All this aid money going to the countries affected by The Tsunami is really starting to piss me off.
Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge these people the help they're getting, and I certainly don't begrudge them the debt relief that's been floated as an idea. But by any measure, the AIDS crisis in sub-saharan Africa is worse by at least an order of magnitude. So why do we raise billions within days for a hundred thousand victims who got in the way of a big wave, but people suffering the ravages of one of the most deadly diseases known to man are told that they could get treatment if it weren't for the government's debt payments, or American/European patents, or the inability to raise foreign aid. Ask Stephen Lewis about how easy its been to get a few billion from the US and Canadian governments.
Like I said, I have no problem that this aid money is going the victims of this disaster. My beef is with all the money that's NOT going to Africa to deal with a far bigger tragedy. All this is putting me in a frame of mind to read the Romeo Dallaire book - Dallaire's been frequently cited as saying if the Rwanada Genocide had happened to us honkies, we'd have been all over it. If you doubt this, look at the reactions to to events in Africa - the Darfur genocide and Mugabe's attacks on white farmers in Zimbabwe. Black-on-black violence? Ho hum. Black leader attacking apartheid-legacy land concentration in the hands of a few wealthy whites? OH MY GOD THE INHUMANITY OF IT ALL!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!
(Note: Mugabe is still a bad man, etc etc. Just saying.)
One final note: it goes without saying that if this Tsunami acts as a catalyst for more widespread debt relief and international aid, it will be a slightly less horrible event. However, I'm not holding my breath.
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John, you're absolutely right about aid for AIDS in Africa. It's a sad thing that the world should throw so much money into the "tragedy of the month" and not into the tragedies that are unfortunately a part of daily life in many places around the world.
(Yes, of course the tsunami was terrible, and I'm grateful my family in that part of the world is all safe, etc.)
Some quick stats on AIDS/HIV from the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/aids/2004.html
"The UN estimates that nearly 40 million men, women and children have HIV. Of that number, 12.4 per cent were infected within the last year. The latest estimates suggest that 14,000 people are infected with HIV around the world every day.
"Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected area in the world. The region has 10 per cent of the world's population, but 60 per cent of all people with HIV live there...."
Some stats from UNAIDS for 2004:
AIDS/HIV has infected 25.4 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Of those, 2.3 million died as a result last year.
Another 3.1 million people were NEWLY INFECTED last year alone.
In response to your blog, I am doubling the donation I gave to the Red Cross tsunami relief fund and giving it to Doctors Without Borders. They do good work, and are being open about their funding target for the tsunami relief efforts - they've reached it, but are encouraging people to continue donating to their many other programs.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders-usa.org/donate/index.cfmIt's time
You can also send a cheque to UNAIDS - here's the web site:
http://www.unaids.org/en/about+unaids/donors/how_to_contribute.asp
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