I am posting a poem as I think I need to explain what space I was in when I passionately wrote it in 2003. I had just heard a radio interview in which a ‘salesman’ was claiming that his vitamins could cure Aids. He had already convinced our President about the ‘cure’.
The radio interview was preceded by a conference where our Minister of Health (in South Africa) promoted her beetroot and garlic cure.
Life has changed in recent years and millions of Aids sufferers are now taking antiretroviral medication.
So much more can and should be done, so my rather melodramatic plea is probably partially relevant.
They may die
Scientists and politicians confer,
Meetings and conferences are held,
Theories and ideas are exchanged
…and yet they die!
Bring down and lower the costs,
Supply us with more money,
Then waste the funds on all and sundry
…and let them die!
Infected parents don’t prevent,
And infected children are conceived.
Families as we know are doomed,
…because they die!
Care givers, doctors and nurses try
To relieve the sick and suffering.
All efforts appear fruitless.
…as patients still die!
Why can’t we get it right,
Why can’t we accept help,
Why can’t we use the tools we have?
…why must they die?
For some it’s now too late,
For others there is still hope!
Let us unite and pool resources!
…and don’t let them die!
Teresa Denton (1941 – 2014)
You can find a collection of Teresa’s HIV/Aids poems on Amazon.
Read more about Teresa’s ‘Welcome Little Stranger’ which involved the work she did in South Africa in her baby clinics.
