We are all aware of cancer. I’m not the only one here to lose someone to it, nor are you. Cancer already has a really big mindshare.
And AIDS, unlike cancer, can be fully and permanently eradicated in our lifetime. That would bring an end to a problem that is holding back economic growth globally, and costing support, donations and subsidies that would be nice to free up for other programs. To actually definitively solve a problem in medicine is an accomplishment worth pursuing in its own right, but the gains from solving this one are immense and likely to contribute a lot to dealing with cancer sooner than we would otherwise be able to.
Cancer is complicated. It comes down to the myriad corners nature has cut each and every day that multicellular life has been around, and there’s no one cancer or one cure. Cancer a catch-all term for when your body is doing almost exactly what it’s supposed to be doing, but not quite, and we’ve only the most basic of ideas about how life works as a starting hand for this game.
AIDS is simple. It’s an infectious disease and we know how to deal with that: we contain it, stop it from spreading, until nobody living has it anymore. Then it’s gone. If we’re lucky, we may find ways to speed up the process, and we have found good ways to stop the spread (with more likely to be found). But we already have everything we need to get rid of it, for good.
We just need to put in the effort, which readily translates into spending money, at this point.
Donating company money to treating HIV and AIDS is thus an investment, with a payoff, while donating money to treating cancer is an ongoing expense. Charity should be about investment and cost reduction, aimed at sustainable improvement, not throwing money at people to feel better.
