The Great Sickness

One of wife E's cousins (brothers, in Xhosa kinship terms) sadly died of AIDS last month -- which is here referred to as the Great Sickness. Isn't AIDS a thing of the past? As I often do, I looked at the bigger picture. According to the Daily Maverick, local studies "are warning of massive waves of new deaths and infections". There are "steep drops in testing, medicine pickups, and staff capacity in government facilities offering HIV services." There could therefore be a connection. OBSERVATION: Globally, more than half a million people still die from AIDS each year -- which is to say, from AIDS-related illnesses.