The fifth edition of the International Carnival of Pozitivities will appear right here on this blog on November 10th, 2006.
This is what Ron Hudson, the founder of the carnival wrote:
One of the aims of the ICP is to present a true picture of what it is like to live with HIV/AIDS in today's political and social climate in a way that everyday people can understand the disease. We hope to reopen dialogue about the disease, to demystify it, to destigmatize it and to prevent its future spread through education. In the era of a US administration that funds programs based upon religious principles rather than upon scientific fact, we need to do what we can to fill the gaps in education.
Furthermore, in an era where the mainstream media and pharmaceutical marketing programs would have us believe that AIDS is now a manageable disease like diabetes, we need to explain the truth about long-term survival and the potential health and economic risks of infection.
You can get more detail on the International Carnival of Pozitivities homepage.
The deadline for submissions is 2nd of November, 2006. The best way to submit is by using the blogcarnival.com automated submission form. Alternatively, you can send the permalink to your post to Ron at: ron DOT hudson AT verizon DOT net
If you look at the previous issues, you'll see that most (but not all) entries are written by people who have HIV. Some posts are deeply personal. Others look at the social or political angle. Since I have a somewhat different readership, I expect a few more posts about HIV/AIDS written from a scientific or medical angle. While there have been some great debunkings of HIV denialists recently, that is not an appropriate topic for this carnival. Also, if you have not contributed to this carnival before and have a really good post that is somewhat older than one month, send it in anyway and we'll take a look.
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Thank you, Bora for your support and for the call for submissions. I am really excited about your participation and look forward to what I expect to be an excellent dialogue about HIV/AIDS.
You have my deepest gratitude.
Ron
Furthermore, in an era where the mainstream media and pharmaceutical marketing programs would have us believe that AIDS is now a manageable disease like diabetes, we need to explain the truth about long-term survival and the potential health and economic risks of infection.
This says a lot. My last roomie was diagnosed HIV positive, about eight years ago. He has become a part of a couple of medical studies and in the last year also become an AIDS activist. While taking part in the studies, he met a lot of young people who had the miss-impression that, with all the drugs available, HIV/AIDS was no longer the scary specter it was in the eighties. This is what drove Craig (my former roomie) into activism.
The most frightening comment I have heard in a while came from a freind of mine who likened unsafe sex to smoking. "It may take a couple years off the end, but the pleasure is certainly worth it." When I told him I would rather get cancer than HIV, he accused me of being an anti-gay biggot. Even after I sent him the stories of people who have contracted HIV in the last ten years - including the stories of three young, straight women and even a sixteen year old, straight boy, he still accused me of gay bashing.
Thank you for taking part in this carnival. I look forward to the day when this disease is eradicated. I know way too many people who are discovering just how destructive this disease still is. My most recent addition to that list being the daughter of one of my customers. She was diagnosed just six weeks after her fifteenth birthday. A scary trend - about two thirds of the people in the support groups that Craig helps lead are under twenty, almost all of them are under thirty. So thanks again.