If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
We know that HIV is both preventable and treatable, yet because of stigma women don't talk about it openly, we don't use protection, we don't get tested, and we don't stay on treatment. In addition to stigma, there are still far too many misconceptions when we think and talk about HIV.
Without PWA (people with AIDS) participating in all levels of HIV/AIDS awareness, education, research and support programs, there is no passion and therefore no motivation to move forward. Even if you work behind the scenes, it makes a difference.
I'm proud to say I spent some of the best years of my life being someone else. For ten years, I played Nandipha Sithole, an HIV-positive character on Isindingo, one of South Africa's most loved television dramas.
Scientific advances and their successful implementation -- as well as the leadership of the United States -- have brought us to the brink of an AIDS-free generation. The last 10 years have seen tremendous progress and millions of lives saved -- and we can't stop fighting now.
As Catholics, we need only follow our faith and the conscience that guides it, to realize that World AIDS Day is an opportunity, and a call, for us to exercise faith in action.
Hillary Clinton has been a tireless champion of global health and women's rights. On Thursday, the eve of World AIDS Day, she released a blueprint for creating an AIDS-free generation. To the next secretary of state: You have some big shoes to fill.
There is no reason why any small town boy or girl should feel that HIV/AIDS is a world away. It's not, and I don't want them to wait to find out just how close it really is until it's too late.
In that instant, something snapped in my heart and in my head. I realized that I was either part of the solution, or I was the problem. There was no in between. Standing on the sidelines was no longer an option. It was time for me to act.
Every time we plant a seed we plant a seed of hope. Every time we plant a tree here, we plant a tree saying goodbye to fear and saying we welcome hope. We are willing to take yes for an answer. We are willing to take life for an answer.
In particular, HIV/AIDS continues to have a disproportionate impact on women and children. HIV/AIDS is said to be the chief cause of death for women of reproductive age worldwide.
Every December, World AIDS Day provides an important moment to pause and reflect on the progress we've made during yet another year fighting the AIDS pandemic.
A rounded Ukrainian success story would bring hope to hundreds of thousands of people infected with HIV in neighboring countries, where progress remains far too slow.
As we commemorate World AIDS Day, it's timely to notice how three recent documentaries about the AIDS crisis have helped to focus attention on the raging epidemic that should never have happened -- a plague that has now claimed more than 35 million lives around the world.
Each of us as women, teens, and girls must reach a point where we feel empowered from within to insist on using protection every time. Empowered to speak up, to start the conversation about using condoms or other methods, whereby engaging in unprotected sex is no longer negotiable.
Any truly effective response against either disease will have to be comprehensive: one that scales up existing programs for prevention and care while quickly rolling out new biomedical tools and strategies to reduce transmission -- especially vaccines.
We have reached a pivotal point in the fight against HIV/AIDS and this weekend, Belvedere will join (RED)'s many supporters to celebrate World AIDS Day.
