Bad News
I was all set to spin this weeks five hundred words or so on the President’s new budget and how disappointed I was to see the imbalance between helping the government and helping the people. Then, during Friday evening and seemingly all night, the news wires picked up on a story out of New York.
The Bloomberg headline read: “ NYC Health Officials Find New, Virulent HIV Strain”
Reading on it seems that a 40-year-old man has been found with a new strain of HIV virus that is resistant to all but one of the current drugs. Whew, I thought, then they went on to say that this one drug doesn’t seem to be very effective without the other two in a “Cocktail”. Add an additional piece of devastating information for effect. This HIV can become full blown AIDS in three months or less not the average seven years of the previous version.
Many of those living in the “Red” states may yawn since the news is from a predominately “Blue” city and state, but it doesn’t take a super-computer to realize that this could be the biggest enemy the American people will face in the next ten years. This disease in non-political, I assure you.
The latest report, 2003, shows there was 88,479 people living in New York City diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Nationwide the numbers would scare any sane person to death. Couple this with the fact that this lethal disease is now thought to be growing in the heterosexual community as fast as or faster than in the predominately Gay community and the concern increases rapidly. Every state in the nation has an HIV/AIDS program. No one is exempt from this threat.
Maybe this is where we might tie this to the new budget. Cuts in health care for the poor, which includes working poor families, cuts in drug programs. Keep in mind dirty needles and the spread of HIV/AIDS does have a correlation. By the way, did I mention that our man in New York was also a heavy Crystal Methamphetamine user? Both he and his “numerous” partners all were. Gosh, drug reduction and treatment programs were cut in this budget also.
More troubling news from our perspective. In the Bloomberg article they devoted two paragraphs to the wonderful boost to the stock of Trimeris, Inc. of Durham N.C. and it’s parent Roche Holding, AG of Switzerland, makers of the one drug Fuzeon, which may hold promise to help. It is the drug when mixed with the other two that was of value in treatment of the previous cases of the old HIV.
I believe there is something very wrong here. We have discovered what may be the next major medical crisis to face our Country; we are proposing to cut the programs that treat and prevent the spread of this disease and in the same article advise investors of the best stock play to take advantage of the situation.
May God help those who don’t have their stockbroker on speed-dial when our country is in crisis.
I personally and the our Foundation believe in the words… “As ye do unto the least of my children, so ye” … you know the rest don’t you? All of us need to do more walking the talk and perhaps less talking the talk for the benefit of everyone.
The Bloomberg headline read: “ NYC Health Officials Find New, Virulent HIV Strain”
Reading on it seems that a 40-year-old man has been found with a new strain of HIV virus that is resistant to all but one of the current drugs. Whew, I thought, then they went on to say that this one drug doesn’t seem to be very effective without the other two in a “Cocktail”. Add an additional piece of devastating information for effect. This HIV can become full blown AIDS in three months or less not the average seven years of the previous version.
Many of those living in the “Red” states may yawn since the news is from a predominately “Blue” city and state, but it doesn’t take a super-computer to realize that this could be the biggest enemy the American people will face in the next ten years. This disease in non-political, I assure you.
The latest report, 2003, shows there was 88,479 people living in New York City diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Nationwide the numbers would scare any sane person to death. Couple this with the fact that this lethal disease is now thought to be growing in the heterosexual community as fast as or faster than in the predominately Gay community and the concern increases rapidly. Every state in the nation has an HIV/AIDS program. No one is exempt from this threat.
Maybe this is where we might tie this to the new budget. Cuts in health care for the poor, which includes working poor families, cuts in drug programs. Keep in mind dirty needles and the spread of HIV/AIDS does have a correlation. By the way, did I mention that our man in New York was also a heavy Crystal Methamphetamine user? Both he and his “numerous” partners all were. Gosh, drug reduction and treatment programs were cut in this budget also.
More troubling news from our perspective. In the Bloomberg article they devoted two paragraphs to the wonderful boost to the stock of Trimeris, Inc. of Durham N.C. and it’s parent Roche Holding, AG of Switzerland, makers of the one drug Fuzeon, which may hold promise to help. It is the drug when mixed with the other two that was of value in treatment of the previous cases of the old HIV.
I believe there is something very wrong here. We have discovered what may be the next major medical crisis to face our Country; we are proposing to cut the programs that treat and prevent the spread of this disease and in the same article advise investors of the best stock play to take advantage of the situation.
May God help those who don’t have their stockbroker on speed-dial when our country is in crisis.
I personally and the our Foundation believe in the words… “As ye do unto the least of my children, so ye” … you know the rest don’t you? All of us need to do more walking the talk and perhaps less talking the talk for the benefit of everyone.
posted by The Merlin Foundation | 4:02 PM
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