David on 5/5/2006 at 07:00
Komag, surely the onus is on you to better explain your views rather than spout a load of bollocks and have us ask "lol do u mean X"?
We can only play with what you give us, and recently it's been goddamn hilarious.
Mr.Duck on 5/5/2006 at 07:08
The possibility of getting rid of -one- (of many) of the world's major disseases -is- (in my humble opinion) something worthwhile to get excited about. One less HUGE problem to worry about.
Not to make a victim of cancer (any type) or other life-stopping dissease feel any less important in any way. They all suffer and they all share the common trait that they end up dead sooner than later while we just sit here and squabble like kids or "grownups".
And that's all I'll be saying here.
Ko0K on 5/5/2006 at 07:09
I'm just curious as to how this "after-exposure lotion" would be applied to, well never mind.
Nicker on 5/5/2006 at 07:27
You are getting smacked around Komag, because your statements are insensitive and your information is screwy (and your joek link didn’t help). Consider this sensitivity training.
According to the links below, cancer IS the leading cause of death worldwide but the number of deaths is 7.6 million, not hundreds of millions. Aids claimed an estimated 3.1 million in 2005. So by certain reasoning it is less than half as significant.
(
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/index.html) Cancer Stats
(
http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm) AIDS Stats
But the stats are not all there is to the story.
Cancer and AIDS are the cause of many personal tragedies in the West but in sub Saharan Africa, where AIDS is epidemic, it is a multi-national tragedy with fallout that will last for generations, even if it were cured tomorrow. More than half the global cases are in Africa, mostly concentrated in the poorest countries. It has devastated the young adult population in some places (i.e. wage earners and home makers), leaving mostly grandparents and children behind. There are virtually no grade school teachers left so an entire generation is growing up without parents or schooling.
AIDS patients occupy more than half the beds in the already over stressed and under-funded hospitals (thanks World Bank and the International Monetary Fund – job well done!). The disease is whittling away at the few health professionals available, either killing them or scaring them off.
Thanks to a certain church (that whishes to remain blameless), rudimentary protection is not available. Thanks to superstitious ignorance, horrible “curative practices” abound, like having sex with virgins (some as young as a few months old). Thus the already vulnerable children are exposed to more trauma.
At the end of 2005 it was estimated that 25 million were under sentence in sub Saharan Africa alone. The impact of AIDS in Africa is disproportionate to the number of deaths it causes. It is destroying not just individuals but the social and economic fabric of a continent.
BTW – go froggies go!!
matt4001 on 5/5/2006 at 07:51
Just to add fuel to the fire....
AIDS is largely preventable. Many forms of cancer are not. You get it or you don't. One of lifes wonderful lotteries I guess. IMHO, the numbers matter not a whit. Wiping out one disease amongst many is something to cheer. Something far more cheer-worthy for me, however, would be to see that the same amount of aid is ploughed into education for AIDS prevention that is ploughed into research for a cure. A pre-emptive strike if you will.
Gingerbread Man on 5/5/2006 at 07:53
I'll set your throne up on the beach then, shall I?
You're talking about staring down the twin beasts of Religious Fundamentalism and Good Old Vanilla Ignorance there.
Nicker on 5/5/2006 at 08:05
Quote Posted by Gingerbread Man
I'll set your throne up on the beach then, shall I?
You're talking about staring down the twin beasts of Religious Fundamentalism and Good Old Vanilla Ignorance there.
True. Better get extra drink brollies for the Mai Tai's then.
Vigil on 5/5/2006 at 08:06
God, thankyou Nicker for a well-articulated and thorough explanation of the impact of AIDS.
Komag on 5/5/2006 at 08:06
Quote Posted by Nicker
the number of deaths is 7.6 million, not hundreds of millions!
Some points well taken, but this one I just wanted to clarify - I mentioned hundreds of millions of people who have cancer, not who will die each year. I was comparing it more to the 28 million or so aids death in the past 26 years, compared to the roughly 200 million cancer deaths in that same time.
I think my thoughts also have something to do with me knowing lots of people with cancer (a sister included) and heart disease (my dad died of it) and stuff like that, but I don't know anyone with HIV/aids. So I care more about the stuff I have personal contact with, on a person to person level. That's sort of in the back of my mind when I think of the big numbers. I think "millions of people like my sister, like my dad" vs "millions of people like people in Africa I don't know anything about". It's not heartless per se, but it's normal to feel more for what you know.
G Freeman on 5/5/2006 at 09:17
Komag the article you posted says nothing on cancer. It only says death is 100% well life is also 100%. I once read for every death taken there is someone being born. And those articles talk about testing on HIV alone. I dont recall them testing on cancer. It is possible that the cure could work for cancer as well. we dont know. But what I do know is some or most cancers can be killed off with a machine that shoots radiation into the cancer cell itself instead of the body of the human. I dont know the name of the machine and I am not going to look it up for you either.
Also everybody is bashing on you because you basically said HIV is nothing. When most people on the planet thinks otherwise. Some cancers can be cured. While HIV couldnt until now. HIV and Cancer IMO are equally important
