In 2015, we know what it takes to prevent HIV infections and improve the lives of people living with HIV. We have witnessed the success of treatment and care through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and The Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria and their partners. According to UNAIDS:

– AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 43% since the peak in 2004
– 15.8 million people are accessing antiretroviral therapy
– 36.9 million people are globally are living with HIV
– New HIV infections have fallen by 35% since 2000

 

We are on the way to achieving an AIDS-free generation. But we’re not there yet

UNAIDS also reports that in 2014, 2 million people became newly infected with HIV and 1.2 million people died from AIDS-related causes.

UNICEF reports that the number of adolescent deaths from AIDS has tripled over the last 15 years, and that AIDS is the number one cause of death among adolescents in Africa and the second leading cause of death among adolescents globally. Adolescents are the only population group for which mortality figures are not decreasing.

Renewed efforts worldwide are focused on targeting resources to the hardest-hit and most vulnerable populations to not just maintain but to accelerate the momentum of this epic battle. Achieving the goal of an AIDS-free generation will take the united and unwavering commitment of each one of us.

On this World AIDS Day, Act Now to join the fight to end AIDS once and for all!

Just one week to go until Giving Tuesday, on Tuesday, December 1, 2015 join the Children’s AIDS Fund International and the worldwide community as we celebrate generosity.
Join CAFI and be a part of a new global tradition of generosity. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. It’s a simple idea and is a great and easy way to support HIV impacted children.
Visit the Children’s AIDS Fund International website at www.childrensaidsfund.org find the donate button in the right side of the screen and click select. It is that simple.
This is an effective and easy way to support CAFI’S ongoing programs to limit the suffering of HIV impacted children worldwide

You are always the focus of the Children’s AIDS Fund International’s (CAFI) gratitude. Your compassion for HIV impacted children and families. Your concern about and willingness to help people you will never meet. Your sacrifice to change lives for the better.
This message of gratitude and hope from the clients of the Family Hope Centre in Kampala, Uganda says it all:
Thank you for your efforts.

You are friends indeed with happiness
And joy we will live to tell.
We were sitting beside our graves
We had lost hope to live,
You came and stood by us,
You gave us courage to live,
We can smile, chat and dance
Because of efforts you made
We have testimonies to tell
Long live dear friends.

In this Thanksgiving season we join our friends in Uganda to Thank You for the difference you have made in thousands of children’s and families’ lives.
And we pray that in giving you have also been blessed.

On Tuesday, December 1, 2015 join the Children’s AIDS Fund International and the worldwide community for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.
It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Join CAFI and be a part of a new global tradition of generosity.

This is an effective and easy way to support CAFI’S ongoing programs

This is a great and easy way to support HIV impacted children.
Visit the Children’s AIDS Fund International website at www.childrensaidsfund.org find the donate button in the right side of the screen and click select. It is that simple.
This is an effective and easy way to support CAFI’S ongoing programs to limit the suffering of HIV impacted children worldwide.

Today 600 children around the world will be born with HIV/AIDS. That will happen again tomorrow and every day until we have both the resources and the will to end pediatric AIDS.

These children need our help!

Through the support from the US government and other international donors 1 million babies have been born HIV free. So we know it is possible to end new pediatric infections.

Now is the time to redouble our commitment and collective efforts to reach that goal.

Without medical interventions, the transmission rate of HIV from mother to child range from 15 to 45%. Effective diagnosis and treatment programs can reduce that rate to below 5%.

Please join the Children’s AIDS Fund International in supporting H. Res. 265, introduced by Congresswomen Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) to recognize the importance of continued US commitment to ending pediatric AIDS worldwide.

The resolution is intended to reaffirm the US commitment to ending mother-to-child HIV transmission and scaling up pediatric HIV treatment access; highlight the impact that HIV/AIDS has on maternal and child mortality; and solidify bi-partisan support for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and key programmatic priorities related to women, children and families.

H.Res. 265 already has some bi-partisan support, but more is needed.

You can take an important step today toward ending pediatric AIDS by calling your Representative in Congress and urging them to support this life-saving measure.

While most Americans believe that HIV/AIDS is no longer an issue in the United States, the data tell a different story.
Young adults face the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States. And HIV is an STD.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control:

–  Young adults aged 15 to 24 account for half of the 20 million new STDs that occur in the U.S. each year.

–  Compared to other groups, women aged 15 to 24 experience a disproportionate number of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections – many of which go undiagnosed. Left untreated, these infections can lead to serious consequences, including infertility. Every year more than 24,000 women in the US become infertile because of an STD many did not know they had.

  –  One in four new HIV infections are in people aged 13 to 24. Yet, only 22 percent of sexually experienced high school students have ever been tested for HIV.

These data alone should be a wake-up call for all of us who care about our nation’s youth.

There is a grave misconception that HIV has been eradicated from the US and most of the world

Yes, there have been amazing scientific strides in effective HIV treatment so people are living longer and those on treatment consistently are much less infectious. But that has not stopped HIV transmission, especially when such a high percentage of people who have HIV disease do not know it.
Take time to learn more about the risks America’s youth face regarding STDs, including HIV. Take time to talk with your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews—all the youth that are important in your life. One of the best gifts you can give them is a healthy future.

Source: AIDS.gov; November 5, 2015 blog Data Provide Insight to Improve Adolescents’ Health.