December 1, 2005 Every minute of every day, one child dies, and four children lose a parent, because of AIDS-related illness. In that same minute, nine people become infected with the HIV virus which causes AIDS. In that same minute, four adults die from AIDS... 8,000 lives lost per day, in all. That's one fourth the number of people it takes to fill a typical sports stadium. Next time you're at a pro baseball or football game where the stadium's full, look around you at all those people... and imagine that that's how many die from AIDS every four days. While you're at it, pause to notice that you're among that staduim full of people... and contemplate the statistic that only one in ten -- a mere 10% -- of those who are currently walking around with the HIV virus in their systems even knows it because they've never been tested. HIV and AIDS is one of the biggest social, economic and health challenges in the world. As we near the end of 2005, it is sobering to note that nearly 5 million people acquired the HIV virus this year... bringing the world's total to over 40 million persons living with HIV and AIDS. Globally, fewer than one in five people (20%) who are at risk of becoming infected with HIV have access to basic prevention services. This does not bode well for at least three places on this planet... Though it only contains 10% of the world's population, 64% percent of all new AIDS infections globally, and 60% of the world's population of those living with AIDS, are in sub-Saharan Africa. It is feared that the number of people living with AIDS in China could reach 10 million by 2010 if the epidemic is left unchecked. The socioeconomic status, traditional social norms, cultural myths on sex and sexuality, large-scale migration, and a huge population of marginalized people make India extremely vulnerable to the AIDS epidemic; and many fear that it will be the site of AIDS biggest numbers yet.[/list=1]Even developed nations continue to struggle. In the US, where ignorance of HIV/AIDS among those too young to remember the funerial atmosphere in places like San Francisco's Castro District during the height of the outbreak in the 1980s, mindfulness of safer sex and the lifelong consequences of youthful sexual recklessness is forgotten... or just plain ignored. In the UK, though many fewer people are dying of AIDS, there are more incidences of HIV infection than ever before; and one-third of all people diagnosed with HIV in the UK have experienced extreme poverty as a direct result of their HIV status. And only yesterday, the European Uniion announced its plans to intensify its HIV prevention efforts in an attempt to get head of increasing rates of HIV infection. The common denominator in all HIV/AIDS statistics is the role of women and girls, who bear the brunt of the global AIDS epidemic worldwide. Of the 40 million people now living with AIDS globally, easily half of them -- a full 60% of those in sub-Saharan Africa -- are women and girls. Between 2002 and 2004, the number of women and girls infected with HIV increased in every region of the world. Rates have been rising particularly rapidly in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In a culture, here in the US, and in other developed nations where the highest attainable standard of health is routinely enjoyed, it is easy to forget -- or to be ignorant, altogether of -- the linkages between AIDS and women's rights to adequate housing, land, property, inheritance, and the highest attainable standard of health. Women's enjoyment of the human right to the highest standard of attainable health and the human right to adequate housing is a cornerstone of their personal security. In the context of the AIDS epidemic, women must be able to protect themselves from HIV infection, to maintain their health if living with HIV, and to deal with the consequences of HIV for themselves and their families. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are fundamental elements in the reduction of their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and in the reversal of the pandemic. Around the world, many women have limited access to knowledge and information on sexual and reproductive health, including sexually transmitted infections. The vulnerability of women and girls to HIV and AIDS is compounded by inadequate access to education and services necessary to ensure sexual and reproductive health; sexual violence; harmful traditional or customary practices... such as early and forced marriage, lack of access to legal resources and remedy, and inequality in areas such as marriage and land and property ownership and inheritance. Thus, the factors that increase women's vulnerability to infection are numerous. Among these, the inability to secure adequate housing and living conditions need to be recognized as significant. Women's economic vulnerability often translates as dependence on men for survival, and many women are forced into situations that increase vulnerability to sexual violence, or to engage in unsafe sex in exchange for money, housing or food. Alarming testimonies from women living with HIV illustrate the adverse impacts that discrimination and stigmatization have had on their enjoyment of the right to the highest attainable standard of health and an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing. Many report living with a constant fear of being forcibly evicted. Even where inheritance and property rights are in principle protected by legislation, widows are being evicted from their homes following their husbands' death from AIDS or an HIV-related illness. Reports and testimonies also reveal that customary traditions and practices linked to women's housing and property, and to their sexual and reproductive health, may contribute to the transmission of HIV. These include "wife inheritance" and "cleansing" practices in certain communities, where unprotected sex is seen to "cleanse" the wife of the dead husband's spirits, and is viewed as a prerequisite for a wife to keep her home or stay on her land. World AIDS Day is a day of solidarity for people living with HIV and suffering from AIDS, and a day for reaffirming the pledges and resolutions that have been made in the global fight against the epidemic. All necessary steps should be taken to ensure women's human rights and, to this end, review and remove discriminatory laws and practices that create obstacles to the realization of their rights. Addressing the underlying factors that increase vulnerability to infection requires attention to human rights. DegreeInfo regulars who have, by their mere presence here, demonstrated their belief in the power of learning to change lives should be interested to know that education can play a significant role in improving the plight of the world's women. In the recent World Health Organization's "WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women," higher education was generally associated with less violence against women. Protecting and promoting the human rights of all women, men and children... including the rights of people living with HIV to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health and to adequate housing demands vigilance each and every day of the year. Please spend some time on this one day of the year, on World AIDS Day, to: Learn the facts about HIV and AIDS More... Determine if you're HIV/AIDS prejudiced More... Learn about the undeniable connection between gender and HIV/AIDS More... Learn about, and support research into, anti-HIV microbicides, which could save 2.5 million lives by 2009 in Africa, alone More... Learn about educating young people about HIV and AIDS More... Support UNICEF's "Unite for Children/Unite Against AIDS" More... Support the work of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative More... Support the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS More... Alert friends, family, and others to the impact of HIV and AIDS... particularly on women and girls. Then... * Become a volunteer for your local HIV charity or group * Help HIV groups to raise money to support their work * Make a personal commitment to use condoms in your own life * Promote the use of condoms by others * Challenge discrimination against those living with HIV/AIDS * Remove financial barriers that keep girls out of school * Reduce violence against women... everywhere! * Help secure women's rights to own and inherit property * Provide equal access to treatment, care and prevention * Call on local leaders to become engaged in the fight against AIDS * Make a call, write a letter, or go to a meeting! * Don't stop! To learn more about HIV/AIDS, visit the World Health Organization web site.
I'm sorry but I believe you are perpetuating a political tragedy with this. In Africa, everything is called AIDS because AIDs brings money as the real killers like malaria do not. In the US AIDS/HIV is diagnosed only after multiple, diverse tests. In Africa AIDS is diagnosed just cuz. The political AIDS tragedy will proceed in killing mountains of people until and unless we get some Gareth Joneses to counteract the Walter Durantys.
