Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover visits HIV/AIDS programs in Tanzania

January 23, 2010 in News, Partnerships | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Danny Glover, UNICEF Ambassador and famous actor, traveled to Tanzania in July 2009 to support HIV testing efforts, counseling for PMTCT (prevention of mother-to-child transmission) and the fight against stigma in the country. Mr. Glover’s brother is HIV positive, and Mr. Glover sees the need for youth support clinics, testing, and a reduction in stigma. He also supports PMTCT efforts and the ongoing support for pregnant women who are HIV positive, including the involvement of their husbands or boyfriends.

During his visit to Tanzania, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover talks with a mother who has brought a child to a clinic and is waiting to be attended by a nurse.

During his visit to Tanzania, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover talks with a mother who has brought a child to a clinic and is waiting to be attended by a nurse.

Mr. Glover met with youth from the Zanzibar Association of People Living with HIV and AIDS and talked with people from the Zanzibar Youth Education Development and Environment Support Association, who provide a range of support services. Mr. Glover said that HIV stigma is “one of the most damaging” factors at work in Tanzania. We feel that this is true across the world, and we couldn’t agree more.

Read the full article here.

UNICEF and HIV/AIDS

January 19, 2010 in Reflections | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

UNICEF’s “Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS” campaign has a good website to learn more about children at risk for and with HIV. It provides a link to the Children and AIDS: Fourth Stocktaking Report 2009 Summary, and lists out UNICEF’s 4 Ps. They are 1) preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, 2) providing pediatric treatment, 3) preventing infection among adolescents and young people, and 4) protecting and supporting children affected by HIV and AIDS.

Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS focuses on four areas that contribute towards the achievement of an AIDS- free generation. These Four Ps are based on global commitments made in the Millennium Development Goals and focus on the needs of children and their families.

Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS focuses on four areas that contribute towards the achievement of an AIDS- free generation. These Four Ps are based on global commitments made in the Millennium Development Goals and focus on the needs of children and their families.

Check it out if you’d like to learn more about what UNICEF is doing to fight HIV and protect children.

UNICEF and ZAPHA+ work to reduce stigma in Zanzibar

January 15, 2010 in Events, News, multimedia | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Though HIV prevalence is not as high in Zanzibar as in other areas of Tanzania, stigma there is rampant. This UNICEF article, quoting the 2007-2008 Tanzania HIV and Malaria Indicator Survey, indicates that “51 per cent of women and 41 per cent of men would keep it a secret that a family member is infected with the HIV virus.”

During a group exercise in the Young Journalists workshop in Unguja, Zanzibar, the participants discuss different scenarios of HIV stigmatization.

During a group exercise in the Young Journalists workshop in Unguja, Zanzibar, the participants discuss different scenarios of HIV stigmatization.

UNICEF and ZAPHA+ (Zanzibar Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS) work to combat this stigma and encourage people to get tested. ZAPHA+ provides workshops and counseling for young people living with HIV to help reduce stigma in their communities and help them cope with emotional and health issues. Children living with HIV are empowered to tell their own stories and build strategies to change attitudes.

The model of storytelling was effective this week during a 7-day Young Journalists Workshop at the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) Children’s Panorama, where 24 children who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS had an opportunity to share their experiences and wrote a newsletter that was sent to other schoolchildren in Unguja and Pemba.

Club Raises Awareness for Disaffected Children in Tanzania

January 12, 2010 in News, Partnerships, William and Mary | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This article, published in the Arizona Daily Wildcat (the newspaper for the University of Arizona), discusses an international service trip similar to AIDSTanzania at William and Mary. It’s called Support for International Change, and it sends groups of students to Tanzania to promote HIV testing and awareness in northern Tanzania.

As one group member described, the trips are like a study abroad experience, except you’re volunteering as a member of the community and getting involved with helping others, as opposed to just looking. That sums it up quite well. Keep up the good work, Support for International Change!

Cause Celeb: Nigel Barker on HIV Prevention in Tanzania

January 10, 2010 in multimedia | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nigel Barker, best known for his appearances on America’s Next Top Model, has directed Generation Free, a documentary about fighting mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Tanzania. The video was available on TVGuide.com but isn’t any longer – if you know where you can view it on the web, please let us know. As sometimes happens with “cause celeb,” celebrities try hard but fail to capture the real facts or over-romanticize efforts. It sounds like this documentary tells the straight and hopeful truth about a real problem with (the key part) a real solution. Hopefully it will inspire others to work toward stopping it so that a generation of children can “live free.” Full article here.

Nigel Barker's Generation Free: AIDS Prevention in Africa

Nigel Barker's Generation Free: AIDS Prevention in Africa

The AIDS Message

December 19, 2009 in Events, Reflections, multimedia | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

“3,000 posters from around the world, that all try to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS, have been digitized by staff at The Wellcome Library in central London.” Watch the interesting and inspiring video here.

World AIDS Day Poster

BBC News, World AIDS Day Poster

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009

December 17, 2009 in News | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Nothing is as stark, punitive and redolent of hate as the Bill in Uganda,” Stephen Lewis, former UN envoy on AIDS in Africa, addressing the Commonwealth People’s Forum.

The part that is perhaps most disturbing is Clause 2, which states that a person who is convicted of gay sex is liable to life imprisonment, but if that person is also HIV positive, the penalty is death. Whatever your thoughts on homosexuality are, this Bill attempts to deny HIV-positive people their right to live, and that is a blatant violation of basic human rights.

Read the Times Online article or the Bill itself. The Bill is going through Parliament currently, so if you have a petition that readers can sign to oppose the bill or any news about what has happened, please comment on this blog post.

Association Shown Between Climate, Conflict in Africa

December 15, 2009 in News, research | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A unique piece of research: U.S. Researchers are suggesting that conflict in Africa was 50% more likely in warm years, supporting prior research that showed a link between conflict and rainfall. Crop yields are extremely sensitive to shifts in temperature, even if only 1/2 a degree, and food shortages may increase the likelihood of civil strife. Databases of temperature across sub-Saharan Africa were correlated with civil conflict where over 1,000 people died.

“Our findings provide strong impetus to ramp up investments in African adaptation to climate change by such steps as developing crop varieties less sensitive to extreme heat and promoting insurance plans to help protect farmers from adverse effects of the hotter climate,” said Dr. Burke from the University of California at Berkeley.

Read the full article here.

Anti-Retroviral Drugs Cut HIV Death Toll

December 13, 2009 in News | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BBC News reports that “The World Health Organization and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) say an estimated 33.4 million people worldwide are infected with HIV,” which is up from 2007’s 33 million HIV infections due to the use of HIV drugs, which are helping people with HIV live longer, fuller lives.

Since 1996, when effective ARVs became available, an estimated 2.9 million lives have been saved, new HIV infections have been reduced by 17% over the past eight years,and mother-to-child infections have been reduced due to access to preventative drugs.

The quote from the Director general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan speaks adamantly and hopefully, “We cannot let this momentum wane. Now is the time to redouble our efforts, and save many more lives.”

However, the figures from Sub-Saharan Africa remain the worst in the world:

  • Total Infections in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2008: 22.4 million
  • New Infections in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2008: 1.9 million
  • AIDS Deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2008: 1.4 million

Assistance for Tanzania to Achieve Millenium Development Goals

December 11, 2009 in News | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission (EC) gave 14 ambulances, 5 pick-up trucks, 5 motorcycles, communication equipment, blood bank and basic delivery equipment worth $985K  (Sh1.3 billion) to Tanzania. The facilities will help Tanzania achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) number 4 and 5, which aim to reduce under age five mortality by 2/3 and maternal mortality by 3/4 by the year 2015 from the levels of 1999.