The Ebola virus has infected more than 10,000 people around the world and killed nearly half of those infected as of Oct. 25.
In contrast, an estimated 50,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS are diagnosed in the United States every year. More than 15,000 Americans living with AIDS died in 2010 alone.
That translates to 41 Americans per day.
The Ebola virus pandemic is one of the largest health crises in history, grinding West Africa to a halt as governments grapple with a dying population and a non-existent health ?infrastructure.
In our own country, though the virus has affected few, Americans have been in an uproar with worry and borderline anxiety.
News outlets have been mass-producing Ebola stories, domineering the major headlines for weeks.
However, a disease more lethal than Ebola has infiltrated the American ?population: HIV/AIDS.
It is time for the government to redirect its efforts toward an illness that poses a real threat to entire populations domestically instead of fueling unnecessary panic regarding a disease that has only killed one American.
Despite the media’s skewed portrayal of the current epidemic, HIV/AIDS is deadlier than the Ebola ?virus.
Health workers fighting Ebola on the front lines who have contracted the illness have died at a faster pace than their patients.
The World Health Organization predicts that without additional international aid, West Africa could experience up to 10,000 cases per week in the next few months.
While persons living with Ebola have a small but significant probability of overcoming the disease, 100 percent of those who contract HIV/AIDS will die from the virus.
More than one million Americans are living with the disease, including 85 residents of Monroe County.
Out of the 1.1 million cases, 15.8 percent of those carrying the virus do not know they are HIV positive.
Though the Ebola virus is worthy of the nation’s attention and resources, the government should be equally or more vigilant in addressing a homegrown epidemic that has killed 100 times the number of Americans alone than deaths of every? recorded Ebola outbreak in history.
What does it say about our nation that it is willing to risk world-class medical personnel to fight an obscure disease overseas while thousands are dying of a deadlier disease on our soil?
The U.S. has an obligation to assist West Africans in stopping the Ebola ?outbreak.
However, the government possesses a greater responsibility to thwart the domestic HIV/AIDS crisis and care for its citizens with as much urgency as it has demonstrated toward those overseas.
caheredi@indiana.edu
