As of 6 p.m. GMT on May 4, 2009 the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed 1,085 cases of swine flu in 21 countries worldwide with 26 confirmed deaths, and reports seem to show the illness is leveling off. For now at least.
By the end of 1981, just 7 months after the first press report mentioning a rare disease in gay men, at least 121 people died from what would become known as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
Just days after the swine flu outbreak was confirmed, the entire world knew of this new disease that jumped from pigs to humans, by statements from the leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, WHO and President Barack Obama.
Six years after the first reports of AIDS, President Ronald Reagan finally publicly said the word AIDS and acknowledged it was an issue. By that time, nearly 21,000 people had died from the disease, while a total of 50,000 people in 113 countries lived with AIDS.
Today, more than 25 million people have died and, according to conservative estimates, 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS around the world, many of whom do not have access to the life-saving anti-retroviral drugs.
What would've come of AIDS had our president talked about it and sounded alarms in early 1981 instead of ignoring a disease that presumably only affected gay men? It's possible that AIDS could have been contained. But because it was "nature's revenge on gay men," according to Reagan's then communication's director Pat Buchanan, it was swept under the rug and silenced.
The world is reacting to the news of swine flu and paying attention. It's no different than when seven people in the Chicago area died in 1982 from taking cyanide-laced Extra Strength Tylenol and Johnson & Johnson, which produced the pain reliever, recalled an estimated 31 million bottles. This happened one week after the first death. Imagine if authorities hadn't made the connection how many more people may have died?
When authorities made the connection that gay men and intravenous drug users contracted and died from this strange disease, conservatism and "religious moral values" played a large role in our national politics and they didn't care that "deviants" were dying. The Rev. Jerry Falwell said "AIDS is the wrath of God upon homosexuals."
Would anyone have paid attention to swine flu if only an "undesireable subgroup" was getting sick? I would hope so. Today, we have a government in place that shows compassion for all Americans (and presumably all human life), at least where health is concerned. It's a sad legacy that Reagan left behind regarding AIDS. Millions of people might have be spared if he had acted, instead of remaining silent while his hatred for a group of his citizens lay suffering and dying.
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