#BeMoreJill
Before I went to bed last night, I caught up with episode three of It’s a Sin and I was in pieces by the end of it. I have friends outside the UK who read this so I’ll post no spoilers except to say that the focus of the show, an excellent cast, and outstanding writing and direction/production combine to pack a powerful punch. I watched the rest of the series this afternoon. It’s all great, but episode three is the one that kicks you when you least expect it.
Thirty years or so ago, I sat on the Children’s Panel in Lothian Region when Edinburgh was often called the ‘AIDS Capital of Europe.’ That name, given by the Sunday Telegraph in April 1986, was probably inaccurate, but that doesn’t really matter. What does matter was that Edinburgh had a very serious problem with HIV/AIDS in the intravenous drug using community, and we had to face some of the consequences for children.
I am not for one second claiming that there is or was any equivalence between my role and that of the families involved or of anyone who contracted HIV for any reason. All I’m saying is that, even at one step removed, I well remember the devastation the virus left in its wake. It was thirty years ago; my memory for detail inevitably fades and, in any event, I’m still bound by confidentiality. But of the children I do remember, one was a girl who was too frightened to go to school in case she came home to find another member of her family had died. It broke my heart then, and the memory, provoked by It’s A Sin, haunts me again now.
#BeMoreJill #La
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It has been interesting that, in discussions of COVID, the historical referents have either been the ‘Spanish Flu’ pandemic of a century ago or a mix of Ebola, SARS or other influenzas. They, of course, were and are visible diseases spreading in the community. HIV/AIDS, which is not usually mentioned, is a much more recent and ongoing example of a global epidemic. HIV, however, exploited vectors of transmission almost exclusively in cohorts that are, or can be, marginalised and put in a moral context. It’s no sin to catch flu. The spread of HIV through infected plasma products to haemophiliacs can be portrayed as the misfortune of innocent victims. I generalise, of course. Why interesting? because, even allowing for scientific advances over three decades, the effort put into developing vaccines for Covid-19 in months is orders of magnitude more than expended on HIV.
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Over in the US, the Senate is debating the constitutionality of 45’s impeachment trial. He’s yesterday’s man; the importance of the trial is to ensure he doesn’t inspire whoever follows. I still find it hard to raise enough interest to give a shit what happens to him.
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Music : Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy plays over the end credits of episode one of It’s a Sin.
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