------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the June 14, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- AIDS & CAPITLISM: THE NEED FOR GLOBAL FIGHTBACK By Preston Wood The AIDS epidemic reveals the inner workings of the profit system known as capitalism. In June 1981, a bulletin from the Centers for Disease Control in Washington reported the mysterious deaths of five gay men in Los Angeles from pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. That was the first official report of the disease that would come to be known as AIDS. Today more than 22 million people worldwide have died from the disease and tens of millions more are infected. When the epidemic first burgeoned it was labeled "gay cancer" by some and G.R.I.D--Gay-Related Immune Disease--by others. This public health crisis earned only scorn from then-President Ronald Reagan, who choked on even mentioning the crisis by name for years, and wrath from his rich country club friends around the country. While the crisis provided the opportunity for right-wing bigots to re-energize their campaign against gay and lesbian rights, the virus obviously did not discriminate. Revelations that AIDS could be spread through blood products and heterosexual intercourse signaled the impending epidemic that would eventually span the globe, leaving millions infected and dying. Seeing their community devastated by the epidemic, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered activists and their allies in the progressive movement took to the streets by the thousands with cries of "Act up! Fight back! Money for AIDS, not for war!" In the face of growing public concern and anger the government, silent for years, was forced to begin dealing with the crisis by allocating some funds for research and care. 'THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE' Over the years, especially the first 10 years, the AIDS crisis exposed many things about the U.S. and its rulers: The underlying bigotry against gay and bisexual men as well as racism left the system paralyzed to deal with the crisis. The total dependence on healthcare-for-profits sent AIDS research spiraling downward. Instead, competing pharmaceuticals frantically searched for a vaccine or cure, hoping to strike gold. The anarchy of producing for the market rather than to meet human needs meant the pharmaceuticals worked in secrecy, even attempting to sabotage the efforts of their competitors. And in an act of genocide, profit-hungry U.S. pharmaceuticals turned their backs on the masses of people in Africa and Asia, where the epidemic was spinning out of control. Anti-viral treatments developed in the 1990s were strictly "pay as you go." That resulted in no help for the suffering people of Africa and the poor and oppressed here in this country. AIDS was first detected in the United States. Responsibility for the ensuing global epidemic lies at the feet of U.S. imperialism and its profit system. Socialist Cuba, on the other hand, managed to avert disaster by moving quickly to contain the epidemic. AIDS was not labeled a "gay disease" in Cuba. The disease first struck a significant number of Cubans who had been exposed to the virus while volunteering their country's help in Africa. All health care is provided free of cost for the entire Cuban population. Not containing the epidemic could have overwhelmed and seriously undermined the great successes of the Cuban Revolution. Since Cuba is an island it was possible to quarantine those suffering from the virus. This quarantine was not punitive in the way right-wing elements in this country threatened to "round up gays." Those quarantined got the best health-care facilities available. And it enabled the workers' state, economically hard hit by the illegal U.S. economic blockade, to provide humane, concentrated care for HIV-positive women and men with AIDS. It saved the lives of countless people. And the Cuban government initiated universal testing and a broad education program that helped contain the epidemic. THE NEED FOR GLOBAL FIGHTBACK Today the AIDS crisis is far from over. New studies suggest a resurgence of infection among gay men in the U.S., especially gay Black men. CDC official Dr. Linda Valleroy notes that among Black gay men the numbers of new exposures are especially alarming: 14.7 percent, compared to 3.5 percent among Latino gay men and 2.5 percent among white gay men. "This is a strong and troubling indicator that the HIV epidemic will continue to expand," Valleroy said. "These are explosive HIV incidence rates that underscore the need to reach each generation of at-risk gay men early." And the AIDS crisis continues to be a disaster for all of humanity. As long as capitalism is the predominant mode of production in the world, any hope of a centralized plan to deal with the crisis is elusive at best. In fact, the AIDS crisis has contributed to throwing the U.S. profit-based healthcare system into near collapse, draining the resources of cities all across the country to the tune of billions of dollars. AIDS is a globalized disease. Millions of Africans are suffering from the epidemic. Oppressed nations from Brazil to India--in massive debt to the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other imperialist entities--are helpless to provide treatments or care to their people. It is very probable that today the U.S. corporate and banking rulers would like to put the epidemic behind them. It has cost too much and contributed too much instability to their vast empire. But their very system, with its inherent bigotry and thirst for greater profits, prevents them from addressing the terrible epidemic known as AIDS in a scientific and humane way. Only the revival of a strong, independent and militant movement can force them to deal effectively with the crisis. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
