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DAB THE AIDS BEAR





HIV IN AMERICA - A NATIONAL HEALTH CRISIS


EVERY SIX SECONDS THERE IS A NEW PERSON INFECTED WITH HIV

40 PERCENT OF THESE ARE WOMEN AND GIRLS AGE 15 - 30

HIV/AIDS IS THE NUMBER 3 KILLER OF WOMEN 15 - 40

MORE THAN 50% OF THE PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS ARE HETEROSEXUAL

UP TO 50% OF PEOPLE INFECTED WITH HIV DO NOT KNOW




DAB THE AIDS BEAR HISTORY


Narrated by Daddy Dab



Back in 1981 when I had friends starting to die from AIDS, the hospitals wouldn't allow visitors into the patient's room unless you wore protective garments(gowns, masks etc.) because they were afraid of the disease and not sure how the virus was passed. Because of this, people were usually close to death and had at least one opportunistic infection when they were diagnosed and hospitalized. You could see even seasoned health care professional recoil in fear and not wanting to touch the patients. Even close friends were hesitant or scared to visit their friends in the hospital.

I started buying Gund teddy bears and giving them to friends so they wouldn't have to feel so alone, abandoned and afraid. From personal experience, nothing is worse than being in the hospital and being scared when you think you're going to die.

When people were admitted to the hospital then they rarely made it outside of the hospital alive again and even in the later 80s when the first HIV medications started being available, the meds only bought someone several months, some longer, some shorter and most had debilitating side effect and greatly diminished their quality of life. But there were no other options then to keep yourself alive. AIDS before 1996 was a death sentence.

Then when the red AIDS ribbon came along in the 80s, I started adding a ribbon to the bears when I would give them as gifts to my friends dying with this horrible virus. The universal appeal of bears brings smiles to even the sickest child or adult and are a symbol of strength and comfort for all ages.

In 1999, I designed another bear and massed produced it. The AIDS BEAR was wholesaled in various specialty retail stores across the country. The reason I came out with another bear at that time was the funds to the AIDS organizations were being cut and services such as massage, acupuncture, aromatherapy, and nutrition counseling among others were canceled because of the government budget cuts to the Ryan White Act. Treatments that helped people with HIV/AIDS deal with the side effects from the medications and the illness itself were no longer available through public assistance programs.

If you ask, why us? We came together through our involvement in other HIV/AIDS organizations due to all of lives having been affected or effected by HIV/AIDS.

More than half of our organization have also experienced the cost of HIV/AIDS care with and without insurance and also while on disability. Even with great insurance by the time you pay for the insurance, blood work, doctor visits, the medications necessary to stay alive it can easily total $500+ A MONTH and without insurance it easily costs $3000+ A MONTH and that's without even beginning the conversation about the side effects from the medications. OH YES SIDE EFFECTS!! So we know how hard it is to fight this chronic disease much less having to work your way through the system provided by the federal government to access public assistance help.

We have met with many young people under 25 that are already positive as we travel across the country educating and fund raising. Most of these exposures happened in high school or college age students. These young people represent all races, all economic backgrounds, all religious beliefs, all sexual orientations because NO ONE is immune. It's not like the virus is going to ask you questions before infecting you. EVERY MAN WOMAN AND CHILD IN AMERICA CAN CATCH HIV!

We have met with many 50+ citizens who are now finding out they're HIV positive. Many didn't get tested and didn't find out until their immune systems are shot and they have one or more opportunistic infections. Too many are DYING because they didn't know their status in time so they could begin HIV treatment.

GET TESTED GET TESTED GET TESTED GET TESTED GET TESTED

According to doctor, if you are sexually active, you should be tested EVERY SIX MONTHS.