The United Nations had managed to collect only $3.5 million in 2003 (of the minimal estimate of $15 billion dollars needed by 2005) to combat the African AIDS pandemic, when this harrowing episode from the CBC series The Nature of Things, hosted by David Suzuki, was filmed, documenting UN HIV/AIDS envoy Stephen Lewis's return to Africa. Retracing the steps of his 2001 journey to several countries in order to determine what, if any, progress has been made--both in terms of AIDS education in general and in the administering of desperately needed anti-retroviral treatments to those individuals already inflicted, Lewis meets and revisits families in which one or more members are dying of AIDS, and stops off at an orphanage for AIDS children. He also meets an underpaid HIV-positive woman receiving anti-retroviral treatments who is currently working to help other AIDS victims, witnesses cultural events by grassroots organizations struggling to raise awareness in their communities, and attends an AIDS conference in South Africa. Lewis's passionate, outspoken criticism of Western nations for not having what he calls the “decency” to face “the greatest health catastrophe facing humankind” underscores his frustration over the disparity between the enormity of the crisis and the relatively paltry response from the so-called civilized world. While there are currently several good videos on the world AIDS crisis (including Pandemic: Facing AIDS, VL-1/04), The Value of Life benefits from Lewis' personal perspective, and serves as another effective wakeup call to this global catastrophe. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (A. Cantú)
The Value of Life: AIDS in Africa Revisited
(2004) 52 min. VHS or DVD: $250. Bullfrog Films. PPR. ISBN: 1-59458-067-7 (vhs), 1-59458-068-5 (dvd). Volume 20, Issue 2
The Value of Life: AIDS in Africa Revisited
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