The Great Debate UK
from The Great Debate:
Pedro’s story still relevant today
- Bill Clinton is founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the 42nd President of the United States. The opinions expressed are his own - Fifteen years ago, when Pedro Zamora appeared on MTV's The Real World, he changed the face of HIV/AIDS in America.
For the first time, viewers saw an openly gay, HIV-positive young person on national television. As we followed his story each week, Pedro humanized the growing epidemic, reducing our ignorance and fears and increasing our determination to act. By living bravely and allowing MTV to show his story, Pedro set an extraordinary example of what a tremendous impact a single person can make in our world.
Pedro's story and his message remain powerful and relevant. Today, more than 1 million Americans are living with HIV, and 20 percent of them don't know they are infected. Infection rates are increasing among certain groups, including women of color. The HIV infection rate in Washington, D.C. - at 3 percent - is comparable to some African countries where AIDS is the number one cause of death.
It's critical for our nation to intensify the fight against HIV/AIDS here at home, starting with testing. Lack of information, misconceptions, and social stigma keep too many people from getting tested. Others mistakenly believe they have been tested as part of routine health care visits. Rapid result tests, including basic oral swabs, make it easy for anyone, anywhere in the country to be tested for HIV. Non-invasive testing is also available for other, more prevalent STDs, including chlamydia, gonorrhea.
Today marks the start of National STD Awareness Month. Several organizations on the frontlines of the HIV/AIDS and broader STD efforts are beginning a concentrated push to get as many people tested as possible this April. This is an opportunity especially for younger people who have never lived in a world without the threat of HIV/AIDS to confront these challenges head on. I urge all Americans, particularly those under age 25 who are sexually active, to get tested for STDs and make responsible decisions about their sexual health. Our actions now will shape the future of the AIDS epidemic and our country's health.
Abroad, we're fighting a different challenge: worldwide, there are 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Millions now have access to treatment, thanks to The Global Fund, the U.S. PEPFAR program, the Gates Foundation, UNITAID, and many others, including my foundation's HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI). More than 1.4 million people are now accessing more affordable, lifesaving antiretroviral treatment under CHAI's pricing agreements. But severe challenges remain in expanding access to everyone who needs it, in stopping mother-to-child transmission, and in preventing new infections.
This requires thinking big - building health systems that bring services to rural communities and increasing the number of frontline health care workers who can educate people on prevention, test those who need it, and supplying medicines for treatment. Without these basic, high-impact health services, too many people are dying and more are being infected than we can treat.
Toll of malaria high for African women
– Ray Chambers is a philanthropist and humanitarian who has directed most of his efforts towards children. In 2008, the U.N. Secretary-General appointed him as his first Special Envoy for Malaria. The views expressed are his own. –
Malaria infects one quarter of a billion people each year. Nearly one million of those afflicted die, taxing overburdened health infrastructures and decreasing productivity in Africa, where 90 percent of cases occur.
In some countries on the continent, 60 percent of all outpatient visits are malaria related, with one quarter of worker absenteeism due to the disease. Taking all lost time and productivity into consideration, malaria costs Africa more than $30 billion annually.
The mosquito carrying the deadly malaria parasite makes no distinction when choosing its victim. Young or old, male or female, everyone in endemic regions remains at risk; however, International Women’s Day on March 8th prompts us to examine independently the immense burden women shoulder as a result of malaria.
The disease strikes infants, children under five and pregnant women in astonishing disproportion, as these segments of the population account for 90 percent of malaria deaths. Given the dual role of women as both victim and primary protector of victims, malaria clearly belongs under the umbrella of traditional women’s health issues.
It deserves particular recognition as a priority in maternal health, which the World Health Organization defines as pregnancy, childbirth and the six-week postpartum period.
An estimated 1 million people die of malaria – over 2700 deaths per day, or 2 deaths per minute, in Sub-Saharan Africa. About 90% of all malaria deaths in the world today occur in Africa south of the Sahara. This is because the majority of infections in Africa are caused by Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of the four human malaria parasites. It is also because the most effective malaria vector – the mosquito Anopheles gambiae – is the most widespread in Africa and the most difficult to control. An estimated one million people in Africa die from malaria each year and most of these are children under 5 years old.
There are three principal ways in which malaria can contribute to death in young children:
1. An overwhelming acute infection, which frequently presents as seizures or coma (cerebral malaria), may kill a child directly and quickly
2. Repeated malaria infections contribute to the development of severe anaemia, which substantially increases the risk of death
3. Low birth weight – frequently the consequence of malaria infection in pregnant women – is the major risk factor for death in the first month of life
VPWA, a grassroot from Ghana dubbed by UN is currently organizing a malarial campaign in west Africa. Campaign KMO will start in Ghana with Volunteers from all over the world, including medical professionals, students, educators and various professions.
Please visit our website http://kmo2009.vpwa.org/
or you may contact us at:
Phone: 233243340112
Email: kmo2009@vpwa.org
Anonymous,
I’m not saying anything good about the Iranian gov’t, it’s not a good government. It’s just not as hellbent on murder as the US and Israeli governments are, both will happily blow up buildings full of women/children/civilians and then not let the press investigate then after a week or so say they killed one or two “terrorist gunmen” to justify the total slayings.
BHO is a neocon, he’s no different than Bush. He just sent a 17,000 person death squad into Afghanistan, where we no longer even have a mission. Republicans and Democrats are the exact same thing in office, they just spit different lies in their campaigns. Both passed big government bailouts, both have record setting spending budgets, neither cares about border security, both are big on nation building, both tax us through the roof, nobody’s repealing the patriot act, both big on dumping money down the drug war bottomless well, I can’t think of one major difference. Neocon is right on the money.
Plus, for your own good, stop making references to Obama’s middle name. Makes you look silly.