Our
View: Solution to AIDS not as easy
as ABC
AIDS, one of the deadliest viruses that claims millions of victims each year,
is continuing to sweep the continents of Africa
and Asia with unyielding force.
What is the United States doing to combat this juggernaut disease and aid millions
of infected, suffering people? The answer
is not much.
Rather than provide a feasible program to deal with this epidemic, the United
States has chosen to fulfill its international obligation and escape criticism
from other nations by providing an AIDS prevention policy that carefully avoids
providing aid that may be frowned upon by the current administration’s
deeply religious supporters.
The program, called ABC (an acronym for abstinence, be faithful and use a condom),
is a pathetic attempt by the Bush administration to push its religious policies
onto other nations and use its renewed interest in morality to address issues
abroad that need serious, immediate attention.
According to a recent investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO),
the ABC program is not only uselessly trying to educate Africans on the importance
of fidelity, but its actions may be impeding other countries’ efforts to
effectively deal with the disease. The GAO’s report states some of the
ABC teams employed abroad were even reducing the amount of money being spent
on mother to child transmission of AIDS.
While our current administration may be trying to revive Judeo-Christian morality
in the United States, its attempts to mollycoddle fundamentalist Christian organizations
are hurting people abroad. While most religions may preach abstinence and fidelity
to their parishioners, the lifestyle lead by many Africans is not conducive to
these ideals. Many African husbands are forced to work in mines far away from
their families for extended periods of time. Preaching to these men the virtues
of abstinence and fidelity is simply asinine.
Regardless of what education these men may receive, they need to be provided
with other alternatives for real world
situations.
Also, many people in Africa experience suffering unfathomable to most people
living in the United States. They don’t see life with the same perspective
that many U.S. residents do.
The possibility that they may die of starvation or from a lack of other necessary
resources, like clean water, is a reality for many Africans. Trying to communicate
to them the suffering they would incur if they contracted AIDS is already a difficult
task because of the agony they already face every day.
The current international policy used by our administration is not only ineffective,
it also undermines the very principles that the government is trying to uphold
by skating around the issue. Yes, providing women who have contracted AIDS birth
control may ruffle the feathers of some religious fundamentalist supporters,
but allowing these women to spread this disease to innocent children is also
extremely immoral.
Education is an important aspect in reducing the number of people infected with
AIDS, but it cannot stand alone. In addition to teaching people the importance
of fidelity and abstinence, we should help make life worth living for those suffering
in Africa.
Birth control, while currently mired in controversy in the United States, is
a feasible solution to the growing number of people infected with AIDS. To allow
Africans to continue in the current state of misery is abhorrent and defies the
teachings of most major religions, not to mention a most basic sense of morality.
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