AIDS is a Human Rights Issue

Today is "World AIDS Day." Sadly, it is also the 20th anniversary of this day and its call to action. In the last 20 years, wonderful advances have been made in the treatment of AIDS. As a result, AIDS death rates have been falling in the developed world. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Africa. According to James Boyce, over 4000 people in Africa will die of AIDS today and another 2000 children will be infected with HIV.

Morally, this is an unacceptable state. According to Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services . . .

This right is being denied to millions of people in Africa. They have neither the means nor the access to appropriate treatment, and as a result they are succumbing to AIDS in larger numbers and far more quickly than is necessary. There are many ways to help (see the Boyce link above for suggestions), but we can't let this be a one-day-a-year cause. If we do, there will be about 1.5 million unnecessary deaths in Africa before World AIDS Day 2009.