Tsunami versus HIV / AIDS: perception dictates response.

During the same year that the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami made headlines another type of "tsunami" was killing not 200000 people per year but millions of people per year. The epicenter of this "biological tsunami" was in Africa. The initial "earthquake" took place in the early 1980s. Its destructive "waves" spread out slowly in all directions taking nearly two decades before reaching the "shores" of virtually every country. Because it moved so slowly - largely hidden from view - there were no exciting pictures of it to show on the daily news. The mainstream mass media never rushed in to cover "the story". And politicians were largely silent about the problem. What are we talking about here? The HIV/AIDS tsunami. (excerpt)