Closing a chapter on HIV and AIDS

Posted by Dave on February 26, 2010 | 3 Comments

I end this first month of The Daily Monthly feeling tremendously fortunate. Not just because I’m healthy when so many others are not, but also because I’ve connected with some amazing individuals.

I’m glad to know that there are dedicated people trying to find a cure for HIV and AIDS, and others committed to helping those who are already HIV positive. I’m glad to see that many people, despite being sick themselves, are devoting their lives to helping others, either through HIV and AIDS prevention efforts, or by offering comfort and companionship to others who have AIDS. Although it’s time for me to move on, I know they’re going to keep on doing what they are doing, and that gives me hope for the future.

There have been days on this project when I wasn’t sure I would make it to the end of this month, juggling my other responsibilities with starting a new blog. It would be trite to say that I was inspired by the battles others are waging with HIV, and that’s what pushed me to finish.

It would also be untrue.

While I do think the people I’ve met this month are amazing, they’re not what motivated me to finish this month of reporting on AIDS in America. That motivation could only come from my own desire to make this site work.

The people who struggle each day to take their medication, or to find ways to pay for it, or to negotiate the bureaucracy of a broken health-care and social services system, they are motivated for their own reasons, too. LaShana Walker is motivated by her concern for a safe pregnancy. Charles hasn’t told me what motivates him, but I suspect it’s partly his love of literature and politics. He’s recently started work on a blog where he plans to review great books (I’ll let you know when the blog is ready to share).

One issue I haven’t touched on enough this month is the cause of the economic hardships faced by people with HIV and AIDS. While I’ve made it quite clear that many people with the disease aren’t doing well financially, I haven’t discussed the systemic problems that make this such a huge problem. That was partially intentional: I plan on covering these issues in the future — the way our social security system underserves the disabled.

So, I think that’s going to be all for now. Perhaps it’s good that a month’s worth of blogging on a topic like this feels wholly inadequate to the problem. Even though I was able to cover it with much more breadth and depth than a newspaper article or even a magazine article, I still feel like there is much more to say about HIV and AIDS in America. But I’m also satisfied that I have covered many of the issues involved and given you some important basic information. These posts will remain in our archives, and I’ll try to keep them open for commentary so readers can point each other to additional resources.

Thanks for reading. I hope you’ll stay with me next month as I start another journey on a completely new topic.

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