According to a course i took on hiv and aids at ucla, 1) it takes 8-12 years since being infected to develop aids, thats when your immune system is basically useless, then you'll likely die from cold infections, dementia or some kind of cancer. i guess the cocktail drugs really help Magic's immune system, to the point where it is normal even after all this years. 2) on the hiv test, the doctors dont specifically look for the virus, but they look for the level of your immune response to the virus in order to determine your hiv status. i hope the info helps.
Any reply on this thread that uses the word "rich" alongside a smirking "because he's ..." is enough of a ripjob for me.
no on is spiting him. By saying that Magic is alive only because of his money, posters are making a statement against pharmaceutical companies and the health care polices of this country. AIDS is becoming more manageable but thousands of people died to little fanfare because Ronald Regen refused to listen to the medical data he was getting and did not ever talk about AIDS. He was told how rampant it would be and how many people would die. He only started talking about it in his last year and then he said that "no one was sure how it was spread" because he didn't want to talk about ****ing. So people started treating HIV+ really badly because they were afraid just talking to an infected person would spread the disease. Things like water fountain bans. Ronald Regen died with blood on his hands.
My brother is a physician, I asked him the same question. He said that with the right treatment, HIV is becoming more a chronic disease (ie diabetes, hepatitis etc...) than a fatal disease..
You missed it. He was saying it's only available to rich like multimillionaire basketball players so they are the ONLY ones that can get the drugs. Kelly Dwyer mentioned a friend that is not even a millionaire let alone an NBA player. The point was you don't have to have $20 mil/year income to get access the AIDS cocktail. The most affordable 3-drug combination can be had for a few hundred a year. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3220619.stm
so you can see someone smirking when their typing. I think you're reading a too much into people's posts. most people don't have friends who've survived HIV since 81 and most people think that it takes a lot of money to stay alive when you're a found to be HIV positive so I don't think anyone's being cynical, its just perspective. I think magic is alive partly because he can afford to be, because he's rich, I got nothing against the guy. maybe you shouldn't be so negative to the people who posted that.
I love Magic Johnson, he was a great player and is still a great human being today who does a lot of good through his projects in poor urban communities. I wish him health and longevity far beyond this decade and next...
1) Kelly is right, the suggestion that his wealth and popularity have entitled him to a treatment unavailble to the public is not true. Those medicines are amazing, research and development has been amazing, and the disease has become much more manageable since the 80s and 90s. 2) The story of Kelly's friend with HIV is a truly sad, sad tale. The fact that anyone has to rely on the Laserdisc format breaks my heart - can you imagine how much space he spends on storage? The time out of his day, just putting those 43 inche platters into that player? Just horrible. 3) Not to be disrespectful or turn this into a D&D thing, but "he's alive to the grace of god" - posted by AB, a poster of whom I am a huge fan, so I mean this with all due respect - that always makes me scratch my head a little. I mean, I think Magic's post-HIV health status has a heck of a lot to do with his access to medicine. I always feel like the 'grace of god' reasoning is sort of a disrespect to the smart and dedicated and bighearted people who have developed and delivered those cures. And, even more improtantly, i feel it somehow lets us off the hook for the people who are still sufferring, when in fact, their sufferring is on our tab, not Gods. All those people in Africa who have died, for instance - sufferring when we do have the medicines to make hundreds of thousands of people as healthy as Magic - I don't think a God is such a B-Ball fan that he would prioritize an awesome point guard (and fine community activist) over an entire continent of his children. I don't think he has the power to provide cures and just selected Magic because he loved the Showtime Lakers. I think it is actually incumbent on human beings on this planet to help each other out, to continue developint the medicines, to get the help to the people who need it. When we chalk it up to divine intervention, I feel like it makes us lose focus on our role in the battle - and it always makes me wonder "well, why did god let those innocent kids and parents and women and rape victims and men die of AIDS? How come dude only gets credit for the good stuff?" Those little bits we do - sending $, holding leaders accountable, educating ourselves - those little things add up. I feel like it is actually the doctors and public health officials and hospitals and family members - and general public - who provide the intervention.
$10k to $20K isn't all that affordable as people pointed out and its not just drugs, I'm sure magic has access to all the best specialists. and when magic was diagnosed in 92 as someone else pointed out, I'm sure it was alot more expensive. with all due respect to Kelley, that's one friend out of thousands who have died of AIDs since 81. its just as disrespectful to those who have died since then to suggest its as simple as wanting to live and applying yourself. we aren't talking about graduating from college.
The majority of the AIDS survivors are not multimillionaire sports stars. They are everyday people like Kelley's friend. Magic Johnson is an exception. If you were to go to the the HIV+ support group, you would not see a millionaire player's club. It will be full of regular everyday people who just happen to take their medicine and take life one day at a time.
since none of this is at all NBA related, I'm going to take it to D&D territory... saying that only the rich and powerful can afford to fight HIV/AIDS reminds me of those who criticized the residents of New Orleans who evacuated on time because they had the ways and means to get out before the hurricane hit... ie: automobiles, money for gas, and friends and family in other cities... its like blaming someone for being middle class, or upper middle class, when all they are trying to do is survive, just like everyone else... a rich guy with HIV is the same as a single poor woman with HIV is the same as an entire African village with HIV...
Great advances have been made in HIV treatment. I just really wish all the money and resources that have gone into combating HIV and AIDS the last 20 years had been spent towards fighting cancer instead. It's sad that so much time and attention was paid to a disease that can be prevented by not acting irresponsibly. Whereas there is very little one can do to prevent coming a cancer victim. (aside from not smoking)
I totally respect your post CBrown. I, like others believe in the power of prayer and what that can accomplish. I'm no holy roller and admit that there are holes in my spiritual rationale but can only speak for me when I say that when I went through my life threatening challenge my prayers availed much. When I speak of the grace of God my perspective is one of a personal nature and I try not to impart my beliefs on anyone who believes differently.
