From today's Chicago Sun-Times columnist Steve Neal: Hyde's fight against AIDS

Africa really needs help, but they could be doing more in the US too. I have a young friend in NC, because of his location in college, that has been unable to get reasonable care for his HIV. Nobody anywhere in this country should have to go hours and hours of driving to get care for HIV.
You also shouldnt have to search far and wide for clinics who test for free. I went to one last yr that LOST ITS FUNDING and couldnt test any longer (in Plano TX, one of the richest cities in the state). Since I have good insurance, it paid for a test at the doctor. What does this test cost? Nearly $80! Poor people cant afford that. They end up having to take off of their work day without pay to go to the health dept.
All that money that gets sent to Africa ends up embezzled by some crooks in the governments. You could spent it at home.

This is probably a really dumb question, but how come AIDs is so rampant among hetrosexual people in Africa and Asia (and not in the US)? It just boggles the mind that there are that many who have it. How come it spread so far and so quickly in Africa? What contained it in the US from spreading?

My answer would be simple: lack of condoms, lack of knowledge and lack of openness about sex education and prevention.

In Africa, AIDS was always a heterosexual (or, rather, allsexual) disease. In America, AIDS was confined in the beginning almost exclusively to gay males, drug addicts, and a few other small groups like Haitians. There simply haven't been enough people having unsafe sexual encounters with people in highly at-risk groups to spread AIDS throughout the general population.

Today on World Aids Day, my thoughts are with anyone who is dealing with aids or hiv. Progress has been made, but we still have a long ways to go. Two people close to me are positive, but are undetectable at present.

After the football games last night, my friend and I turned to the CNN International channel. They had a long story about the concert in South Africa that was held to up AIDS awareness. Great clip of Peter Gabriel doing Biko.