[lbo-talk] RE: Africa R.I.P.

[Joseph Wanzala]

Racism certainly influences the way the West views Africa and the way Africa 
is portrayed even to Africans themselves. The AIDS phenmomenon has not 
escaped this general syndrome. However, I think the particularization of the 
AIDS epidemic over other ones (like malaria which you cite - which kills a 
lot more people than AIDS) has to with the way that it has always been a 
much more politically and socially charged disease than any other in modern 
times, even more than Cancer - and I think the particularization is 
universal and not just restricited to Africa. There is no question that 
there is a serious AIDS crisis in Africa, but as with all health issues, any 
long term solutions would surely take a more comprehensive approach that 
integrated all the public health, education and socio-economic co-factors. 
It would be less glamorous to be sure - but I think far more effective. I 
think a large 'non-profit' industry has developed around AIDS that gets more 
than a little help from the glamor crowd  like 'do-gooder' Bono et al. As we 
now know, the various 'We are the World' confabs did nothing to dent the 
still existing problem of hunger (which is related to the AIDS crisis as 
malnutrition compromises the immune system and so on) - I doubt that all the 
money being pumped into the AIDS crisis will, in the long run, do much to 
solve the deeper causes of the syndrome.

Joe W.


>From: joanna bujes <jbujes at covad.net>
>Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>Subject: [lbo-talk] RE: Africa R.I.P.
>Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 15:05:31 -0800
>
>Joseph wrote:
>
>"I think it is time to start questioning some of the claims made by the 
>Aids lobby. Their certainties are so fanatical, the powers they claim so 
>far-reaching. Their authority is ultimately derived from computer-generated 
>estimates, which they wield like weapons, overwhelming any resistance with 
>dumbfounding atom bombs of hypothetical human misery. Give them their head, 
>and they will commandeer all resources to fight just one disease. Who 
>knows, they may defeat Aids, but what if we wake up five years hence to 
>discover that the problem has been blown up out of all proportion by 
>unsound estimates, causing upwards of $20 billion to be wasted?"
>
>Thanks for the article. I've been puzzled by this phenomenon for a long 
>time. "How," I would ask myself, "can they tell what the AIDS epidemic is 
>like in a country where they can't afford sugar, salt, and water for babies 
>who die of diarrhea; does everyone take an AIDS test? Can they afford that? 
>And, without a test, how can they tell it's when its symptoms are 
>indistinguishable from the symptoms of malnutrition with a cold. Why do 
>Hollywood startlets sport AIDS pins on their lapels and not malaria pins? 
>Could it be because Hollywood starlets do not die of Malaria? And why have 
>we mounted such a terror campaign about AIDS? Could it be because we want 
>no part of sexual liberation? And why is AIDS always about Africa and east 
>Asia? Does this have anything to do with racism? And why is AIDS research 
>so overfunded? etc.
>
>Joanna
>
>
>
>
>
>___________________________________
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