Michael Jackson & Hari AIDS Sedunia 2011

Untuk memperingati Hari AIDS Sedunia, kami ingin membawa perhatian tidak hanya kepada penyakit yang mengerikan ini dan kepada mereka yang menderita atau yang mungkin menderita penyakit ini, tetapi juga untuk Michael Jackson, yang dengan berani dan tanpa pamrih berteman dengan Ryan White yang tertular HIV/AIDS pada 1980-an dari transfusi darah. Ryan dikeluarkan dari sekolah dan dijauhi oleh orang-orang di kota Indiana karena penyakit tersebut, Michael menjadi teman Ryan dan pendamping selama tahun-tahun terakhir kehidupan Ryan. Michael menghadiri pemakaman Ryan dengan keluarganya, dan menyanyikan lagu "Gone Too Soon" untuk menghormati Ryan, yang meninggal pada bulan April 1990.

Tak lama setelah meninggalnya Ryan, yaitu tanggal 18 Agustus 1990, The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act (Ryan White Care Act) atau UU Ryan White Care disahkan sebagai penghormatan kepada Ryan White.

UU ini adalah program terbesar yang didanai pemerintah Amerika Serikat untuk orang yang menderita HIV/AIDS. Fungsi UU ini adalah mencari pendanaan untuk meningkatkan ketersediaan perawatan bagi korban berpenghasilan rendah, penderita AIDS yang tidak diasuransikan juga keluarga mereka.

Program Ryan White ini telah melayani orang dengan HIV dan AIDS selama hampir dua dekade. Program Ryan White menyediakan pelayanan perawatan, pengobatan dan dukungan untuk hampir setengah juta orang.

"I had little Ryan White in my dining room telling his mother at the table, ‘Mother, when you bury me, I don’t want to be in a suit and tie.’ He said, ‘Don’t put me in a suit and tie. I want to be in jeans and a t-shirt.’ I said, ‘Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.’ And I ran to the bathroom and I cried. Imagine a 12-year-old boy telling his mother how to bury him. That's what I heard him say. How could your heart not go out to someone like that?" -Michael Jackson

Berikut ini, "Gone Too Soon" yang dinyanyikan Michael pada pelantikan Bill Clinton, setelah itu Michael meminta Presiden Clinton untuk menyediakan dana untuk penelitian dan pengobatan untuk melawan HIV/AIDS.

"I would like to take a moment from this very public ceremony to speak of something very personal. It concerns a dear friend of mine who is no longer with us. His name is Ryan White. He was a hemophiliac who was diagnosed with the AIDS virus when he was eleven. He died shortly after turning eighteen, the very time most young people are beginning to explore life's wonderful possibilities. My friend Ryan was a very bright, very brave, and very normal young man who never wanted to be a symbol or a spokesperson for a deadly disease. Over the years, I've shared many silly, happy, and painful moments with Ryan and I was with him at the end of his brief but eventful journey. Ryan is gone and just as anyone who has lost a loved one to AIDS, I miss him deeply and constantly. He is gone, but I want his life to have meaning beyond his passing. It is my hope, President-elect Clinton, that you and your administration commit the resources needed to eliminate this awful disease that took my friend, and ended so many promising lives before their time."

Sumber: MJ-777.com & Wikipedia