HIV and AIDS Target: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV and AIDS
Thirupathamma is 12 years old and lost both her parents to AIDS in 2005. Her sister Rehelu (6) and brother Rajesh (4) are HIV positive. They all live together with their uncle, aunt, grandmother and two cousins. Thirupathamma doesn’t go to school. Instead she sifts through garbage for recyclables, a practice known as “rag-picking”. All of the money she earns pays for her siblings’ medicine since the only other income-earner in the household is her uncle.
More than twenty-five years after the first cases of AIDS were reported over 65 million people worldwide have been infected, of whom 25 million have died. The global HIV and AIDS pandemic affects men, women and children in almost every country in the world.
Millennium Development Goal 6 sets a target to have halted and begun to reverse the spread of HIV and AIDS by 2015. However, this MDG is off track, with increasing numbers of people infected, and the global HIV and AIDS pandemic threatens the fulfilment of the other MDGs.
Millions of children are affected by HIV and AIDS: of the three million people who lost their lives to AIDS in 2006, 380,000 were children – this means that one child died from an AIDS-related illness every ninety seconds. In sub-Saharan Africa alone a staggering 12.3 million children have been orphaned as a result of AIDS - a figure roughly equivalent to the total number of children in the UK.
Much more needs to be done to address HIV and AIDS. The total amount spent worldwide on AIDS has increased over recent years but according to the UN estimated resource need for this year there is still a shortfall of $8 billion. By comparison, Europeans spend more than $11 billion on ice-cream each year, proving that the investments needed to provide universal access to comprehensive AIDS services are modest by the scale of wealth in rich countries.
Join with Christians across the UK in calling on the Government to take action now to help the current generation of children affected by the pandemic, which will also reduce the impact of AIDS on future generations.
Do the Micah Action below and send an email to the Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander, asking for a clear commitment of UK Government funding to protect and support children affected by AIDS.
Lord,
We lift up to You all those affected by HIV and AIDS. Thank you that You have engraved the names of each one on the palms of Your hands, that before You formed them in the womb, You knew them.
Please meet their practical needs: for nutritious food and clean water; for access to anti-retroviral drugs and other necessary healthcare; and for the love and support of family, friends, and neighbours.
And we pray for the millions of children infected or orphaned by the disease - heal their broken hearts and bind up their wounds. We pray that they would all know You as their loving Father, and know your comfort and peace.
Soften our hearts, Lord. Give us compassion for all those suffering under this pandemic. Show us what each one of us can do to help them, as individuals, as members of our Church and as a global community.
In Jesus' name, Amen
You can make a difference to those affected by HIV and AIDS.
Join with Christians across the UK in calling on the Government to take action now to help the current generation of children affected by the pandemic, which will also reduce the impact of AIDS on future generations.
Send an email now to the Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander asking for a clear commitment of UK Government funding to protect and support children affected by AIDS.
In sub-Saharan Africa alone, a staggering 12.3 million children have been orphaned as a result of AIDS, a figure roughly equivalent to the total number of children in the UK.
The total amount spent worldwide on AIDS has increased over recent years and reached an estimated US$10 billion in 2007, but compared to the UN estimated resource need for this year there is still a shortfall of $8 billion. By comparison, Europeans spend more than $11 billion on ice-cream each year.
The need is great, but it isn't beyond our reach. Remember these two statistics and commit to sharing them with someone you know
"It's easier to be ignorant and say I don't know about the problem. But once you know, once you've seen it in their eyes, then you have a responsibility to do something. There is strength in numbers, and if we all work together as a team, we can be unstoppable."– Craig Kielburger, founder of Free The Children, an organization to stop child slavery
Invite one person this month to join you in taking five to make a difference to those affected by HIV and AIDS.
