Pandemic

Kelly Conroy*

Introduction

HIV/AIDS continues to be an important global feminist issue. We must not become complacent with the progress we have made in increasing access of HIV/AIDS treatment to third world women. Political, economic, social, and geographic barriers continue to prevent HIV-positive, third world women from receiving necessary treatment. As feminists, we need to be at the forefront of activism to ensure that all women have equal access to healthcare. We must continue to hold the manufacturers of HIV/AIDS drugs accountable for their role in the obstacles that these women face in obtaining treatment.

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Pandemic

you protect

your patents

and produce

your profits

you see no purpose

in protecting   third world women

AIDS is not a   pandemic

in your eyes

it will remain

a tropical disease   until

your greed   smugly shakes

your own hand

and your suit doesn't drape

your silhouette

as well as   it used to

and you become

a wound   that won't heal

 

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* Kelly Conroy is an undergraduate student at SUNY Oneonta. She is currently majoring in Africana and Latino Studies with a concentration in Women’s Studies. She is particularly interested in global women’s health issues. She has worked with diverse populations of women in domestic violence shelters, healthcare facilities, criminal justice systems, and transitional housing. She is a performance poet and has been a member of the SUNY Oneonta Poetry Slam Team. (Return)

 

Edited by: Libby Becker

 

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