World AIDS Day

Today, December 1st, is World AIDS Day!

"The World AIDS Campaign is a global coalition of national, regional and international civil society groups united by the call for governments to honour their AIDS commitments under the slogan 'Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.' The campaign is governed by a steering committee of global constituency-based networks and supported by a team of support staff based primarily in Cape Town, South Africa and partially in Amsterdam, The Netherlands." The Campaign's website can be found here: http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/

In honor of this day and the World AIDS Campaign, I will post some quick facts about HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

• In 2008, an estimated 5.2 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa, more than any other country in the world.
  
• 1 in 3 women aged 25-29 are living with HIV.
• Over a quarter of men aged 30-34 are living with HIV.
• In South Africa, HIV is mostly transmitted by heterosexual couples.
• Mother-to-child transmission is also extremely common in South Africa.
• The overall number of annual deaths in South Africa has increased sharply. In 1997, 316,559 people died and in 2006, this number rose to 607,184 people. This jump in the mortality rate does not solely rest on HIV/AIDS, but young adults--the age group most affected by AIDS--are shouldering the burden of this epidemic (in 1997, 29% of deaths were attributed to 25-49 year olds with AIDS and in 2006, this rate rose to 41%).
• There are 1.4 million AIDS orphans in South Africa, which is half of the country's orphans.
• In 2007, there were 46 deaths per 1000 babies born in South Africa. HIV/AIDS is a main contributor to the infant mortality rate because there is poor mother-to-child prevention in South Africa.
• In 2007, only a quarter of adults took an HIV test and only 7% of those adults had taken a previous HIV test in the past 12 months.
• Although South Africa has the largest antiretroviral therapy program in the world, access to treatment is low because South Africa also has the world's largest HIV/AIDS epidemic.
• The leading cause of death in South Africa is TB. The only way to successfully combat TB is to fight against HIV/AIDS--people living with HIV/AIDS are more susceptible to TB.

To learn more about HIV/AIDS in South Africa, visit http://www.avert.org/aidssouthafrica.htm

Part of the reason that HIV/AIDS has taken over South Africa is due to a lack of government support. But today, current South African President Jacob Zuma announced that drug therapy for pregnant women who are HIV positive will be broadened and will also begin earlier. Zuma's announcement is extremely exciting because the South African government has delayed AIDS treatment and education. Several political leaders have been involved in HIV/AIDS scandals, including Zuma himself. Just three years ago, Zuma admitted, while on trial for rape, that he knowingly had had sex with a woman infected with H.I.V. without using a condom, saying he showered afterward to minimize his risk of infection. Zuma's personal record illustrates the impact of the epidemic in South Africa because HIV/AIDS is even affecting the nation's leaders. His example also demonstrates the dire need to increase education and drug therapy among all age groups in South Africa. To learn more about Zuma's announcement, please see the following New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/world/africa/02safrica.html


Also, South Africa has it's own version of Sesame Street and one character is Kami, a young muppet who is HIV positive. Former president Bill Clinton joined Kami to make a public service announcement about HIV/AIDS which can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eXlNn-C8BY