Richie is My Name's video: Have People Forgotten about HIV AIDS

“Ghosts and Memories” ((Richard D. Olson)) © 2018. Performed by OLE. Taken from the CD “GOD & GOMORRAH” © 2019. All Rights Reserved. [Vocal: Rik / Guitar & Arrangement: Leo de Leon / Production: David Dow (Recorded March 2018)] HIV/AIDS all but forgotten? Thirty-seven years after it was first recognized as a mysterious and infectious “gay cancer," HIV/AIDS continues today to pose a baleful threat. Since 1981 a staggering 700,000 Americans have died from the infection. Some 1.2 million Americans are currently infected with HIV - with 15% of those [one in seven] not knowing they are infected. Globally, AIDS and its complications have killed an estimated 35 million people. There is no cure for HIV. Yet with more new drugs coming down the pike, we may have created a false sense of security by thinking HIV was cured. While HIV medications can and do extend the lives of people, as well as decrease the transmission of the virus from one person to the next, living with HIV is no walk in the park. There are dangers and complications--some caused by the medicines, others by the virus itself. Scientists don't foresee an HIV cure for decades. So until a cure becomes reality, the next best strategy in containing HIV is to treat and prevent its spread. The goal is viral suppression through medication use. When adhering to medication every day, and when virally suppressed, HIV-infected patients can help stop the virus dead in its tracks. Another challenge is access. Not everybody has equal and fair access to care. Minorities (particularly black and Hispanic) account for a disproportionate share of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses every year. By identifying at-risk and vulnerable populations early, and by getting them into care and treatment as soon as possible, we stand a fair chance of stemming new infections and getting ahead of an epidemic which, as of March 2018, continues to smolder and burn with no end in sight. Richard D. Olson, March 2018 Credits and acknowledgements (images): Deepest gratitude to the photographers whose work I feature in my video. Their photographs bear witness to the horror and senseless loss of an epidemic that ravaged and ravages still: Saul Bromberger and Sandra Hoover (“Portrait of Caring: Living With AIDS at the Bailey-Boushay House”), Therese Frare, Nicholas Nixon, Allan Tannenbaum, Taro Yamasaki, John Storey and others; and special remembrances to some, although not all, of our fallen brothers and sisters (you are not forgotten): Sergio Anguiano (aidsmemorial.org [tribute penned by Steve Sagaser]); John Tenenbaum (instinctmagazine.com, October 23, 2017); Rudolf Nureyev; Rock Hudson; Vito Russo; Alan Wiggins; Sylvester; Alexis Arquette; John Michael Friedman; Klaus Nomi; Leigh Bowery; Gia Carangi and Nkosi Johnson (all Google searches). Data, statistics and background resourced from the following: www.cdc.gov (HIV/AIDS); www.who.int (HIV Facts); and www.kff.org (HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States). A special 'thank you' to "theaidsmemorial" on Instagram for its work in bringing dignity and grace to those who have passed from HIV/AIDS. “Ghosts and Memories” ((Richard D. Olson)) © 2018. Performed by OLE. Taken from the CD “GOD & GOMORRAH” © 2019. All Rights Reserved. [Vocal: Rik / Guitar & Arrangement: Leo de Leon / Production: David Dow (Recorded March 2018)]