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Nancy Ruhling: Astoria Characters: The Octogenarian Activists

2009-11-24T14:34:07Z

On the emerald green front door of Stanley and Kathleen Rygor's 1890 cottage, there's a Claddagh knocker whose well-worn brass shows that it's no stranger to visitors.

"It is an honor to have you in my house," says Stanley, as he leads the way through the foyer. He doesn't have to say welcome; the souvenir sign from Ireland -- Céad Míle Fáilte - conveys that warm message no less than 100,000 times.

Curiously, it is framed by a Celtic cross and a crisscrossed Christmas-red AIDS ribbon.

Kathleen is slowly climbing the stairs from the basement, and before she appears, the brogue of her birth, a sweet counterpart to Stanley's elegant elocution, trills like a songbird.

Stanley, a spritely 83, and Kathleen, an active 80, have been married for 57 years, and for the last 55 of them, they have lived in this house, which is on the way to Kaufman Astoria Studios and within the sound of the bells of Most Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church. She's an Irish immigrant; his father was English and his mother hailed from Sicily, but he was born in Manhattan and has lived 80 of his 83 years in Astoria.

Photo by Nancy A. Ruhling
Kathleen's the dancer, Stanley's the musician, and life is their act.

Dwarfed by a brand-new McMansion, the "little green house with the American flag out front," as Kathleen calls it, looks as though it were tossed into its lot by a Kansas twister. What it lacks in stature, it makes up for in heart and hearth.

Stanley and Kathleen are from the old school; he plays gentleman to her lady. Like a ballroom dancer, he takes the conversational lead, and as he's a trifle hard of hearing, she follows and interprets. It's their habit to read the New York Times cover to cover and to serve tea and biscuits to their guests.

"Everyone always asks what the secret to our successful marriage is," says Stanley, whose slightly British accent evokes that of a 1940s stage actor. "We're not exactly that compatible, but we're complimentary. Our interests are different. I'm just average, but Kathleen's got intelligence, she's got an IQ through the roof."

Kathleen rolls her eyes. "He's exaggerating."

The story of how Stanley met Kathleen ended up together is the stuff of classic Hollywood musicals.

In 1944, when he was 17, Stanley enlisted in the Navy. "It was an easy decision," he says. "The Navy uniforms were very attractive to girls. The Army uniforms were horrible."

Stanley came home from World War II 2½ years later, Kathleen had just come over from Ireland, and they found true love on a Manhattan dance floor. "The first time I saw her, I thought she was beautiful beyond belief," Stanley says.

A bashful and blushing Kathleen adds, "I thought he was handsome, too."

They married, had five children - their framed photos are on the piano in the living room - and set out to have ordinary lives.

It didn't quite turn out that way.

Stanley threw himself into his career. In six decades, he worked his way up from messenger boy to senior vice president at the Wall Street ad agency Doremus. Kathleen held down the homefront. In the same six decades, she did everything from sewing school clothes to laying the parquet tile on the living room floor.

One year, Kathleen gave Stanley an Irish button accordion. He taught himself to play so she could dance the Stack of Barley and the Siege of Ennis.

They were pretty much going to go quietly into retirement. Although he wouldn't officially clean out his desk until he turned 80, Stanley cut back his office time to two days a week when he turned 65. "I could have gone on after 80," he says, "but I didn't want to break any Guinness world records."

He "was lured into singing" with the choir at Most Precious Blood and started playing his accordion in public. (He has a gig at Dempsey's Pub in the East Village every Tuesday evening and goes to Long Island City to play for the New York City Marathon runners as they hit the halfway point.)

Then it happened. Their son Robert announced that he was gay. Stanley and Kathleen hadn't seen this coming. They were shocked. When Robert, who became ACT UP's spokesperson, told them he had AIDS, they turned themselves into activists, and when he died of the disease, at age 40 in 1994, they put his ashes in a blue urn on the piano and continued their gay-rights crusade.

Photo by Nancy A. Ruhling
For 57 years, Kathleen and Stanley have been devoted to each other.

"I'm conservative in everything else but gay rights," Stanley says. "I feel strongly about gay rights and marriage equality because I know this is what my son would want."

Kathleen's legs aren't as agile as they used to be, but Stanley still rallies himself for the St. Pat's for All Parade in Sunnyside and the AIDS Walk New York. The 10k AIDS Walk gets harder every year, he says, which is why he diligently trains. "I have to keep it up," he says, "because I raise a lot of money."

Recently, he walked the three miles to and from Astoria Park, where he went around the track eight times, adding two miles to the tally. "I think I overdid it," he says, shifting the pumpkin-orange AIDS Walk baseball cap on his head.

As for Kathleen, she's keeping busy, too. As did her mother and her grandmother before her, she's knitting traditional Irish sweaters for her yet-to-be-born great-grandchildren.

Stanley and Kathleen dream of Ireland, but if God doesn't see fit to let them get there again, their beautiful memories will sustain them.

Nancy A. Ruhling may be reached at Nruhling@gmail.com.

Copyright 2009 by Nancy A. Ruhling

Johnathon Briggs: Chicago's Public Health Budget Gets The Flu

2009-11-23T14:04:25Z

By Johnathon E. Briggs and John Peller

With the ongoing economic recession, Mayor Richard M. Daley and City Council members unquestionably face agonizing choices to balance the city's 2010 budget.

While funding cuts and other budgetary reforms will undoubtedly be needed, some essential city services are too important to do without. Alarmingly, Mayor Daley's 2010 budget plan calls for a $2.1 million funding reduction (6.7% cut) for public health. This doesn't account for the $2.5 million budget transfer for information technology to a different city agency.

These reductions could have a far-reaching and detrimental impact on the health of Chicago residents and the quality of life of our city, worsening the health of individuals and increasing health disparities.

In past years, Mayor Daley has championed public health, and particularly HIV prevention and care funding. Most recently, the Mayor and City Council increased HIV prevention funding by $500,000 in 2006, and AIDS housing funding by $250,000 in 2007.

The recent H1N1 vaccination drive has shown the nation the importance of public health. Unfortunately, it has not slowed a severe divestment in public health across the country. The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials reported in October that two out of three jurisdictions saw public health budget cuts this year. Services were reduced, programs eliminated, and staff laid off.

HIV programs have faced similar cuts . Three-quarters of state HIV programs saw their prevention dollars reduced this year, with $167 million axed from programs in 2009 alone.

Chicago's own Dr. Will Wong, who directs sexually transmitted disease (STD) and HIV prevention and control for the Chicago Department of Public Health, noted this week that STD prevention resources are strained nationally. Sixty-nine percent of STD programs surveyed experienced budget cuts, and 39 STD clinics around the nation shut their doors.

The tangible impact of funding cuts for STD control programs is being felt across the country. STD data released this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that STD rates in the U.S. are at an all-time high. CDC estimates that approximately 19 million new STD infections occur each year, at a cost of up to $15.9 billion. Chlamydia rates increased 9.2%, while syphilis rates rose by a staggering 18%.

"The burden of STDs is becoming worse in this country at the same time that the resources we need to fight these illnesses continue to shrink," Dr. Wong noted. "None of this bodes well for the future health of our nation and our communities."

In fact, Cook County has the highest number of gonorrhea cases in the nation, according to CDC. Cook County ranks second for chlamydia cases, second only to Los Angeles, and third for syphilis, a disease that not too long ago was nearly eliminated in the United States.

Chicago's health disparities are staggering, and funding reductions are likely to make them only worse. New statistics released by the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) earlier this year indicate that 30% of young African-American men who have sex with men (MSM) are HIV-positive, a rate that is seven times higher than among their white counterparts. Eleven percent of Latino MSM are living with HIV, a rate that is almost three times higher than their white peers. If Chicago is to make any progress against health disparities and the HIV epidemic in the most impacted populations, including African-Americans, Latinos, and gay men and MSM of all races, the city must continue to invest in HIV prevention and other programs.

So what do proposed budget reductions mean for Chicago? A 6.7% budget cut for public health would mean fewer city services for an array of essential health activities. Here are just four examples:

• Substance abuse treatment services would need to eliminate $500,000 in services (a 12-15% reduction);
• Sexually transmitted disease treatment clinics would lose four staff positions, straining already overwhelmed city clinics;
• The city's maternal and child health program would conduct 1,000 fewer home visits for vulnerable mothers and children.
• Essential HIV services would receive $175,000 less for HIV prevention and care programs. While lower than the cut for other sections, the 4% reduction comes on the heels of an $800,000 funding loss to Chicago from the state needed to keep the AIDS Drug Assistance Program afloat.

Since 2006, the Chicago Department of Public Health has lost 176 staff positions, or 39% of its staff. The additional proposed reductions this year are likely to further erode Chicago's ability to keep residents healthy, reduce chronic and infectious diseases, respond to outbreaks such as H1N1, and protect Chicago's most vulnerable residents.

Chicago's health doesn't have to be another casualty in a bad budget year. Seventy-four organizations wrote Mayor Daley and City Council members earlier this year urging them to restore funding for public health. Concerned Chicagoans are also calling on their aldermen to restore public health funding.

The moment of truth may come on Nov. 25, when the mayor is likely to introduce amendments to the introduced budget that could restore funding. Public health is an essential city service, just like police, fire and education, which should not be shortchanged when economic times are tough.

Johnathon E. Briggs, a former "Chicago Tribune" urban affairs reporter, is vice president of communications at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

John Peller is director of government relations at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

Dan Glickman: The Right Choice For USAID

2009-11-20T12:53:43Z

The selection of Dr. Rajiv Shah to lead the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is a tremendous choice and one that underscores the Obama Administration's commitment to the vital role development plays in foreign policy and to the rebuilding of USAID as the strong agency the country and world need it to be. I say this because I know Raj Shah, his leadership skills, his intellect, and his unbridled passion to help others.

Dr. Shah's work ethic, leadership by example and focus on doing what is in the best interest of others may mean that some do not know all that he has done. As someone who has not only seen Raj's work, but has also worked with him, I feel it is important to make his record of accomplishment common knowledge. It is safe to say that Raj has already worked to better the lives of millions of people. Many know Raj from his time at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he helped launch the Global Development program, and held numerous leadership roles in the financial, health, and agriculture sectors. What you may not know is that Raj has also led and worked on many of the international development initiatives that world looks to for best practices. These include the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and Malaria and The Alliance for a Green Revolution for Africa (AGRA)-an organization he helped create.

As co-chair, with Catherine Bertini, former head of the World Food Program, of the Chicago Council's Global Agricultural Development Leaders Group, I was, in essence, one of Raj's grantees working together to turn attention to the renewed need for U.S. leadership in long-term global agricultural development. Collaborating with the Gates Foundation, and Raj, on this project was a tremendous experience. It is not often that people understand the overarching policy issues of a subject, are acutely attune to the human impact of it, and also know the most granular details of it. Raj knows all three. He understands the policy debates around foreign assistance and development, but does also knows that to impact the lives of others you must know what they need and what they want-that we cannot drive development from thousands of miles away, but must do so on the ground in-country. And once in-country, he can point to a type of soil and tell you the seed that will maximize production.

As a former Secretary of Agriculture, I am well aware of the significance of USDA's research operations and leadership. When Raj became Undersecretary for Research, Education and Extension and Chief Scientist, his knowledge of the importance of the land grant system allowed him to engage the colleges in a meaningful way-a way that is cognizant of the needs of others and the power of extension to help others-both at home and abroad in a lasting and meaningful way.

The Obama Administration has already taken steps to show its commitment to doing development differently-and in a manner that empowers others and helps grow economies. The Food Security Initiative is perfect paradigm of this approach. It seeks to turn the tide on the trend of short-term aid and one-off project based work and create agriculture-led economic growth along the entire supply chain. I can think of no one better to help guide this effort than Raj. He believes that foreign assistance means empowering others to create sustainable development and working to maximize the impact of humanitarian aid. This is the kind of leader USAID needs.

America is working to rebuild its international image and has committed to dealing proactively with the problems associated with modernizing agricultural systems, creating sustainable global health networks, and fragile states. The crucial role and mission of USAID have been made clear by both President Obama and Secretary Clinton. The next Administrator will play a vital role in restoring in tackling some of the critical issues we face as a global society. Dr. Shah has the experience, the knowledge, the vision, the passion, and the drive to rebuild and strengthen international development programs. He is the best man to fulfill this Administration's vision for development around the world.

Sheryl Lee Ralph: World AIDS Day: Making Awareness Sexy

2009-11-20T08:31:00Z

After over twenty years of HIV/AIDS activism, I have been asked over and over why have I remained committed to speaking up and out about HIV/AIDS. Why? There are many reasons, each one of them connected to a lost friend, but here is the latest. For the past three years I have been turned down by just about every major TV talk show of A, B and C guests lists, in my effort to get people to remember and talk about World AIDS Day, Dec. 1st. Every year and every show: a NO! But the last straw for me was when a producer told my publicist last week, "Look, its [AIDS] just not sexy anymore." That brutally honest comment blew me away! Because after all these years I am shocked at how little we in America talk about "it" and how the silence surrounding "it" is killing us quicker than the disease!

"It is just not sexy?!" Well, here are some very unsexy facts. Swine flu has killed 1000 people to date and that's bad, HIV and AIDS killed more than 3,000,000 last year, and every year, it kills more than the year before. About 1 in every 300 Americans is HIV positive. 35,000 Americans are infected with HIV and don't know it because they haven't been tested. By the time they do get tested, HIV has already compromised their immune system and had become AIDS. AIDS and HIV infection takes 8,200 lives per day. 1,000,000 Americans are infected with HIV/AIDS. And I'm not finished! When the CDC can announce that one in four young women of all races and colors is already infected with some sort of sexual transmitted disease (STD)and we do nothing about it, something is very wrong here at home! As a mother, I am not about to bury America's children because of a disease that is 100% preventable.

I know HIV/AIDS is a difficult subject, I know it's not "sexy." I know it's hard to remember a time in America when people died in numbers too great to imagine and families turned their backs on loved ones dying of AIDS under an umbrella of silence, stigma and shame. It's hard to remember but I will never forget. As an original company member of Dreamgirls on Broadway, I stood witness as men, gay men up and down Broadway, just started dropping dead. It was frightening. They got sick and died. They were sick today and dead tomorrow. They got sick, some of them developed those strange purple marks and they died. There was no dying process like the one we have become accustomed to nowadays. They just got sick and they died.

People found it easy to disown and abandoned their sick and dying children. It has been over twenty-five years since the debut of Dreamgirls on Broadway and now as it opens at the Apollo just in time for World AIDS Day, every time the show is performed the Dreamgirls cast represents two of the fastest growing groups of people in America to become infected with HIV, young men and young women and that is not sexy!

HIV/AIDS awareness and education will take the involvement and assistance of people around the world, small nations and world powers, talk shows, newspapers, organizations, state and local governments, elementary, high school and college administrations, churches, mosques, synagogues and many others for us all to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. We must all encourage people to speak up, get informed, Get TESTED! Knowing your positive or negative status is to be armed with powerful information. Get the facts and talk to your children, age appropriately. You would be surprised the choices children will make if you talk to them openly and honestly. And of course, use condoms each and every time you have sex. Hey, this isn't a talk show but maybe after you read this you'll talk and make it sexy.

David Furnish: As HIV/AIDS Public Interest Wanes, Elton John AIDS Foundation Work Becomes More Urgent

2009-11-16T08:03:00Z

Two weeks ago, President Obama signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009. This crucial measure ensures that half a million Americans living with HIV will continue to receive the care they desperately need. But much work remains in the battle against AIDS in America.

We've made great strides in treating and preventing AIDS since Elton John founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) in 1992. New cases of HIV in the United States have declined dramatically, from 150,000 per year in the mid-1980s, to 56,000 per year in this decade. This is a direct result of effective intervention and preventative measures spearheaded and funded not only by the government, but also by countless nonprofit organizations across the nation, including EJAF.

Despite the progress of recent years, however, there have been several troubling developments. Revised statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control show the AIDS epidemic to be worse than previously thought. At the same time, fewer and fewer Americans identify AIDS as a public health priority. In fact, a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that only six percent of Americans believe AIDS is the most urgent health problem facing the nation, a decline from 17 percent just three years ago. Similarly, domestic HIV/AIDS prevention funding has plummeted by 20 percent since 2002.

It's safe to say that we are still dealing with the same problems, the same prejudices, and the same roadblocks that stymied efforts to engage the epidemic aggressively in the early 80s.

That's why the work of EJAF -- and the organizations we support -- continues to be so critical. Elton is proud that his foundation is today one of the largest AIDS grant-making organizations. Since its inception, EJAF has raised more than $150 million to support HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs in 55 countries around the globe. And despite the challenging economic climate, EJAF remains a steady source of support for HIV/AIDS programming, through both core partnerships and direct grants.

Over the years, our work in the United States has evolved to meet new and ever-changing challenges. But two priorities have remained the same.

First, we have never forgotten that the fight against AIDS is a cooperative effort. That's why we work with so many dedicated and determined organizations at both the national and local level -- including the National AIDS Fund, Kaiser Family Foundation, Ford Foundation, MAC AIDS Fund, and other grant-makers -- to support cutting-edge, community-centered work. We're proud of EJAF's track record of developing extremely productive partnerships.

Second, EJAF continues to focus our efforts on the underserved, the isolated, and the forgotten. For instance, AIDS is now one of the leading causes of death among young African American women, and rates of incidence are dramatically higher in the African American community and impoverished towns in the South. EJAF has prioritized grant making to organizations that serve these populations. And we continue to proudly support counseling, treatment, and prevention services for sex workers, the prison population, men who have sex with men, and those living in extreme poverty. These are the populations where AIDS has hit the hardest, where we have the most progress to make, and where we can really make a difference.

We must continue our efforts to fight the HIV virus. But we must also continue to fight the equally dangerous, infectious, and deadly epidemic of apathy. No one should be denied access to treatment, prevention, or medical care because of her or his socioeconomic status or lifestyle. So long as there are vast, underserved populations of HIV-positive Americans, EJAF will work with courageous organizations that provide lifesaving care to those in need.

Under the leadership of President Obama, the US government has demonstrated a renewed and serious commitment to addressing the root causes of the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic. Let's keep the progress going. EJAF is committed to doing its part; hopefully, Washington is, too.

Jim Luce: NBC's Brian Williams: Changing the World for the Better

2009-11-13T16:39:22Z

Several weeks ago Brian
Williams profiled the children of the Afghan Child Education and Care
Organization (AFCECO) and its founder Andeisha Farid in Kabul, Afghanistan for NBC Nightly News’ segment Making a Difference (video).

Brian is anchor and
managing editor of the NBC Nightly News
based in New York. Last week, his show, including
the segment Making a Difference, had
9.5 million viewers. The show spikes up
to 11 million viewers frequently.

I had interviewed the
orphanage’s founder Andeisha of Kabul in New York in September and have followed
her progress carefully. I knew immediately
that Brian’s focus would have an enormous impact on her good work.

As founder of Orphans International Worldwide, I am familiar
with running homes for children around the world – and the difficult task of
raising the fund necessary to do so.

What I did not grasp
about the piece on Making a Difference was
what an enormous difference it would
make – with so many contributions that flooded over the Internet to fund the
kids there from Brian’s generous viewers.
He thanked them the following week (video).

I wanted to speak with
Brian about how good that must make him feel – and how this sense of
responsibility must now shape his life – so I asked him to call me, and he did. Brian told me:

I was
really revved to do a piece on this orphanage in Afghanistan. I wanted it to be seen by as many people as
possible – and luckily it was. I was so
grateful – we raised much more for those children than we had thought possible.

I do
pieces on different topics. We were in
Kabul when there was a huge loss of life at the U.N. and I wanted to do a story
after that which was ‘nice and hopeful.’
We had one day to do this feature piece, and it all just came together.

Sitting
there in our rental house in Kabul, I realized I had a personal enough relationship
with our viewers – who I felt could be very generous – to ask them to help
these kids. And they did!

The
cultural differences and similarities in the orphanage were enormous. Little girls are little girls anywhere in the
world. Thank God I have parented two
children, so it was the most natural of moments.

Switching
glasses with them, seeing them draw stars and hearts… The children were so tactile, kind, loving,
affectionate, and gracious.

I saw a
picture of Paul Stevers there on the wall, the founder of CharityHelp International
in the U.S. that provides a bridge between child sponsors and the children
there.

The kids
had a politeness, and order, a discipline – not like in Annie, but an attitude of accepting real responsibility – the way I
was raised. It was so real.

On his blog, Brian had
posted the following after his viewers had been so generous:

I want to
say thank you -- and to express my ongoing appreciation at the amazing
generosity of our viewers. We did a
follow-up on the orphanage in Afghanistan.

I was only
home from work for a few hours when we learned they had already received 500
e-mails from Nightly News viewers -- many of them offering donations and
pledges to sponsor a child.

It is
immensely gratifying, and I’m beyond words in expressing my thanks and appreciation
on behalf of the lovely children we met over there.

Brian Williams received individualized cards
from each of the children in Kabul.

“Although some are
one-time gifts, our experience tells us that many of the child sponsors will
continue to give for the next few years so the benefits of Brian’s efforts are
very substantial and will enable AFCECO to care for many more children,” Paul
Stevers, founder of CharityHelp
International, told me.

CharityHelp
International is the Internet bridge that connects the children to child
sponsors around the world. Orphans
International Worldwide, the charity I founded, relies on CharityHelp to fund
our kids in Haiti, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.

“Security is an enormous
issue in Kabul,” Brian told me. “In
Kabul, importance is measured by the size of your gate and the number of guns
you have. I hope the orphanage there will
be able to spend more on security,” Brian added.

Clearly, the segment Making a Difference is making a
difference. From one night a week, the
segment now airs up to five times a week.

“It was my wife’s idea,
honestly,” Brian shared. “With the
economy sinking, she said, ‘Someone, somewhere is doing spectacular acts of
kindness – go capture them!’ And we
did,” Brian told me.

Making a Difference features mostly ordinary people, although it
has begun to also focus on celebrities using their visibility to also help
humanity.

Quintessential thought leaders
and global citizen Brian Williams on the streets of Kabul.

Brian replaced Tom
Brokaw, one of his mentors, in 2004. Previously,
Brian was the network’s chief White House correspondent and host of The News with Brian Williams on CNBC and
MSNBC.

After studying at
college, Brian took an internship with the administration of President Jimmy
Carter. He holds an honorary doctor of
humane letters degree from one of my favorite schools, Bates College, and an
honorary Doctor of Journalism degree from Ohio State University.

NBC Night News anchor Brian Williams
frequently reports from Afghanistan.

Brian is the most
honored network evening news anchor. He
has received four Edward R. Murrow awards, his fifth Emmy award, the
DuPont-Columbia University award and the industry's highest honor, the George
Foster Peabody award.

Most were given for his
work in New Orleans while covering Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and all
were awarded to Brian in only his second year on the job.

Brian Williams of NBC Nightly
News with Afghani children in Kabul.

Brian was the first and
only network evening news anchor to report from New Orleans before Hurricane
Katrina hit and was the only network news anchor to report from the Superdome
during the storm. He remained in New Orleans to report on the aftermath and
destruction of Hurricane Katrina.

In 2006, Brian joined
Bono, traveling to three countries in Africa — Nigeria, Mali, and Ghana — to
report on the major issues facing the continent, including HIV/AIDS, poverty,
disease, and crushing debt.

In 1994, Brian was named
NBC News Chief White House correspondent. Accompanying President Clinton aboard
Air Force One, Brian circled the world several times, covering virtually every
foreign and domestic trip by the President until 1996.

On perhaps one of the
most historic trips of the Clinton presidency, Brian was the only television
news correspondent to accompany three U.S. presidents — Clinton, Bush, and
Carter — to Yitzhak Rabin's funeral in Israel.

Brian is a member of the
Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and is also a member of the Board of
Directors of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. He has lectured at Columbia University School
of Journalism and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin,
Texas.

In 2007, Brian was
listed among Time Magazine’s 100 Most
Influential People in The World. He
lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife, Jane Stoddard Williams.

There is a reason “When
breaking news happens, America turns to NBC
Nightly News with Brian Williams."
America trusts Brian the way we once trusted Walter Cronkite.

“Walter Cronkite was the
architect for what this show has become,” Brian told me. “Walter’s level of professionalism is what I
strive for every day.”

“I have been luckier
than most two have had two North Stars to follow – Walter Cronkite and Tom
Brokaw,” Brian admitted.

Like Walter and Tom, Brian
is the quintessential thought leaders and global citizen – and has thousands of
fans on Facebook
from around the world to prove it.

Today Brian Williams has
an enormous power – and a parallel responsibility – to help humanity.

Luckily for all of us, he
knows this well – and is highly focused on doing all that he can in his
position to change our world for the better.

Priti Patel: Namibia Women Face Forced Sterilization

2009-11-12T20:36:56Z

Ten years ago, Susan* was admitted to a public hospital in Namibia for an emergency surgery. She was 20 years old and was unaware that she was pregnant. When she woke up from surgery, she was told by a nurse that they had "taken her womb because [she] had HIV." She has no children and now it is unlikely she ever will.

Susan's story is far from unique.

The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS in Namibia (ICW-Namibia) and the Windhoek-based Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) have documented the stories of dozens of HIV-positive women who were sterilized against their will in public hospitals. Fifteen of these women are suing the Namibian government. They argue that the medical personnel violated their right under the Namibian constitution to be free from discrimination and inhuman and degrading treatment; their right to dignity; and their right to found a family. The 15 cases have been consolidated and are expected to go to trial in early 2010.

Like Susan, none of these 15 women gave their informed consent prior to being sterilized.

In some cases, medical personnel obtained the women's consent under duress: these women were asked to sign consent forms while they were in labor or on their way to the operating room. In other cases, the women had to agree to be sterilized if they wanted other medical procedures such as an abortion or caesarean section. And in yet another type of coercion, medical staff included sterilization consent forms in a pile of "routine" forms women were told to sign prior to giving birth; no explanation was provided on the nature of the forms. Shockingly, some women did not realize they had been sterilized until several months later.

The impact on the women has been devastating. In a society that prizes motherhood, having that ability stripped from them makes it even harder for women to negotiate already treacherous personal relationships. Some of the women have lost their husbands or partners because of the sterilizations. Others have opted not to inform their partners for fear of retaliation.

Susan told us she has had many offers of marriage, but the men all leave after she tells them that she is unable to have children. At age 30, she fears she will never find a husband.

Unfortunately, coerced sterilization is but one of the many abuses that women living with HIV experience while trying to access reproductive and other medical services. HIV-positive women who become pregnant endure blatant discrimination and verbal abuse at health centers. In an interview by ICW, a Namibian doctor justified ill-treatment of HIV-positive women by claiming they were "dirty." Given the stigma and discrimination they face at health centers, many pregnant women will stay away from hospitals--putting themselves and their children at risk.

Up to now, even with the initiation of the 15 legal cases, the government has refused to categorically end the practice of coerced sterilization. Health officials refuse to investigate women's claims and have taken no action to enforce and promote policies to prohibit sterilization without informed consent.

As its first step, the government should provide justice to women who have been coercively sterilized. When possible, the sterilizations should be reversed. The government must take disciplinary action against any medical personnel involved in coerced and forced sterilizations to send a clear message that such abusive and discriminatory treatment will not be tolerated.

To put pressure on the government, the ICW, LAC, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) and several other local and regional organizations have launched a campaign to end forced sterilization in Namibia. The campaign also seeks to educate women diagnosed with HIV that, with proper treatment, they will be able to give birth to healthy children if they so choose.

Like many others, Susan will be closely following the outcome of the sterilization trials in Namibia. She hopes to one day find a doctor who can reverse her sterilization. Without the ability to have children, she feels she will never be whole again.

*Name has been changed to protect her privacy, and prevent further discrimination.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mark Nonkes

Alicia Keys Works With Keep A Child Alive, Featured on "Making A Difference"

2009-11-10T17:02:52Z

Alicia Keys was featured on "NBC Nightly News" tonight as part of their "Making A Difference" series. Though the series typically focuses on ordinary people doing extraordinary things, this week's segments feature celebrities and how they're giving back.

Lester Holt talked with Alicia Keys about her work with Keep A Child Alive, providing drugs and aid to people living with HIV/AIDS in Africa. Holt also traveled to South Africa with Keys to meet some of the children she's helped in an orphanage.

WATCH:

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AIDS Is The No. 1 Cause Of Death, Disease For Women 15-44, Says WHO

2009-11-09T16:13:13Z

GENEVA — In its first study of women's health around the globe, the World Health Organization said Monday that the AIDS virus is the leading cause of death and disease among women between the ages of 15 and 44.

Unsafe sex is the leading risk factor in developing countries for these women of childbearing age, with others including lack of access to contraceptives and iron deficiency, the WHO said. Throughout the world, one in five deaths among women in this age group is linked to unsafe sex, according to the U.N. agency.

NBC Nightly News "Making A Difference" Week Profiles Celebrity Causes

2009-11-09T13:02:49Z

All this week, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams will be featuring celebrities who "make a difference" in local communities and around the world. Featuring Jon Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys, Halle Berry, Tim McGraw and Glenn Close, the "Make A Difference" series will profile several organizations working for several causes, such as poverty, HIV/AIDS and mental illness.

Typically, the series features what the show considers "ordinary people doing extraordinary things." This week is special, in that a different segment in the "Make A Difference" series will be broadcast each night, featuring celebrities and their causes.

Monday's feature is Jon Bon Jovi and the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, which helps to move impoverished families into homes, primarily in Philadelphia and New Jersey.

Watch Brian Williams' interview with Jon Bon Jovi:

On Tuesday, Lester Holt visits with Alicia Keys in New York and pursues the positive effects of her work with Keep A Child Alive in South Africa, fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS.

On Wednesday, Glenn Close is interviewed on her work with Fountain House, a group that brings hope to people with mental illnesses. Close's sister, who has bipolar disorder, will be featured in the segment.

The Jenesse Center provides resources for victims of domestic violence, and Thursday's segment will detail Halle Berry's work raising money as part of their Year of Giving Campaign.

The series concludes on Friday with the Neighbor's Keeper Foundation, founded by country star Tim McGraw and his wife Faith Hill to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

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Alexander Vreeland: At Kawolo Hospital

2009-11-07T14:41:51Z

At Kawolo Hospital, in a suburb outside the capital of Uganda, I looked around a group of doctors, nurses, mothers and children and I found myself surrounded by people who understood my story.

Shortly after the birth of my daughter Victoria, she was diagnosed with pneumonia. The second time that she got severely sick, Sandra and I immediately took her to the emergency room at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City. After a preliminary examination the intern on duty told us that it looked like PCP, the AIDS pneumonia. He was right. Over the next days we discovered that Sandra, Victoria, and our older son Reed had HIV. My life changed dramatically on that fall day in 1988.

In Mukono Health Clinic #4, we sat in a cleared out maternity ward. The walls of the ward were pealing and the small windows were cracked. I shared my story with the small group that had assembled, and numerous people in the room offered us a window into their lives as well. They stood up, one after another, and in soft, broken English talked about their lives. I could relate to their stories: a tall, elegant woman in a green, tribal pattern outfit spoke about her fear of revealing her HIV status to her own family; a seventeen-year-old girl in a white and navy blue school uniform talked poignantly about choosing to change schools to avoid the social pressure and stigma that she was faced with once her classmates discovered her diagnosis; an inhibited, college-age man wearing glasses shared that he had been near death several times and that he struggled to be consistent taking his medication; a social worker talked to the group about trying to find the words to help a teenager discuss his HIV status with his girlfriend.

At the clinic I also heard the stories of those who were not able to readily express them: I saw a stunned mother, standing over her day-old twin daughters--they had just been told that they had HIV; I heard the story of a child who was caring for his mother as she was suffering from repeated cases of PCP and numerous opportunistic infections. They stood up one at a time. Most were able to speak in English, while others needed to be translated from their native tongue. Even though they were likely invited by the clinic's organizers to share with the group, I could tell from their expressions that they did not expect to be speaking to people who had actually lived very similar stories.

The stories and medical realities in these poor African Hospitals today are not so different from my first experiences in the Pediatric AIDS clinics at New York Hospital and Bellevue Hospital in the late '80s. At that time the only medicine available were capsules of AZT, and they were not yet available in children's dosages or in a child-friendly format. PCP was still a death warrant for most children. No one knew how long anyone with the virus was going to live, but we knew lists of people who were either about to pass away or had already left us.

My time in Uganda made me extremely proud of what the Foundation is doing. I can still remember attending a board meeting in the late '90s when it was announced that a research project, in part funded by the Foundation, had discovered that Nevirapine had been found to block the transmission of HIV from mother to child in about fifty percent of cases. The board embarked upon an entirely new facet of our mission. With funds from the Gates Foundation, we started to implement the treatment in the countries with the greatest need.

My concern at the time was that helping to block transmission during birth was only one small part of what we needed to do to combat the virus. It seemed inhuman to me to diagnose a mother's HIV status, help her have an HIV-free baby, and then walk away. She probably had a husband and other children who were living with HIV. They surely needed medicine, most probably counseling, and possibly even a little help to keep their kids in school.

Well today, the Foundation's program in Uganda is helping with all these issues and many more. They are confronting the complexities of this illness and bringing help to afflicted families, partly by giving families tools to help themselves.

In 1993, Alexander Vreeland founded Kids for Kids, an annual fund-raiser for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, which over the years has raised over twenty-two million dollars for HIV treatment and research. He first served on the Foundation's Advisory Board, and then joined the Board of Directors of the Foundation between 1998 and 2003. He currently lives in Paris, France with his wife, Lisa, and their seven-year-old daughter, Olivia.

Susan Skog: "Ponzied" and Poorer in Stuff, But Richer in What Really Matters

2009-11-05T20:49:35Z

Millions of us are actively engaging, volunteering, and serving as never before. And I find it amazing how often the lives we save include our own.

Helping other people reach for a brighter day helped me not just survive, but soar, after staggering Ponzi losses. Three years ago, my husband and I were reeling when we discovered that shifty investors had squandered much of our life savings. The losses were heartbreaking. Some of the money was earmarked to launch a long-time dream: a nonprofit to help people in the developing world. Some of it was a cushion to support our oldest son, who struggles with autism and mental illness.

I am beyond grateful for what happened after all this financial ruin hit. The opportunity to go to Uganda to gather the stories of once-starving, HIV-positive refugees suddenly opened up. Still reeling, I grabbed that chance to go to the slums of Kampala and meet inspiring, resilient women from the nonprofit BeadforLife, who are blazing big as they leave poverty behind with their gorgeous beaded jewelry made out of recycled paper. Oprah's featured them, as have other media outlets.

In 2006, I wrote an article about the beaders for a women's magazine that sparked fierce grassroots support from women across the U.S. The power of the purse in action. I couldn't wait to finally meet these African women and their children now going to school with full bellies, uniforms, books and ambitious dreams that somehow belie their harsh beginnings. I was anxious to listen to these grandmothers, mothers, and daughters, who'd somehow escaped rebels with machetes, near death from AIDS, starvation, and malaria, and blistering days crushing rocks to earn $1.

It turned out that trip was perfectly timed. These women were lit up big with their appreciation for friendships, healthy children, the blue sky, red earth, the simplest bowls of soup. They reminded me all over again of one powerful truth: I may be poorer in stuff, but am beyond rich in non-material blessings.

Over two weeks, I saw beaders celebrating the opening of their first savings accounts - and forgot that mine had been drained. In dancing to songs they'd written, like, "We Dance When We are Struggling," I saw I could transform my struggles into triumphs. I could turn my losses into greater empathy and compassion for people around the world who'd lost everything-- homes, health, children, and dreams to AIDS, wars, and poverty.

I could step into my own power and help others feel this electrified by making a difference.

Once home, I felt filled up, hugely grateful. I completed my book, The Give-Back Solution: Create a Better World with Your Time, Talents and Travel, which shines a light on dozens of leading change agents and hundreds of ways we can all make an impact at home or abroad. I supported engineers to get clean water and renewable energy to communities around the world. I rallied more support for BeadforLife.

And we stepped away from our large house. We halved our square footage, sold and donated rooms of furniture, and it became more clear that we may be materially poorer, but are rich in all the ways that count. "It's not where we live, but how we live" became our mantra.

I'm convinced that giving back is the absolute key to living our best lives. We're not here to stockpile stuff while others can't survive. We're here to grow our hearts and become rich in love and kindness and all the things that matter. That's a wealth that can sustain us.

President Abdoulaye Wade: Africa's Seat at the Table

2009-11-05T10:16:00Z

At the UN General Assembly in New York in late September, President
Barack Obama invited sub-Saharan leaders to a private lunch and
informal chat at the Waldorf-Astoria. Following on his Accra speech
this summer, the president asked African heads of state to share
responsibility on global issues. I am just beginning to get to know
the President, but his approach impressed me as indisputably sincere.

Africa's concerns today are interconnected with those of the West -- and
solutions must come from all continents and sectors. Battling global
warming, the economic crisis, food and energy shortages, and AIDS and
malaria requires co-partners, not post-colonial relationships. The
U.S. and Europe have no monopoly on brainpower, and African leaders
must wake up to a new reality: We are finally being listened to by the
industrial world. In a separate conversation on the same day that
African heads of state met with President Obama, World Bank president
Robert Zoellick informed me that the bank has "borrowed" a number of
Africa's sharpest minds for missions around the world. African
expertise and global expertise are beginning to merge.

When international debate on stimulating a global but sustainable
recovery shifted to the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh after the UN
General Assembly, the focus again was on boosting African
participation. At every international conference where the governance
of the planet is concerned, I continue to press five reform
recommendations:

Insist that rich countries respect existing commitments to reinforce
the message of shared responsibility and accountability.

In the 2005 Gleneagles G-8 summit, dubbed the "100% debt relief
summit," the G-8 committed to double aid to Africa and forgive the
debt, both neither commitment has been realized. Oxfam calculates
that these pledges alone could save some three million lives in
Africa. In the 2009 G-8 meeting in Italy, another $20 billion was
pledged for African agricultural development, but these funds too are
for the most part undelivered. Even funds promised to the World Bank
at the Rome meeting have been held up, hindering vital programs.

The Obama Administration now promises to lead by example and make good
on its $3.2 billion pledge to the fund. But the remainder of
international commitments should voluntarily and promptly be entrusted
to the World Bank. G-20 leaders should recommend the immediate
creation of a "payment follow-up committee" for unkept promises if the
message of shared responsibility and accountability is to be taken
seriously around the world.

Continue investing massively in infrastructure as a strategy for
development, security, and boosting self-sufficiency in Africa, while
moving away from unrestricted cash aid.

I've been preaching infrastructure investment for decades. The
Americans, the Europeans, and the Chinese now all agree. There will be
no end to poverty and the Millennium Development Goals will be
meaningless if nations do not reinforce their ability to efficiently
move people and products to market. Senegal's recent Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact for $540 million for building
roads and an irrigation network is a tremendous step in the right
direction, but the African continent needs a lot more: a
transcontinental rail network, intra-national highways, bridges,
improved modern ports ... Think of what the US would have become had
the private sector not invested in the railroads, waterways, and
interstate highway system. If we increase mobility commerce will
follow. Without commerce, economic growth and poverty relief cannot be
expected. But Africa is not just looking for the West to throw money
at its problems.

Think agriculture to stimulate employment and economic growth in the
developing world.

Africa doesn't suffer from unemployment like the US or Europe; we are
burdened by millions of "insufficiently-occupied people". Western jobs
may need to be saved or recovered; African employment has to be
invented. In Senegal, 70 percent of our population relies on
agriculture to survive. Our home-grown GOANA initiative, a global
offensive for promoting food self-sufficiency and security, has
already created thousands of new jobs for people who have never worked
before.

Our youth do not seek to become become "peasants", but they take to
their new identity as modern farmers. Young adults with a fertile
piece of land to cultivate, are much less tempted by the risk of
illegal immigration. In our southern region of Casamance,
newly-empowered women will be stimulating the local economy by
transforming fruit production into juice and dried fruit factories.
Agriculture, reinforced with equipment and infrastructure, paves the
way for economic growth. I never stop repeating: Don't send Africa
money -- give us seeds and tractors.

Reinforce existing international structures for development.

World Bank president Zoellick, whose commitment to Africa has been
exemplary, deserves greater support and creative input from African
leaders. Like most international institutions, the World Bank is
imperfect. But it's the best mechanism Africa has to work with today,
and African leaders can help improve it by intensifying efforts to get
the bank's interest-free loan program, the International Development
Association (IDA), back on its feet.

Invite the private sector to play a much greater role in the African
economic renaissance.

Africa is open for business. Opportunity abounds in almost all sectors
of the economy. Senegal invites both small and large companies, as
well as its resident diaspora, to come develop our infrastructure. We
cannot create trans-national infrastructure without direct foreign
investment. The revised Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA)
paves the way, and we invite Americans to come create joint ventures
with us in order to export African goods to the US market. American
legislators can utilize these opportunities, as trade advocate Rosa
Whitaker has suggested, with tax incentives for revenues generated in
Africa.

Those are just five ideas. More will follow now in this "new era of
engagement based on mutual interest" -- to borrow President Obama's
words. But already, the days of "throw Africa a crumb" are over.

Celeb Book "Dear Me" Sends Money To Elton John AIDS Foundation

2009-11-03T15:29:19Z

What would Emma Thompson, Desmond Tutu and Debbie Harry say to their 16-year-old selves if they had the chance? You can find out and help fund AIDS research with the new book Dear Me: A Letter To My Sixteen-Year-Old Self.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation will receive £1 (about $1.64) for every book purchased. The foundation suffered a loss recently when co-founder Robert Key passed away in mid-October. The foundation provides grants to promote innovative HIV programs.

Marcy Winograd: Before We Pass Health Insurance Reform, We Must Do More to Limit Big Pharma's Monopoly on Biologics

2009-11-02T16:30:00Z

Blogger and breast cancer survivor Jane Hamsher rightfully and righteously laments the 12-year monopoly protection on biologics -- miracle drugs made from living matter -- folded into the current health insurance reform bill. Conversely, Big Pharma must be clinking its Martini glasses, passing the Sherry, and luxuriating in guaranteed profits.

While it's clear, as Rep. Eshoo points out in her Huffington Post counter-blog, that the Eshoo amendment limits for the first time license protection for exorbitant cancer and HIV drugs, it's also true that a minimum12-year exclusivity that allows Roche-Genentech to charge cancer patients with breast or brain tumors $185,000 per year for Avastin or Abbot Labs to suddenly increase its prices five-fold for Norvir, a key ingredient in the AIDS-HIV cocktail, constitutes an excessive stranglehold on access to medicine desperately needed, not only here but worldwide where AIDS leaves a trail of tears throughout Africa.

CALPERS, California's 1.4 million employee pension plan, and AARP, the senior group, both opposed the 12-year protection as unsustainable.

Congressman Waxman (D-Santa Monica), Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee wanted a five-year protection; President Obama supported a seven-year compromise exclusivity on biologics.

"Many members are looking for so-called game changers that would bring more competition and lower costs" in the health-care sector, said Mr. Waxman. "But if we do what the drug companies want and add on long periods of monopoly protection...we will not only lose that opportunity, but guarantee higher drug prices for the foreseeable future."

Waxman lost. Eshoo won.

So did Big Pharma.

This despite the fact that The Federal Trade Commission concluded twelve years is too long. In an FTC June 10, 2009 report, "Follow-On Biologic Drug Competition," the commission supports a shorter patent period, lest pharmaceutical giants rest on their laurels, confident a generic cannot be introduced any time soon..

"The report states that the 12- to 14-year regulatory exclusivity period is too long to promote innovation by these firms, particularly since they likely will retain substantial market share after FOB (generics) entry."

How unfortunate that my opponent Jane Harman joined committee Republicans and other Democrats to side with Eshoo to override their committee chair when Waxman, the genius behind the 1984 generic drug bill that has saved taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, proudly introduced legislation to limit monopoly protection on biologics to five years, a more reasonable time period in which manufacturers can recoup their investment and turn a fat profit for shareholders.

In Time Magazine's (Nov. 2, 2009) "You don't know him (he's a lobbyist) but he may be the biggest winner in health-care reform. So who loses?" writers Karen Tumulty and Michael Scherer describe the fatal committee blow on July 31, 2009.

"Waxman's fellow California Democrat Anna Esho offered a last-minute amendment that Waxman opposed. Knowing he would lose, Waxman decided to save face with a quick voice vote. But Eshoo insisted on a roll call, which put every member on record. ..... It is understandable the drug makers would want a roll-call accounting of who their friends and enemies are, considering the size of the investment they are making on Capitol Hill: in the first six months of this year alone, drug and biotech companies and their trade associations spent more than 110 million -- that's about $609,000 a day -- to influence lawmakers, according to figures compiled by the non-partisan watchdog group Center for Responsive Politics."

Shortly after the committee vote to extend the patents 12 years, Air America broadcast commercials in Los Angeles thanking Jane Harman for her support of drug research. Friends called me to complain. Why is Air America airing these commercials? My question was -- Why is Big Pharma thanking Harman?

Now I know.

The real question on biologics, however, reflects deeper issues also mirrored in the single-payer debate. Just as single-payer advocates object to for-profit insurance companies whose first responsibility is a fiduciary one, to make money for shareholders, health care activists who challenge Big Pharma question whether for-profit corporations, often reliant on partnership money from the taxpayer-supported National Institute of Health, should be allowed to own the rights to life-saving medicine now out of reach to some 90-million Americans who are uninsured or under-insured, millions more whose insurance companies refuse to cover the costs, as well as much of the Third World living in poverty.

Selling medicine is not like selling cars or dish washers. If you can't buy a car, you can take a bus. If you can't buy a dishwasher, you can pick up a rag. If you can't buy Norvir, you can suffer with night sweats until you waste away.

No one should own the right to someone else's life.

In Congress, I will work to support affordable prices on biologics, so that cancer victims and those suffering with HIV, diabetes, Parkinsons, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis can afford the medicine they need to stay alive.

Marcy Winograd is challenging Blue Dog corporate Democrat Jane Harman in the June 8, 2010 Democratic Party primary. In 2006, when Winograd jumped into the race just three months before the primary, she mobilized almost 38% of the vote. To learn more about the campaign, visit Winograd4Congress.com or Marcy Winograd for Congress on Facebook.

HIV Travel Ban Lifted By President Obama

2009-10-30T12:40:20Z

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Friday the U.S. will overturn a 22-year-old travel and immigration ban against people with HIV early next year.

The order will be finalized on Monday, Obama said, completing a process begun during the Bush administration.

Susan Smith Ellis: One Step Closer to Universal AIDS Prevention and Care

2009-10-28T14:44:14Z

Here's some good news. A report issued this month by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and UNAIDS discussed the world's advance towards the goal of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services by 2010. Remarkable progress has been made, the report said.

There are now more than 4 million people on antiretroviral treatments; up from 3 million the previous year. Nearly half of all HIV positive pregnant women who need treatment to help prevent the transmission of HIV to their child during birth are now getting it. And, there are more people with access to testing and counseling for HIV than ever before. The greatest progress has been achieved in sub-Saharan Africa.

As the CEO of (RED), I'm extremely proud of the progress that has been made and the contributions made by our partners (through the sale of (RED)-branded products) to the Global Fund. To date, through the sale of those (RED)-branded products and some (RED)-sponsored special events, we have generated over $135 million for the Global Fund in less than three years.

But the story behind the numbers is much more profound. On recent trips to both Ghana and Rwanda, where (RED) grant money is at work, I was fortunate to be able to see firsthand the impact that access to lifesaving medicine has. I met with HIV positive mothers who were able to give birth to healthy babies because the medicine given to them during labor prevented the transmission of this deadly virus. I talked with doctors, nurses and other health care providers who spoke of the transformation of their own work. Where once they could offer little hope to someone with AIDS, now they can provide medicine that is transformative.

Credit for the tremendous progress that has been made goes to many, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, PEPFAR, health workers and NGOs on the ground in countries throughout the world and by African national governments struggling to keep their citizens alive with limited resources.

While we've made progress toward universal access to medication and treatment, there is still plenty of work to do. Nearly 5 million people who need ARV treatment can't access it; half of all HIV positive pregnant women still need access to treatment to help prevent their children from contracting HIV during birth; and the vast majority of people living with HIV are unaware of their infection status because the simply don't have access to HIV testing.

It can cost as little as 40 cents a day to provide ARV treatment to an individual in Africa and just $26 to provide the medicine to help prevent the transmission of HIV from a mother to her unborn child. These are small things that need to happen on a grand scale.

The UN report outlined a path forward that included expanding the availability of HIV testing, more widespread prevention efforts, ensuring timely access and greater adherence to treatment and improving access to these services for women and children. The more money that is made available to the people on the ground, the greater impact they can have. It's that simple.

As I said before, consumers have generated more than $135 million to support the Global Fund's efforts to provide universal access to AIDS prevention, treatment and care in Africa by purchasing (RED)-branded products. This demonstrates the collective power of small actions - of shoppers simply 'choosing (RED)', at no greater cost to them, and becoming part of something that truly saves lives.

The UN Development Goals set forth a challenge to reverse the spread of AIDS by 2015 and to provide universal access to treatment for those with HIV/AIDS by 2010. It's not going to be easy, but it's possible. And we're gaining on it.

Diane Tucker: Mr. and Ms. Gates Go To Washington, Host Roundtable On Global Health Funding

2009-10-27T15:31:36Z

"We're here to thank the U.S. taxpayers. Your investment in global health is working."

That's the "official" reason Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates are in Washington, D.C., today.

As spin goes, it's a nice line. But obviously the Gateses didn't go to all the trouble and expense of launching a multimedia experience that debuts tonight at 7 p.m. at Washington's uber-chic Harman Center For The Arts (with simultaneous Webcast) simply to thank lil' ol' taxpayin' me. (Couldn't they have just sent a card?)

The Gateses are visiting our nation's capital to reframe the conversation about global health aid. We should spend more time talking about what works, and how to measure it, they said. All too often, the gotcha-obsessed media focuses instead on what Melinda called "slippage."

We've been traveling in the developing world for over a decade. It's so different than it used to be. We're seeing a lot of hope on the ground. It's palatable. And yet so many reports focus on the negative -- people using malaria nets for fishing, or for a wedding dress. Of course you're going to get some slippage on the end. But what about the story that indoor residual spraying and malaria nets are saving lives...lots and lots of lives?

The Gateses met with about a dozen reporters this morning at the Monaco Hotel for a short roundtable discussion about global health funding. Currently, the U.S. budget is roughly $8 billion. The Obama Administration is looking at possibly increasing this aid, which means knowledge of what works is essential.

"Some things, like education funding, are tough to track because of all the management issues. Vaccinations are a lot easier to track, even in a place like Somalia," Bill told our roundtable group. He would like to see the U.S. budget increased, but has no particular number in mind.

Just think about the $8 billion very differently than you might. It's been wildly successful. It shows that if you make these investments early, it has a transformative effect. Hopefully, this will lead people to want to do more, even at a time when there are tough budget trade-offs.

Italy came up during the discussion because that country recently cut its AIDS budget dramatically without much outcry. "It's a terrible thing to have happen," said Bill. "And when a few governments go backwards, it makes it easier for other governments to do the same thing."

The Gateses argue that the further away you are from funding recipients, the less you may know about whether or not your money was well spent. Since the Gates Foundation team goes back and examines whether their programs worked or not, they are able to share this data.

At this morning's roundtable discussion, Melinda was visibly passionate about finding ways to spread the word about success stories. A few weeks ago, she began posting short videos on the Gates Foundation Web site.

But honestly, our talent isn't storytelling. Hopefully our talent is biotechnology, and creation of delivery systems for vaccinations and other life-saving tools. We hope to draw more filmmakers and storytellers into this work, to make sure the budgets for these programs aren't cut just because people don't have an understanding of the difference they can make.

No developing nation has become self-sufficient without first improving their health care delivery system. Often a little aid goes a long way -- for example, vaccinations save millions of lives each year. But according to Melinda, we've still made very little progress on the preventable deaths of newborns in underdeveloped countries. "Nearly four million infants die in that first 30 days. And a half-million mothers die in childbirth every year. We need more American investment in this area."

The world's poor are fortunate to have Melinda and Bill Gates as advocates. Whether or not you agree with the couple's priority list, the Gateses are serious about measuring and duplicating success. Now if only another billionaire philanthropist would come along and create a multimedia experience showing how health care reform could improve the lives of millions of Americans, and create a healthier climate for small business in the United States.

* * *

Melinda Gates speaking at the reporters' roundtable in Washington, D.C. on 10.27.09
(Photo: Diane Tucker)

Tiffany's Looks To Africa As Diamond Industry Shifts

2009-10-25T21:55:23Z

In a windowless factory in this African village, Tiffany is teaching more than 80 workers to transform raw diamonds into gems for Tiffany engagement rings. As novices recently pressed pea-size stones against whirling blades, a visiting Tiffany executive spied a problem.

Reproductive Justice: Listen Up Obama: The HIV/AIDS Virus Has Moved South

2009-10-24T15:30:10Z

If you have had your head above water, you likely have noticed that South Carolina has been in the news a lot lately. First there was our governor's Brazilian waxing-poetic, followed by a state partisan's hurling of insults at Mrs. Obama, and then there was of course The Outburst, by Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) which will live in infamy both locally and nationally.

No, the news has not been good for South Carolina. But, regrettably, things here may be even worse than you imagine.

South Carolina, like a number of states in the Southeastern region, is being devastated by a silent enemy that hasn't attracted a lot of media attention lately: HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers South Carolina one of the top-ten HIV "hot spots" in the nation. We have the 8th-highest AIDS rate in the U.S., yet apparently neither we nor our region have made it onto many policymakers' radar screens.

On Monday, Oct 26th representatives from the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) will be in our capital for a town hall meeting, and we are very grateful to them for coming to South Carolina. State health professionals, community-based organizations and HIV/AIDS advocates will have the opportunity not only to voice concerns, but also to make their recommendations about what the federal government can do to help states such as South Carolina -- those that are southern, primarily rural, economically depressed, and revenue-poor -- get on top of this public health problem. Many of us are hoping that members of South Carolina's own Congressional delegation will be tuned in, if not attending themselves.

Also, now is the critical time of year when a House-Senate conference committee will zero-in on the federal budget's Labor, Health & Human Services and Education appropriations for next fiscal year. A move is afoot within the House and Senate to resuscitate the failed Abstinence-Only Beast that sits like a troll in a very Grimm tale, waiting and willing to eat our young (or anyone else) to sustain itself. That any member of South Carolina's own Congressional delegation would vote to pour millions more of tax payers' dollars into abstinence-only-until-marriage programs -- rather than investing in HIV-prevention in South Carolina -- is unfathomable. It also would indicate a serious lack of understanding on the part of our Congressional representatives about the seriousness of HIV in our state.

HIV is no less than a public health crisis in South Carolina. We have few public or private resources to dedicate to preventing the spread of HIV. This is not the time for ambivalence in Washington, nor is it a time when we can allow ourselves to be victimized by Congressional compromises or back room deal-making -- and HIV-prevention should not be overshadowed by Congressional representatives' personal or ideological ties to the abstinence-only gluttons back home. Reinvesting in abstinence-only funding streams not only would divert needed funds from HIV-prevention at home, but also would cause further obstruction of medically accurate sexual health education in our schools and communities. South Carolinians have suffered too much from this already. In fact, some of the responsibility for the growth of our HIV epidemic could arguably be laid at the feet of those who have worked vigorously to censor public health information.

To House Majority Whip and Congressman James Clyburn (SC 6th), to Congressman John Spratt (SC 5th), and to U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham: You are our state's best hope. You have supported federal funding for treatment of South Carolinians, who are infected with HIV/AIDS, via Ryan White renewals, and all South Carolinians should be thankful to each of you for your support, which has been and will continue to be vital. However, only a small portion of federal funding to date has been dedicated to HIV prevention, and we must have more funding to put more boots-on-the-ground to prevent HIV here at home.

HIV-prevention work is inherently labor-intensive in the South. Southern, rural communities are hardest hit and hardest to reach. Also, we need more prevention-soldiers to fan out among historically black colleges and universities, to protect many of our "best and brightest" so that they do not become infected with HIV. (Almost one-third of new HIV cases in South Carolina are transmitted heterosexually.)

A major, federally funded, multi-year public health campaign is needed to educate people about how to prevent HIV infection. A federal mandate for comprehensive health education in our schools is needed, including mandatory education about sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. There are evaluated, evidence-based programs that tell us what to do; we simply need the funding to implement them with fidelity.

Last year, when House Majority Whip Clyburn announced the passage of H.R. 5501, the Tom Lantos and Henry Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008, he stated, "Helping to prevent the spread of infectious diseases around the world is a moral responsibility of the United States government and one which this New Direction Congress takes very seriously."

It is time for an equally ambitious and dedicated investment at home.

by Bonnie Adams Kapp, Executive Director of the New Morning Foundation
Originally published on rhrealitycheck.org

HIV/Aids in South Carolina from Stuart Productions on Vimeo.