AIDS/HIV is still with us: Let’s fight it

Opinion. The views expressed are the author’s own.

The Red Scarves program reintroduces us all to the continued HIV pandemic and its effect on our communities, neighbourhoods and friends. I was introduced to this connection through friends at the Western Fair in London, Ontario. Handmade scarves raise funds for many local HIV/AIDS centres across Canada. World AIDS Day is this Dec. 1, and we are all challenged and encouraged to show our support for those in need.

AIDS still kills hundreds of thousands of people a year, about 630,000 worldwide in 2023 according to UNAIDS. Africa carries the heaviest burden, where it has spread rampantly, driven by poverty and a lack of education. AIDS/HIV still unloads a bitter stigma upon many within our communities, as well as their family members and the greater community. This stigma is felt within the LGBTQ+ community most of all, where many thousands of its members have suffered long-term effects of this disease, and many have died before their time.

Remember, there are many ways to be infected by this disease, ranging from unprotected sex to using or sharing needles when injecting narcotics, and even mismanaged blood transfusions.

Contact Red Scarf Canada or your local HIV/AIDS centre. Consider this: if you don’t help, who will? I have experienced friends slowly dying of this disease, and believe me, it is a hurt that will not pass or be forgotten. People die because they simply are not careful. Be careful, much like wearing a mask: use a condom, find intelligent ways to make love safely, or simply express concern for the safety of yourself and others.

Steven Kaszab lives in Bradford, Ontario.

Editor’s note: the global death figure is from UNAIDS and replaces a figure in the author’s original submission.