AIDS AWARENESS DAY
I don't know if you all have seen "Rent" but it is definitely one of the most amazing musicals ever! With that said, Rent is a story about a group of people living in NYC in the late 80's struggling with money, homosexuality, and the topic of the day.... AIDS. The musical has alot to do with AIDS. So with that said, my point is that today is AIDS awareness day, did you know that? Well, here are some facts about the disease that takes so many lives around the world, and in the US... including some really close to home for some maybe even some of us. I just want people to be aware that this disease is still a BIG issue around the world, and it needs a cure! Well, there is my ranting for the day... hope you find this interesting.
World AIDS Day
Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise
World AIDS Day is a yearly, global event started in January 1988 to promote awareness and action in the fight against HIV/AIDS. According to UNAIDS estimates, there were 37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children worldwide living with HIV at the end of 2004. During the year 4.9 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35. Around 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world. In Africa alone, more than 17 million people have died from AIDS and another 25 million are infected with the HIV virus, approximately 1.9 million of whom are children. Every day in Africa, HIV/AIDS kills 6,300 people. 8,500 people are infected with the HIV virus and 1,400 newborn babies are infected during childbirth.
This year, the theme of World AIDS Day is "Stop Aids: Keep the Promise" which reminds us that our government leaders need to be held accountable for their commitments to the fight against AIDS and act in order to delivered the promised results.
The same factors that cause hunger -- poverty, conflict and social inequality .. are also at work in the spread of HIV/AIDS. High rates of HIV infection increase community food insecurity, and areas where food is scarce are incubators for the spread of HIV/AIDS. The AIDS pandemic threatens to reverse the progress that has been made against hunger and poverty over the last three decades in the developing world.
The vast majority of those living with HIV/AIDS live in rural areas, where poverty is widespread. Poverty and a lack of access to food lead to poor nutrition and a weakened immune system, making a person more vulnerable to HIV infection. Those who live in rural areas also lack access to health care and clean water, further exacerbating their vulnerability.
Unlike many diseases that prey on the very young or very old, AIDS has devastated the most productive members of society in their prime. The hardest hit are between 15-50 years old. AIDS interrupts the transfer of local knowledge and skills from one generation to the next. Children lose one or both parents before they can learn farming skills or how to manage a household.
Even before that point, HIV reduces a family..s ability to produce food. Fewer people can work in the fields, and those who can work do not have sufficient knowledge of farming methods to be efficient. Purchasing food to supplement that which is grown by the family is rarely an option. Expenses increase for health care as income declines, because fewer family members can work, leaving little if any money to buy food.
HIV/AIDS has a direct effect on nutrition. HIV infection, compounded by inadequate dietary intake, rapidly leads to malnutrition. Persons living with HIV have higher than normal nutritional requirements: up to 50 percent more protein and up to 15 percent more calories. Yet they are likely to suffer loss of appetite and reduced access to nutritious food, thus reducing dietary intake at the very time when nutritional requirements are greatest.
HIV/AIDS and food insecurity have a disproportionate impact on women. Women are more vulnerable physically and culturally to HIV infection. At the same time, women produce up to 80 percent of the total food supply in sub-Saharan Africa. For those women who outlive their husbands, AIDS worsens existing gender-based differences in access to land, credit and other resources.
While the effects of HIV/AIDS and food insecurity can be compounded in a vicious cycle, progress or improvements in one area usually has a direct positive effect on the other area. Nutritional care and support for people infected with HIV/AIDS can help their bodies resist infections, delay the progression of the disease, and improve their quality of life. The onset of full-blown AIDS, and even death, may be delayed in well-nourished individuals who are living with HIV.
Similarly, reduction in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS can have a positive effect on a community..s ability to be more food secure. Access to treatment, prevention and care can dramatically reduce the effects of HIV/AIDS on the productive sector of the population and stop the spread of the disease to those who are not infected. There is also a direct correlation between effective AIDS treatment and nutrition. A recent World Heath Organization initiative aims to gain access to life-saving anti-retrovirals for 3 million people by the end of 2005. The initiative emphasizes access to food for those on the drugs because adequate nutrition is essential to ensure drug effectiveness.
The Millennium Development Goals include specific goals on halving the number of people suffering from hunger and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. To accomplish these goals, there is a need for increased funding on behalf of the United States and the global community. Fully funding the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Millennium Challenge Account, as well as strengthening on going development and humanitarian assistance, are vital steps in reversing the trends of HIV/AIDS and hunger.
Key Statistics:
Ninety-five percent of people living with HIV/AIDS are in developing countries. More than two-thirds of the 25 most-affected African countries.. population lives in the countryside. (Food and Agriculture Organization)
Seven million agricultural workers in Africa have died of AIDS since 1985.
Sixteen million more could die by 2020. (FAO)
The most affected African countries could lose up to 26 percent of their agricultural labor force within two decades (FAO)
By 2010, 6 percent of all children in Africa are expected to be orphaned due to AIDS. (USAID)
World AIDS Day
Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise
World AIDS Day is a yearly, global event started in January 1988 to promote awareness and action in the fight against HIV/AIDS. According to UNAIDS estimates, there were 37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children worldwide living with HIV at the end of 2004. During the year 4.9 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35. Around 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world. In Africa alone, more than 17 million people have died from AIDS and another 25 million are infected with the HIV virus, approximately 1.9 million of whom are children. Every day in Africa, HIV/AIDS kills 6,300 people. 8,500 people are infected with the HIV virus and 1,400 newborn babies are infected during childbirth.
This year, the theme of World AIDS Day is "Stop Aids: Keep the Promise" which reminds us that our government leaders need to be held accountable for their commitments to the fight against AIDS and act in order to delivered the promised results.
The same factors that cause hunger -- poverty, conflict and social inequality .. are also at work in the spread of HIV/AIDS. High rates of HIV infection increase community food insecurity, and areas where food is scarce are incubators for the spread of HIV/AIDS. The AIDS pandemic threatens to reverse the progress that has been made against hunger and poverty over the last three decades in the developing world.
The vast majority of those living with HIV/AIDS live in rural areas, where poverty is widespread. Poverty and a lack of access to food lead to poor nutrition and a weakened immune system, making a person more vulnerable to HIV infection. Those who live in rural areas also lack access to health care and clean water, further exacerbating their vulnerability.
Unlike many diseases that prey on the very young or very old, AIDS has devastated the most productive members of society in their prime. The hardest hit are between 15-50 years old. AIDS interrupts the transfer of local knowledge and skills from one generation to the next. Children lose one or both parents before they can learn farming skills or how to manage a household.
Even before that point, HIV reduces a family..s ability to produce food. Fewer people can work in the fields, and those who can work do not have sufficient knowledge of farming methods to be efficient. Purchasing food to supplement that which is grown by the family is rarely an option. Expenses increase for health care as income declines, because fewer family members can work, leaving little if any money to buy food.
HIV/AIDS has a direct effect on nutrition. HIV infection, compounded by inadequate dietary intake, rapidly leads to malnutrition. Persons living with HIV have higher than normal nutritional requirements: up to 50 percent more protein and up to 15 percent more calories. Yet they are likely to suffer loss of appetite and reduced access to nutritious food, thus reducing dietary intake at the very time when nutritional requirements are greatest.
HIV/AIDS and food insecurity have a disproportionate impact on women. Women are more vulnerable physically and culturally to HIV infection. At the same time, women produce up to 80 percent of the total food supply in sub-Saharan Africa. For those women who outlive their husbands, AIDS worsens existing gender-based differences in access to land, credit and other resources.
While the effects of HIV/AIDS and food insecurity can be compounded in a vicious cycle, progress or improvements in one area usually has a direct positive effect on the other area. Nutritional care and support for people infected with HIV/AIDS can help their bodies resist infections, delay the progression of the disease, and improve their quality of life. The onset of full-blown AIDS, and even death, may be delayed in well-nourished individuals who are living with HIV.
Similarly, reduction in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS can have a positive effect on a community..s ability to be more food secure. Access to treatment, prevention and care can dramatically reduce the effects of HIV/AIDS on the productive sector of the population and stop the spread of the disease to those who are not infected. There is also a direct correlation between effective AIDS treatment and nutrition. A recent World Heath Organization initiative aims to gain access to life-saving anti-retrovirals for 3 million people by the end of 2005. The initiative emphasizes access to food for those on the drugs because adequate nutrition is essential to ensure drug effectiveness.
The Millennium Development Goals include specific goals on halving the number of people suffering from hunger and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. To accomplish these goals, there is a need for increased funding on behalf of the United States and the global community. Fully funding the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Millennium Challenge Account, as well as strengthening on going development and humanitarian assistance, are vital steps in reversing the trends of HIV/AIDS and hunger.
Key Statistics:
Ninety-five percent of people living with HIV/AIDS are in developing countries. More than two-thirds of the 25 most-affected African countries.. population lives in the countryside. (Food and Agriculture Organization)
Seven million agricultural workers in Africa have died of AIDS since 1985.
Sixteen million more could die by 2020. (FAO)
The most affected African countries could lose up to 26 percent of their agricultural labor force within two decades (FAO)
By 2010, 6 percent of all children in Africa are expected to be orphaned due to AIDS. (USAID)