Love Is the Cure by Elton John

Author:Elton John
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2012-07-16T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

I’m far from the first person to preach the importance of compassion, indeed the need for compassion, when it comes to combating AIDS. Long before I ever got into this work, many brilliant, dedicated professionals from all around the world were orchestrating a compassionate response to the epidemic. I’m simply, and humbly, following in their footsteps. And while I would never suggest that I’m an AIDS expert, I have seen quite a lot through the work of my foundation.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some of the greatest heroes in the global fight against AIDS. They include my many extraordinary colleagues around the world who are in the trenches, day after day. I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world and visit dozens of projects that EJAF has funded. I’ve seen the difference these heroes are making. Compassion is a nice sentiment, but it’s so much more than that. I’ve seen with my own eyes what’s possible when compassion is put into practice. The organizations that my foundation supports have made incredible progress in fighting stigma and AIDS through their compassionate policies and programs.

I try to spread this message everywhere I go, and it’s not always well received. In 2007, my foundation organized a free concert in Ukraine to raise awareness about the terrible AIDS crisis in that country. Sadly, religious groups encouraged people to boycott us. They believed that gay people were responsible for the spread of AIDS and that I was promoting homosexual propaganda. Nevertheless, on the day of the concert, from behind my piano that June evening, I was stunned and overjoyed to see hundreds of thousands of people, including many religious leaders, packed into Independence Square in Kiev. They were undeterred by the bigotry and the stigma surrounding homosexuality and AIDS. I told the crowd that I was there to support their country’s fight against HIV/AIDS, and I asked them to find the courage to show love and support to all those living with the disease. The crowd roared, and it filled me with hope. It made me think of how far we’d come since EJAF had first started working in Ukraine, five years earlier, in 2002.

Ukraine has the worst epidemic of HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe, with more than 400,000 people infected and the fastest-growing rate of new infections in the world. The epidemic there is a classic example of how stigma and fear work hand in hand with the disease, spreading it further, killing people faster.

Sixty percent of infected Ukrainians are tragically young, between the ages of twenty and thirty-four. At the greatest risk are 100,000 homeless young people in major cities such as Kiev, Odesa, and Donetsk. You’ll find them sprawled on crumbling streets or in abandoned buildings, relics of the Soviet era. Many of them turn to prostitution to survive; 35 percent of those who do have HIV/AIDS. Others numb their painful lives by injecting cheaply concocted drugs, like a cocktail called “screw” made of surgical liquid, cough syrup, and the phosphorous tips of matches.

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