Every hour around 300 people die of AIDS related illnesses, between 30 to 40 of them are children. Globally there are 34 million people living with HIV and AIDS. Despite significant progress being made sadly last year there were 2.2 million new infections and 1.7 million deaths caused by AIDS related illnesses. Two thirds of those people are living in Commonwealth countries, the majority are in Southern Africa, which of course includes Zambia.
Yesterday I was invited at an event at The Commonwealth Secretariat to commemorate and to listen to panel discussions and multi-sectoral consultations for World AIDS Day. Among the panel were speakers from UNAIDS, the Tropical School of Medicine, UNESCO and various members of the Secretariat. This was an invaluable exercise and collectively everyone is focused on reaching the Millennium Development Goal of Zero New Infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS related deaths, by 2015.
World AIDS Day: prevent the spread of HIV and protect vulnerable children
Education is the key for preventing the spread of HIV, particularly in developing countries such as Zambia. The Butterfly Tree funds a number of initiatives in remote villages. These include workshops to help overcome the stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV and AIDS, to encourage safe sex and to partake in voluntary testing. Knowing your status is paramount. Recently we provided funds for fifteen community based volunteers to attend training courses, in addition we have funded a workshop for defaulters, people who have been receiving treatment and then stopped after feeling well. These people cause a huge threat to the community. We continue to support mothers who are HIV positive, provide care for their infants and offer support to thousands of orphans effected by the pandemic, most especially children infected with HIV.
Members of the HIV and AIDS support group – Mukuni Village
Every child has a right to education and yet of greater importance every child should have access to basic healthcare. Health is fundamental and when you are working in one of the poorest countries on the planet adequate healthcare is not readily available. We are currently building a clinic at Mahalululu, where people walk 48 kilometres to get to Mukuni Health Centre. Our aim for 2013 is to provide further outreach health posts, to increase our funding for HIV and AIDS and to further promote peer education for HIV prevention within the schools. Zambia may not reach the Millennium Development Goal in 2015, but we are certainly doing our bit to help them.
From 10am on the 6th to the 8th December all donations to The Butterfly Tree can be doubled through the Big Give Christmas Challenge.
Buy a charity calendar for just £4 – contact jane@thebutterflytree.org.uk
Install Give as You Live to raise funds for HIV and AIDS Prevention while shopping on line, at no extra cost to you!
