Witness to AIDS
At least as many people have died of AIDS as perished in the Black Death of the 14th century. The UN agency UNAIDS estimates that there are more than 42 million people worldwide living with HIV or AIDS. However, in the affluent West, AIDS has become a manageable condition, controlled by anti-retroviral medication. The situation in Africa is starkly different.
There, AIDS is a catastrophe to rival any in its history of slavery, colonialization and exploitation. Up to 30 million Africans have HIV or AIDS and, without adequate healthcare, most of them will die horrible and lingering deaths.
Personal stories reveal so much more than statistics, which is why Edwin Cameron’s story, which he tells with unflinching honesty in Witness to AIDS is vitally important. A High Court judge in post-apartheid South Africa, he became the first – indeed, so far, the only – holder of high office to disclose that he has AIDS. Realizing that it was only his relative affluence that allowed him to purchase the vital but hugely expensive drugs that kept him well, Cameron became a campaigner to make anti-retroviral drugs available to all who needed them.
Mixing autobiography with an account of the faultlines of sex and race that AIDS opens up, Cameron rightly excoriates not only the pharmaceutical firms making obscene profits from patented drugs but also the AIDS ‘deniers’ – among them South African President Thabo Mbeki, regrettably – whose arguments contribute to the stigma and shame surrounding the disease.
The AIDS pandemic in Africa is nothing less than a worldwide disaster and a worldwide responsibility. Edwin Cameron’s brave, wonderful book is a call for humanity to meet that challenge, defeat the immoral notion that people can die in their millions simply because they are poor, and embark on what he calls, ‘the most extensive humanitarian venture in human history’.
- Product information
- by Edwin Cameron
- Publisher
- IB Tauris
- Product number
- ISBN 1 84511 119 2
- Star rating
- Product link
- www.ibtauris.com
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Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
