If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The hope of a vaccine for HIV/AIDS cannot be underestimated. At the moment, we can control the disease if we can find HIV+ people early enough before...
Helping our friends and our family members does not preclude helping women and babies in Africa or victims of the Tsunami in Indonesia or the earthquake in Haiti. We would walk through fire to help our own children and those in our communities, but why stop there?
The hope of a vaccine for HIV/AIDS cannot be underestimated. At the moment, we can control the disease if we can find HIV+ people early enough before...
Whether a woman is a mother today, or a mother to be, her health is paramount -- both for her own productivity and quality of life, and that of the next generation. One way that we can help to support women -- and their children -- is by ensuring that all mothers receive the essential health services they need, including for HIV.
Think about those who are living with HIV and cannot access the life-saving medications that are freely available in richer countries. This is surely what will happen more often if we don't keep our promise to get people living with HIV onto medications and keep them in treatment.
Globally, more than 90 countries today are malaria-free, with an additional 26 en route to achieving that status. Still, eliminating malaria in Africa is a challenging goal.
One meaningful encounter with a woman called Rispa can explain it all. She, like hundreds of other women, was trapped in a life of poverty and hardship by the country's social norms, which neglect women and ignore their potential.
Malaria continues to inflict a major toll on least developed countries -- primarily in Africa -- and millions of people still lack access to life-saving interventions. In Africa, malaria kills a child every minute.
Every minute, malaria claims a life in Africa; but, malaria mortality rates are falling. Just a few short years ago, statistics showed a child died every 30 seconds of the mosquito-borne disease.
Only time will tell to what extent the use of in-home HIV testing will become widely practiced, but for today if you are focused, read, prepared, and use support, in-home HIV testing is a great way to take knowing your status (literally) into your own hands.
Malaria is a disease that is not on the top of mind of the general public, and it's important that we change this, the more people know about it, the better chance we have to make it a disease of the past. We can't let a mosquito win.
Good drug policy is good AIDS policy. Drug users and sex workers benefit more from services than from beatings and prison. And as law enforcement officials committed to protecting the public, we can support public health.
Diseases do not recognize borders. Mosquitos that transmit malaria don't either. The investments that the world makes to the Global Fund are going to allow us to continue to implement high-impact interventions.
No mom will walk away from this film with a dry eye, neither should anyone else. So, this World Malaria Day, see the film. Cry. Then take action ... because you can.
Of the $5 billion needed every year to achieve and maintain universal access to malaria interventions worldwide, less than a half -- some $2.3 billion -- is currently available.
Since 2000, over 1 million lives have been saved from malaria. This World Malaria Day (April 25th) is an opportunity to pause and reflect on the gains...
