My Editorial In Tomorrow's Orlando Sentinel

My Word: Listen to stories of AIDS victims

(This was not the title I submitted)

http://tinyurl.com/3yb2vdh

By Paul Kawata

September 10, 2010

Almost 30 years after the Centers for Disease Control first identified the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ( AIDS) and its cause, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the story of AIDS has largely devolved into one of sterile numbers and cold statistics.

About 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV. More than 56,000 people are infected each year in the United States, and more than 575,000 Americans have lost their lives since the onset of the epidemic.

But while these statistics are horrifying and should never be minimized, the real story of HIV/AIDS in this country has largely been forgotten — that of the individual's struggle against this terrible disease.

In this time of political upheaval, economic hardship and pop-culture supremacy, this personal story, told by those of us on the front lines of the war against AIDS, is critical if we are to refocus our country's attention, and re-engage this disease, which continues to ravage our nation's most-vulnerable populations.

Advances in treatment options, as well as natural limitations on our nation's collective attention span, have contributed to a general decline in the public's sense of urgency when it comes to HIV/AIDS.

But while the epidemic has largely fallen off America's radar screen, a cure continues to elude medical researchers, and infection rates remain alarmingly high. Those of us in the movement are often left wondering what can be done to make people listen.

This is precisely why thousands of HIV/AIDS advocates and activists are gathering in Orlando next week for the United States Conference on AIDS — to share their stories and to help build a stronger movement.

While some people might be reached through statistics alone, my experience has shown me that they are more likely to be moved by stories of how AIDS has affected someone they know and love. And that's the real value of the conference. It provides community and faith-based organizations, as well as those loosely aligned with the movement, the tools they need to be heard.

In this sense, it is particularly fitting that this year's conference will be in Orlando, as this city's immense economic and ethnic diversity mirrors those communities that have been hit hardest by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

And while there are still plenty of other statistics to be shared — someone is infected with HIV every nine-and-a-half minutes; one in five people living with HIV are unaware of their status — I hope that we as a nation are able to look beyond them, and see the individual struggling to save his or her life and that of a loved one.

Paul Kawata is executive director of the National Minority AIDS Council in Washington, D.C.