THE HEART WRENCHES . . .

HIV and AIDS has been in the news and print media a lot lately. The United Nations just closed a special session on AIDS, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan bluntly stating that HIV "has spread further, faster and with more catastrophic long-term effects than any other disease ... Its impact has become a devastating obstacle to the progress of humankind.".

I already knew that 11 million orphaned children in sub-Saharan Africa were orphaned by AIDS. I didn't know that in the last decade, in the span of a mere ten years, the percentage of children orphaned thus rose from 3.5% to 32%. THIRTY-TWO PERCENT.

I didn't know that as of the year 2000, there were 36.1 million people in the world afflicted with HIV/AIDS. I didn't know that 90% of these people lived in developing countries, and 75% of these folks lived in sub-Saharan Africa.

I didn't know that armed conflicts and natural disasters create environments in which HIV/AIDS spreads unchecked.

I didn't know that poverty, illiteracy and underdevelopment make HIV/AIDS spread faster and more widely, and HIV/AIDS results in even more poverty and hinders development ... the most vicious cycle ever known to man.

I didn't know that in 1980, in tiny little New York City alone, there were 52 new cases of AIDS and 15 AIDS-related deaths.

I didn't know that in 1995, the Centers for Disease Control declared that AIDS was the leading cause of death among ALL Americans between the ages of 25 and 44 years old.

I didn't know that in 1999, in tiny little New York City alone, there were 5,337 new cases of AIDS and a cumulative total of 75,800 AIDS-related deaths.

I didn't know that in 2002, HIV was the leading cause of death WORLDWIDE, among people between the ages of 15 and 59 years old.

I didn't know that as of 2002, women comprised about half of all people suffering from HIV/AIDS.

I didn't know that HIV medications can cost a person up to $2400 A MONTH, for ONE prescription, ONE drug. I did know that most folks with HIV have to take multiple drugs, and I know that costs a lot of money.

I didn't know that as of 2005, more than 1.1 million Americans were living with HIV/AIDS, and most tragically, 25% of them -- TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THEM -- didn't know it.

I didn't know that as of right now, it has been 25 years since the Centers for Disease Control first reported on the AIDS virus, 40 million people are stricken with HIV/AIDS, and 25 million people have died of AIDS.

My knees buckle, my breathing stops, my heart breaks and I bang my head against the wall again and again for all that I didn't know and continue to be unaware of ...