The cost of living is going up. Talk of inflation is creeping back into the daily news. Everything from the price of milk to the price of a tank of gas to the price of Norvir has gone through the roof. A fifty-cent increase on gas or milk is one thing, but the 400 percent price increase in Abbott’s AIDS drug has nothing to do with fluctuations in the economy. And how about this grim statistic: six dollars of the price of an ounce of gold (currently around $400) is calculated as the cost needed to provide healthcare to HIV-positive miners in South Africa.
Another fact: Most HIVers, for whom the cost of living is already higher than the average person’s, are finding the buying power of the dollar is actually shrinking. More positive Americans are getting kicked off their state’s AIDS drug formularies. Fat-cat states like California and Texas—faced with monumental deficits— now have waiting lists for certain life-saving medicines that are deemed price-prohibitive. The cost of living with HIV is getting more expensive every day.
But if you listen to the George W. Bush of “post-war” Iraq, it’s as if addressing AIDS costs next to nothing. But not so fast. The CIA is firing off salvos about the AIDS crisis; it’s deadly serious about how AIDS will destabilize India, Russia, and China in the next six years. And Secretary of State Colin Powell commented last month that AIDS will overshadow terrorism in its ability to weaken free societies over the next decade. Right in our own backyard, hundreds of minority and inner-city charitable organizations are gearing up for the worst. When thousands of underprivileged teenagers are getting infected every year despite the supposed effectiveness of faith-based, abstinence-only safe sex education, isn’t it time for a little more honesty about the AIDS crisis in our own country, especially among our most vulnerable citizens—young men and women who were born into an HIV-is-everywhere world?
Maybe it’s because we have little faith on getting a return on our investments. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has faith, committing funds to entire continents. They know, at the very least, that a poor economy can’t turn around until poor health turns around. Their vision for a brighter India is truly visionary. They are spending millions buying condoms and prostitutes (for their time as AIDS education counselors) to promote safe sex to the thousands of married truckers who bring back HIV to their middle-class wives in Mombai, New Delhi, and Calcutta.
Carlos and Deborah Santana, this month’s cover story, also have faith. They stand out as examples of the music industry’s attempts to refocus our attention on a continent that is dying from AIDS. By donating 100 percent of Santana’s Shaman Tour proceeds to Artists for a New South Africa, the Santanas have single-handedly created a real bridge of hope between “us” and “them.” As one of the biggest-selling recording artists of all time (ninety million records sold over thirty-five years), Santana’s giftedness joins dozens of other artists who are putting their money where their mouth is. Witness Beyoncé, Bono, Annie Lennox, and dozens of other recording artists who are entertaining as well as changing our world.
That’s why I’ll never illegally download my favorite music stars again. Chances are they need all the money they can make. So they can make a charitable contribution to the most pressing need of our times: HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, treatment, and the elusive search for a cure. Miracles take money. So give yours wisely.
May 2004
