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Showing posts from December, 2010

World AIDS Day

I want to say that I don't personally know anyone struggling with HIV or AIDS, but I assume I don't. I could very well come into daily contact with someone(s) who have the disease and know it or who haven't yet been diagnosed. I have never forgotten the first time had a strong reaction to the reality of AIDS. In 2008, I was reading Bryce Courtenay's book, April Fool's Day ,  about his son's struggle with HIV/AIDS. His son was a hemophiliac and contracted the disease through blood transfusions. Bryce detailed the frustration of dealing with politicians who wanted to stop research into what became identified as AIDS as a way to punish homosexuals, who were presumed to be the only sufferers of the disease. Courtenay lays bare his own struggles, confusion and fear about his son's struggles, as well as tangentially touching on the political issues around the diagnosis and the way his son, Damon, is treated in hospitals because of prejudices and misunderstanding