September 21st, 2016
____________________________________________________________________________________
First off, let me check myself because I am a big advocate of
changing the language of this diagnosis from the yesteryear death
sentence to the currently classified “chronic” condition that it is.
However, as someone who once used to pledge allegiance to a flag that
was never going to reciprocate that allegiance, I am now in a place
where I recognize the intersectionality of lived experience, and the
need to make sure that we don’t lose focus of where the epidemic
currently lies and the work that still needs to be done to change this
narrative.
Although HIV may be a “chronic” illness that is manageable and
treatable, the epidemic is still a majority problem in the black
community, and for me that is a problem. As the CDC has stated that half
of black gay men will contract the virus over their lifetime,
minimalizing the effects that it has on the body in comparison to the
virus of yesteryear is detrimental to a community that has for far too
long been robbed the right of proper healthcare, and been nothing more
than the guinea pig of experimentation over the last 200 years.
The classification of the “chronic” condition of HIV was and has helped to dispel the narrative of the original death sentence that it once was. However, as a black gay man, whether this condition is “chronic,” “treatable,” or any other term used to describe it, it is still affecting my immediate community - and the black community as a whole - in numbers that are much higher than our white and Latino counterparts. There is a double-edged sword that comes with new treatment advancements, and unfortunately that sword now swings harder against our community, as potentially less and less resources will go towards preventing the virus and more towards treating it as prevention.
If people can’t “die” from this virus any longer, why should pharma companies continue to work towards a cure if they can continue to profit from treating a person for 50 plus years of their life? The answer is why calling the virus “chronic” is dangerous to our community. I am glad and blessed to live in an era wherein I can have HIV and have a quality of life that was not afforded to my forefathers, Marlon and Essex. But I would be doing them a disservice if I didn’t push back on this narrative and continue to fight for the necessary implementation of preventative methods that my community so desperately needs.
When we look at the epidemiology reports, the Southern part of the U.S. is still in desperate need of education, medical assessment, treatment options, healthcare services and a list that could go on like a dissertation. For the virus to be so highly contracted in the CDC’s backyard (Atlanta) is not only deplorable, but a miscarriage of healthcare for a country dealing with such racial injustice across the board. HIV is not only a healthcare issue, but also a social justice issue, and that is why this “All Lives Matter” notion of the chronic condition must be evaluated and reassessed because it ain’t all roses for the Black Lives that matter to me, and who will be infected at a much higher rate than any other population. We too often look at the epidemic from an “overall” number, and this does a disservice to the populations where the numbers are continuing to increase.
In no way, shape or form is this to disparage the amazing work that has been done to take HIV from a death sentence to a place where people can thrive with the virus. This is, however, and moment for us to check ourselves, check the CDC, check pharma companies, and to check anyone who thinks that this chronic condition can now just be an afterthought in the spectrum of healthcare problems in our country. I do want to live in a world that is one day HIV/AIDS-free, with no new infections. The only way we will be able to attain this is if we challenge the funders against the notion that although this virus may be “chronic,” it is still a problem. And for those of us in the black community, it isn’t going anywhere.
Read more articles from HIV EQUAL, here.
The classification of the “chronic” condition of HIV was and has helped to dispel the narrative of the original death sentence that it once was. However, as a black gay man, whether this condition is “chronic,” “treatable,” or any other term used to describe it, it is still affecting my immediate community - and the black community as a whole - in numbers that are much higher than our white and Latino counterparts. There is a double-edged sword that comes with new treatment advancements, and unfortunately that sword now swings harder against our community, as potentially less and less resources will go towards preventing the virus and more towards treating it as prevention.
If people can’t “die” from this virus any longer, why should pharma companies continue to work towards a cure if they can continue to profit from treating a person for 50 plus years of their life? The answer is why calling the virus “chronic” is dangerous to our community. I am glad and blessed to live in an era wherein I can have HIV and have a quality of life that was not afforded to my forefathers, Marlon and Essex. But I would be doing them a disservice if I didn’t push back on this narrative and continue to fight for the necessary implementation of preventative methods that my community so desperately needs.
When we look at the epidemiology reports, the Southern part of the U.S. is still in desperate need of education, medical assessment, treatment options, healthcare services and a list that could go on like a dissertation. For the virus to be so highly contracted in the CDC’s backyard (Atlanta) is not only deplorable, but a miscarriage of healthcare for a country dealing with such racial injustice across the board. HIV is not only a healthcare issue, but also a social justice issue, and that is why this “All Lives Matter” notion of the chronic condition must be evaluated and reassessed because it ain’t all roses for the Black Lives that matter to me, and who will be infected at a much higher rate than any other population. We too often look at the epidemic from an “overall” number, and this does a disservice to the populations where the numbers are continuing to increase.
In no way, shape or form is this to disparage the amazing work that has been done to take HIV from a death sentence to a place where people can thrive with the virus. This is, however, and moment for us to check ourselves, check the CDC, check pharma companies, and to check anyone who thinks that this chronic condition can now just be an afterthought in the spectrum of healthcare problems in our country. I do want to live in a world that is one day HIV/AIDS-free, with no new infections. The only way we will be able to attain this is if we challenge the funders against the notion that although this virus may be “chronic,” it is still a problem. And for those of us in the black community, it isn’t going anywhere.
Read more articles from HIV EQUAL, here.
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