexual" or "Gay Men" or "MSM" or "MSR" HIV/AIDS Day that we'd get nothing done.

I become bitchier and bitchier the longer I'm at work. So I apologize. I'm being a crusty old soul right now.

HIV/AIDS: Benjamin Nicholas

Picture from the 15minutes blog

Ok, this is my "guilty pleasure" blog. Even though the man can be stuck up and annoying ("oh, I just love Florence.." blah blah blah... yea, I get it, you're still a professional prositute... er... escort, a job I actually covet but let's call a potato a potato), Benjamin ("I did not have sex with Trent Lott") Nicholas is none the less entertaining.

But one of his latest blog he talks, albeit briefly, about PEPFAR:

First off, getting into the states as a foreigner isn't always an easy thing. Thanks to a little internet research, it's evident that we don't let a whole lot of people pass through without asking them to jump through some hoops. Hell, the USA discriminates against those who are poor, routinely denying Visas for simply not having the means to get back to where they came from. All of this process is in place to not only keep the USA safe, but to continually stabilize our population with the variety of melting pot culture we're accustomed to. Sure, we're a country founded on immigration, but keep in mind that it was highly controlled and by legal means.

Think about it: Is allowing someone into our country with a debilitating, communicable disease a good thing? Would we put up the same anti-discriminatory argument if it was someone with Bird Flu or Polio? Are we giving HIV a hall-pass because slick pharmacological advertising has brainwashed us into thinking it's now a manageable lifestyle?

Believe what you'd like, but HIV is not manageable. It's not as easy as the ads in the pages of The Advocate would have you believe: One simple pill a day and life is back to normal. That's pie-in-the-sky bullshit and if you think for a second that people aren't still dying on a daily basis thanks to complications from HIV and AIDS, you're as dilluted as dishwater. A total cure is light years from being found and a vaccine for the existing uninfected is at least 25 years away from realization (or so says the Bill Gates Foundation).

So, with that in front of me, I say keep them out. Why do we need to take even greater risk as Americans, all in the name of 'equality.' This isn't about equality. It's about grandiose, radical-PCism from people who have no real grasp on reality or self-preservation. You might call it cold-hearted, but when push comes to shove, a survivalist mentality isn't a bad thing.

This also brings me to remind my readers that no matter how muscular, how beautiful or how young that guy may be, always assume he's HIV-positive. With infection rates again on the rise, taking 30 seconds to roll on a condom is more important than ever. In seeing a few former escorts make a quick re-appearance into the industry, I question their motives, as well as their health status. Always be aware and think backwards, connecting the dots, as far as memory will serve.

Good point, failed conclusion.

Unlike bird flu or polio, HIV as a communicable disease requires special means of transmission. Bird flu just requires breathing. HIV requires fucking. The key point you're missing, darling BN (whom I also follow on twitter), is that the people who end up contracting HIV from people from out of the country are engaging in behavior, likely with other people, that is indicative for seroconversion. Though it sounds callous, my point is this: we need more thorough prevention, not discrimination.

And, btw, for a lot a lot of people in the world and in this country, HIV is fairly manageable. It still blows and there are so many thousands of reasons not to get HIV (the fact that, despite lengthening life, it has a really high mortality rate over the lifespan is one of many); don't forget that not everyone is a muscle man with HIV, but some are.

In deductive reasoning (maybe inductive? awww hell, logic), I call this a FAIL.

PS ---> I also don't think Mr. Nicholas is that spectacular of a PR person for himself. The whole Trent Lott debacle was poorly handled. He didn't even get a friend to talk for him.