December 2nd, 2008 | by Coco McCabe
In a market in South Africa, a woman sells pins to commemorate those lost to AIDS. Photo by Emily Farr
Emily Farr, a humanitarian livelihoods specialist for Oxfam America, writes about the flood of memories that washed over her at the close of World AIDS Day.
By Emily Farr
Yesterday was December 1, 2008: World AIDS Day. This year I didn’t do much to mark the occasion, but I did wear a beaded red AIDS ribbon pinned to my shirt. I bought about a dozen of these pins a couple of weeks ago at a market in South Africa as a little memento for some colleagues, and had enough foresight to keep one for myself.
A few times during the day I’d glanced down, startled, having forgotten about my pin. It wasn’t until I began cooking dinner later that evening that I took the time to stop and reflect on why I wore that pin all day. Read the rest of this entry »
December 1st, 2008 | by Chris Hufstader
Children get lunch after school in Soweto, South Africa. Programs like this serving orphans and vulnerable children are essential, but must be matched with efforts to create laws and policies that will help reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS. Photo by Brett Eloff/Oxfam America.
World AIDS Day is today, and the usual analysis of how the world is coping with reducing the global epidemic of HIV and AIDS is enhanced by a story by Celia Dugger in the New York Times last week: A report by Harvard University estimates that 330,000 lives were lost in South Africa between 2000 and 2005 by the country’s failure to implement a timely distribution of anti-retroviral medication. The study, “Estimating the Lost Benefits of AntiretroviralDrug Use in South Africa,” also says 30,000 babies were born with HIV due to lack of access to proper medication for pregnant women. “there is no evidence yet of major changes in HIV-related behaviour.” Disturbing trends continue: Women are still disproportionately affected, legal reforms that would help protect the rights of women are slow in coming, and the ambitious National Strategic AIDS Plan finished in 2007 is sluggish in producing meaningful results.
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