Apart
from enlisting the help of doctors and pioneers who travel to
teach, build hospitals and provide necessary care, Keep A Child
Alive, a New York based charity that aims to provide life-saving
medication to children affected by HIV/AIDS, the organization
also relies on the voices of celebrities such as Alicia Keys
who says her life was forever changed when she visited Africa
to do charity work. “I saw first hand that AIDS is the
worst health crisis in human history, and we need more people
on treatment. I feel strongly about this issue; feel it in my
heart, my soul and my music," says Alicia.
There
are nearly three million children living with HIV/AIDS today,
nearly all of them in poor countries in Africa and elsewhere.
Each year over 700,000 more children are infected with HIV.
Roughly half die before the age of two, and most of the rest
die before reaching school age. “I personally had no idea
of the magnitude of what was happening in Africa until I got
there,” says Alicia.
In the United States and other wealthy countries, antiretroviral
medicines (ARVs) have transformed AIDS from a virtual death
sentence to a chronic, manageable disease. But over 95 per cent
of all people with HIV/AIDS live in impoverished countries that
can’t afford these medicines. At least six million people
with HIV/AIDS in poor countries are in urgent need of treatment.
But only 400,000 are getting it — less than 7 per cent
of those in need. In sub-Saharan Africa, where the epidemic
has hit hardest, only 100,000 people have access to ARVs —
just 2 per cent of those in need.
And even fewer children are receiving treatment. This is the
gap that Keep A Child Alive is trying to fill — and it’s
a big one.
It’s also important to remember that most children with
AIDS eventually become orphans. Over 14 million children have
lost one or both parents to this disease. Keeping their parents
alive is one of the best things we can do for children with
AIDS. And, of course, treatment for pregnant women can prevent
more kids from becoming infected in the first place.
“I met with amazing people who are living with AIDS; they’re
living with it in their little communities, and they’re
smiling and they’re laughing and maybe they’re crying,
but they’re living with AIDS,” says Alicia. “I
met a young teenager who was about 17 years old, vibrant, living
with AIDS; I met mothers and their children who are both infected
with AIDS, dying; I met orphans who had nobody, who were all
alone pretty much because their parents had died of the virus,
and perhaps they had it as well.”
December 1st, which marks World AIDS Day, saw Alicia Keys perform
for a fundraiser for Keep A Child Alive last year. Since then,
she has been crucial to their campaign. After her performance,
she shared the stage with Stephen Lewis, the United Nations
Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, who was honoured for his
tireless work with women and children.
“I have forever been changed, and I am actually in the
process of planning a pilgrimage back to Africa two days after
Christmas,” says Alicia. “I’ll be going there
’till January 10th. This is going to be another part of
helping expose the issues to people who may not be familiar
with them. I’d like to show them how serious, deep and
devastating this issue is. And how it is possible to change
the course of AIDS history forever.”
To
learn more or to get involved, check out:
www.keepachildalive.org
Keep
A Child Alive currently has clinics in Mombasa, Kenya; Durban
and Soweto, South Africa; Kigali, Rwanda; and Kampala in Uganda.
www.wvi.org
World
Vision, an organization working to promote the well being of
all people — especially children, has made fighting AIDS
a Top 10 priority.
www.unicef.ca
Unicef Canada has tons of information if you want to get involved
through school, with
the aid of your parents and teachers.
www.stephenlewisfoundation.org
Stephen Lewis is the U.N. Secretary General's
Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa but his love and concern
for Africa started way back in the 1960s when he was a teacher.
He was also the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations in
the 1980s. Now he travels extensively across Africa to bring
attention to women and children ravaged by the pandemic of HIV/AIDS.
www.unaids.org
The Joint United Nations Programme
for HIV/AIDS brings attention to HIV/AIDS causes worldwide.
Produced
with the support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA).
