Antes tarde do que nunca

Um grande dia para o mundo -- graças a um grande homem: 

OBAMA ENCERRA PROIBIÇÃO DE ENTRADA

DE SOROPOSITIVOS NOS EUA.

Nunca pensei que essa notícia fosse me tocar tanto, mas logo entendi por quê: saber que a maior nação do mundo (ok, há controvérsias quanto a isso...) pôs um fim à proibição da entrada de turistas e imigrantes soropositivos aumenta a esperança de que o mundo está mais um passo em direção ao fim do preconceito (=ignorância) sobre o que é o hiv, seus riscos, formas de contágio e na direção certa para conter a pandemia de hiv/aids.

Nas palavras do próprio Barack Obama:

“If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it."

“It has been nearly three decades since this virus first became known,” Obama said. “But for years, we refused to recognize it for what it was.  It was coined a ‘gay disease.’  Those who had it were viewed with suspicion.  There was a sense among some that people afflicted by AIDS somehow deserved their fate and that it was acceptable for our nation to look the other way.”

De quebra, ele renovou a lei que prevê tratamento para soropositivos de baixa renda (Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act), e disse:

"[...] What we can do is to take more action and educate more people.  What we can do is keep fighting each and every day until we eliminate this disease from the face of the Earth.”

Com relação a imigrantes soropositivos, Rachel B. Tiven, diretora executiva da Immigration Equality, diz tudo:

"People living with HIV will no longer be pointlessly barred from this country.... Every day, Immigration Equality hears from individuals and families who have been separated because of the ban, with no benefit to the public health. Now, those families can be reunited, and the United States can put its mouth where its money is: ending the stigma that perpetuates HIV transmission, supporting science, and welcoming those who seek to build a life in this country."