60 may be the new 40, but HIV/AIDS still sucks

Flipping through the Boston Globe this morning, I came across this Reuters article on Bill Clinton turning 60. Turns out, the former President isn't too keen on approaching Social Security age.

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton, who turns 60 on Saturday, hates being so old -- and it's no consolation that 60 is being touted as the new 40 as the first of the baby boomer generation hit the big 6-0 this year.

An archetypal baby boomer who lived through the swinging '60s and disco era, Clinton plays the saxophone and admits he smoked marijuana (although he did not inhale).

But although a recent survey found almost 80 percent of Americans born in 1946 were satisfied with their lot, Clinton said being 60 was no dream.

"I hate it, it's true," Clinton told the XVI International AIDS Conference in Canada this week. "For most of my working life, I was the youngest person doing whatever I was doing, then one day I woke up and I was the oldest person in the room.

Uh, is it just me, or is anyone wondering why Reuters didn't run an article on what Bill Clinton actually had to say at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Canada? Moreover, it's pretty insensitive to be blabbing on about how old you feel at 60, when the average life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa is 47 years old, largely because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Africa is also home to the three countries with the lowest life expectancy: Swaziland (33.2 years); Botswana (33.9 years); and Lesotho (34.5 years). That's almost half of Bill Clinton.

I know 60 is a milestone, but let's be sure to put it in its proper context. In other words, quit your kvetching, Mr. President...people are dying.

For a bit of a recap on the XVI International AIDS Conference, click here. And for some commentary on controversy coming out of this week's conference, including the snub that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper showed the conference, click here. To put this into context, not even President Ronald Reagan snubbed the International AIDS Conference, and it took Reagan six years to even mention AIDS in public. Nice going, Mr. Harper.

This article also focuses on South Africa, where public officials are practically clueless when it comes to HIV/AIDS. Their minister of health, Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, tells patients to eat lemon and garlic potatoes as treatment for the virus, and their President, Thabo Mbeki, doesn't believe that HIV causes AIDS.

No word, however, on how they both feel about Bill Clinton turning 60.