A rally in India to celebrate AIDS Day.
In college, a group of my friends and I were tested for the HIV/AIDS virus because we wanted a t-shirt.
As a bonus, we got a packet of free coupons to local eateries and stores, a huge boon for a bunch of low-income students.
It was surprising some of our more high-brow girlfriends frowned on our actions.
They thought it was tacky to be associated with a disease like this and refused to hang with us while we wore those shirts.
That was 22 years ago.
I still have the shirt. I don’t have those friends.
Times have changed, but we still have HIV and AIDS.
World AIDS Day today reminds us this disease has not been eradicated.
This day of awareness, memorials and celebrations has been around since 1988.
In the U.S., about 1.1 people are living with HIV, which causes AIDS.
About one-fifth of those infected are unaware of their infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Oklahoma has reported 5,437 AIDS cases to the CDC from the beginning of the epidemic in the early 80s through December 2008, the CDC states.
That makes us the 28th highest among the 50 states in cumulative reported AIDS cases.
For so long in the early discovery of this disease, our elected leaders failed us in recognizing the threat.
It took a cultural shift away from homophobia and fear to embrace those who suffer from this, invest in medical research and treatments and educate people about prevention.
It took the stories of celebrities and everyday people to hammer home these lessons.
By the time this dawn of enlightenment occurred, poor countries became devastated regions because of the infection.
Since the first infection was identified in 1981, about 30 million people worldwide have died of AIDS, about 1.8 million of those in the last reporting year of 2010, according to international health reports.
In the U.S., about 642,000 people have died of AIDS.
There is no cure, but there are medical therapies to significantly prolong the lives of people with HIV.
My two-decade old t-shirt, featuring a globe and holding hands, is still in my dresser drawer.
It is the only college shirt still intact.
I purposely keep it hoping it will become a quaint, obsolete item that my grandkids will ask me about someday.
We’re not there yet, but I remain hopeful.
