Because of my work with Grassroot Soccer, HIV/AIDS has moved to the forefront of my attention and I honestly believe it might be following me around (in a different sense than you might be thinking). The other day I randomly received an email from my mother asking me if I wanted to go to an event where UNAIDS experts would be speaking in Riviera Beach. I just got home from South Africa where I was working for an international non-profit in the AIDS field! What are the chances that I come home and there is an intimate discussion with UNAIDS (United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS) experts right in my very own backyard?
So who was the mystery UNAIDS expert? It was none other than Dr. Djibril Diallo the Senior Advisor to the Executive Director for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. Maybe no one really cares except for me, at least it seemed that way considering maybe 25 people showed up, but it was an incredible opportunity to meet and listen to someone speak who is working to mobilize support for the UNAIDS initiative of prevention, treatment, care, and support. I still cannot believe so few people were in attendance; I mean he flew down to tiny, little Riviera Beach, Florida to speak to us personally! Oh well, I am not going to complain too much because it did provide with the opportunity to speak with him one on one and introduce myself. Dr. Diallo also served as the Director of the United Nations New York Office of Sport for Development and Peace so he had heard of and worked with Grassroot Soccer in the past. Grassroot Soccer has partnerships with a few different United Nations entities including UNHCR, UNDP, and UNAIDS.
So why Riviera Beach? This is the part that confused me too. Well, believe it or not, according to the CDC more than 4,000 HIV/AIDS cases are diagnosed in Florida alone every year, which gives Florida the 3rd highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the U.S. after New York and California. What surprised me even more was when I learned that the metropolitan areas from West Palm Beach to Boca Raton raked FIFTH in the nation. I am not making any of this up; it comes straight from Florida Department of Health. Does any of this surprise you? It certainly surprises me. I traveled halfway around the world to help and educate people about HIV/AIDS only to return and find out that I live in an area that needs a pretty good amount of help and education itself.
The World Factbook on the CIA’s website is by far one of my favorite tools for getting information about all different countries in the world. So according to the statistics found on the World Facebook, the U.S. is ranked 64th for HIV/AIDS prevalence rate (I may have already given this information in a previous blog, but I find it to enhance this discussion as well) and South Africa is number 4. So it was probably a good thing that I was helping over there, but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t consider AIDS a huge problem here. It is all how you look at the information. Yes, our prevalence rate is low. This can mostly be attributed to a much larger population than say Swaziland, the country currently carrying the largest prevalence rate. However, when we examine the number of people currently living with HIV/AIDS we hop, skip, and jump right on up to number 9 and that would most likely be due to our availability and ease of access to ARVs. I would also again take into account that we have a much larger population than many of the other countries listed around us. I must quickly mention though that South Africa holds strong at number 1 in this category and that probably not because of availability of drugs; it just happens to be extremely overtaken by the spread of this disease. Finally just to throw it in there, the United States hangs around number 18th in the world for number of deaths to HIV/AIDS and it has a little something to do with that big population syndrome we have once again.
So there is the quick comparison to help you understand where this disease is lurking and also to prove that it is right here in our own neighborhoods, not just in some far away land we know little to nothing about. I urge you to take action; it doesn’t have to involve getting a bus and converting it into a testing center, it can be as simple as putting on that red ribbon and educating someone about the dangers and the existence of this disease or even donating a few dollars to a local charity or HIV/AIDS organization. While we think that maybe it doesn’t affect us because we are not gay or a minority, it affects all of us. As long as AIDS is being passed along and killing people, we are paying for it. If you have no compassion and cannot feel for those who are infected and directly affected by this pandemic, at least consider this side: the lifetime cost of living with HIV/AIDS is $618, 900. This means that if we do not do anything to fight this disease, funding from HIV/AIDS in the future will be $12.1 billion a year and that is $12.1 billion that could remain in tax payers hands or could be allocated to our education system or whatever else may interest you. So in some way or another, we are all affected.
For HIV/AIDS testing in the Palm Beaches:
· Compass, Inc.
· Comprehensive AIDS Program
· Glades Health Initiative
· Drug Abuse Foundation
· PBC Health Department
· Families First Palm Beach County
· United Deliverance Resource Center
For HIV/AIDS care resources in the Palm Beaches:
· Compass, Inc.
· Youth Line
· Children’s Place at Home Safe, Inc.
· HIV Pastoral Care
· Hospice of Palm Beach
· Integrated Healthcare Systems
· Minority Development and Empowerment
· Planned Parenthood
· Latin American Immigrants & Refugee Org
· Palm Beach County HIV CARE Council
