The ABCs of AIDS Prevention

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Sex ed posters
Posters in Africa promoting AIDS prevention through abstinence

While Bush’s AIDS initiative undoubtedly made great strides in the 12 African target countries, PEPFAR did not come without stipulations.

The foundation of PEPFAR’s prevention programs is ABC—Abstain, Be faithful, and use Condoms.  Of the 20% of PEPFAR funds allocated for prevention programs, one third of the money must be spent on abstinence until marriage programs.  However, some say that for every dollar that was spent on condom programs, two were spent on abstinence and faithfulness programs.  It is often thought that ABC was the order of importance assigned, with abstinence given the most funding and condoms the least.

Furthermore, organizations that receive PEPFAR funds are forced to sign documents saying that they will oppose sex workers and abortion.  While this ideal is ethically steadfast, this causes organizations to turn their backs on those who need the most outreach and support.  It is for this reason that Brazil refused funds marked with this clause.

The abstinence strategy has been widely criticized by those who say that PEPFAR is far too determined by ideology, rather than driven by strategies that are proven to produce the most success. Republican leaders promote abstinence,  having claimed that condom distribution endorses premarital sex. Yet a 2006 study by the World Health Organization found “little evidence of the effectiveness of abstinence-only programs in developing countries.”

One health expert has said, “The directives made in the United States look ridiculous to the world.  It was like, ‘There they go again—being generous on the one hand and then earmarking dictates on the other.’”

While no initiative will be perfect, it is important that future policymakers focus on what is the best for the people they are trying to help, rather than simply pushing their own ideologies and making PEPFAR less effective.

Click here for a slideshow showing AIDS prevention efforts.

A Cry for Help

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(Photo by WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe)
(Photo by WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe)

The United States met with European and Arab partners in London on January 27 to rally support for a drive to defeat the perceived growing al-Qaeda threat in Yemen.  The urgency for the meeting stemmed from the failed Christmas Day jetliner bombing by a Nigerian passenger allegedly trained by the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

According to BBC News, ministers and officials from some 20 Western and Arab countries gathered to discuss security and wider economic and political problems facing Yemen, the poorest state in the Arab world.

The London Summit involved representatives from the following:

-European Union

-United Nations

-World Bank

-International Monetary Fund

At the London Summit, Yemen supported the assistance from other countries with slight reservations.

Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said that his country wanted “international support to build infrastructure, combat poverty and create jobs, as well as support in combating terrorism.”

According to U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, the United States had signed a three-year agreement focused on addressing security and development issues in Yemen.

However, so much more must be done to change the current state of Yemen and the growing threat of terrorism.

Hope for Those in Need

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“For the Burundian people, the Global Fund means hope and salvation”

-Felix Ntungumburanye, Burundi

As a citizen of the United States, I sometimes forget how lucky I am to live in a country where I can receive proper medical care, and not spend my days worrying over whether or not I am going to contract a fatal disease such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis or malaria. There are millions of people who wake up everyday and sadly learn that they have lost a friend or family member to preventable diseases.

Fortunately, being that the United States is a world power and leader, we as citizens have the opportunity and ability to help countries that are less fortunate through the financing of programs to fight these devastating diseases. The Global Fund is the largest financer of programs to fight AIDS, TB, and malaria, giving $18.7 billion for programs in 140 countries. The Global Fund has many contributors, the main one being (Red) which has generated $140 million in support of the Global Fund.

Global Fund to date:

  • Reached 62 million people with HIV counseling and testing
  • Provided 3.2 million AIDS orphans with basic care and support
  • Averted more than 4.9 million deaths by providing AIDS treatment for 2.5 million people

Seeing these facts is astonishing, and now I understand why Felix Ntungumburanye says that the Global Fund means “hope and salvation” to him. Without philanthropy groups such as these, certain countries would be in even worse despair. Powerful countries such as the United States having been doing a great job at extending support and providing a sense of hope for those less fortunate.

children-the-global-fund

For more images view Global Fund Slideshow

sources: pictures: Maciej Dakowicz

article: (RED)

Singing "Hope for Haiti"

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What do you get when you mix major broadcast networks with major celebrities for an international Television event? One of the biggest showcases America has seen thus far, put on to help with the Haitian Earthquake relief effort. On Friday Jan 22nd, beginning at 8 pm ET, 11 American networks along with over 2o musical artists and many other celebrities joined together in a worldwide telethon entitled “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief”  to help raise money for the victims of the earthquake. The Event was hosted by Haitian-born entertainer Wyclef Jean in New York, along with George Clooney in Los Angeles, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper live from Haiti. The charity event included appeals for donations from many Hollywood A-listers and performances from major artists such as:

  • Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Shakira, and Sting in New York City
  • Alica Keys, Dave Matthews Band, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, and Taylor Swift in Los Angelos
  • Coldplay, Bono, Jay-Z, and Rhianna in London

It was quite the star studded event and the results of the telethon speak for itself. Through this international broadcast Hope for Haiti charities have reportedly raised over 58 million dollars and are still continuing to take donations. This amount sets the record for money raised by a disaster relief telethon. However, the broadcast was about much more than the performances and the money raised, it was about showing to world the great need of the Haitian people, and through the low key presentation (there was no audience present and no applause at the end of each song) this goal was achieved.  The focus of the night was not the music but  videos showing the destruction in Haiti and stories talking about how the Haitian people continue to grow and find hope through it all.  So while the concert definitely lived up to its title, bringing hope to the Haitian people, Americans watching the program took something away from it as well:  a sense of sheer admiration and sympathy for the Haitian people.

China Blocking Taiwan from Certain Competitive Sports

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In the spirit of the Olympics, I thought I would use this post as a chance to focus on the issue of China blocking Taiwanese athletes from competing in certain sports.  This is according to Foreign Policy and Taipei Times.  It is reported that “China was successful in banning Taiwan from participation in high profile sports such as cycling, wrestling and volleyball.”  It is also said that this has produced a greater interest in winter sports in Taiwan which citizens would have the opportunity to compete competitively in.

 

This is where Chih-Hung Ma comes in.  During the opening ceremonies of the Olympics last Friday night, he marched as the only competing athlete (competing in luge) under the Chinese Taipei flag.  Ironically, he walked between Switzerland and Tajikistan:  exactly where Taiwan would fit alphabetically.

 

From left to right: Taiwan Flag, Chinese Taipei Flag (created specifcally for when Taiwan competes in the Olympics), and the Olympic Flag.
From left to right: Taiwan Flag, Chinese Taipei Flag (created specifcally for when Taiwan competes in the Olympics), and the Olympic Flag.

 

While it’s wonderful that Taiwanese athletes can compete somewhat separately from China (as Chinese Taipei), it is unfortunate that they are forcibly isolated from participating in certain sports, as well as viewing them.  In an interview with Chih-Hung Ma, he spoke of his excitement that Taiwan citizens will be able to watch Olympics coverage this year:

 

“Taiwan has broadcast rights this time. [This will] let the audience in Taiwan see sports that are uncommon. . .and highlights that they don’t usually see. . . the Olympic broadcast is like public education: It could encourage more Taiwanese to participate [in winter sports], so that we won’t be absent from future Winter Olympics.”

 

According to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) page on the Olympics website, the IOC’s role is “to act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement.”  If the IOC is indeed allowing Taiwan to be banned from competing in certain Olympic sports, then they may need to be refreshed on their mission.

 

 

For related photos, click here.

 

Photo sources:

Yemen: The Common Thread

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Terrorism can strike when it is least expected.

On Christmas Day, there was a young man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab that attempted to detonate explosives that were hidden in his underwear on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.  Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian native, was allegedly trained by the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Although, this attempted terrorist attack has been the catalyst for change in Yemen, this is not the first terrorism link to Yemen.  Yemen has come under increased scrutiny from American counterterrorism agencies since November, after the following events emerged.

  • The Senate Foreign Relations Committee reported that as many as 36 American Muslims who converted to Islam in prison, have moved to Yemen and may have joined extremist groups there.
  • It emerged that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people at Ford Hood, Tex., had exchanged e-mail messages with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Yemeni-American cleric, in hiding in Yemen.
  • Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 24, opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle on a military recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas, killing one soldier and wounding another.  Recently, Mr. Muhammad wrote in a note to an Arkansas judge that he was a member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist group based in Yemen.

What is the common thread in every incident?  Yemen.

The Airports Strike Back

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While American airports have installed document checkers and created the Secure Flight program, other countries have taken different approaches in order to curb terrorism in the air. 

At a recent news conference in Spain, Secretary of the Dept. of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said, “What we do not want is a cookie cutter approach-where the same measures are in place everywhere-because then terrorists can plan and work around them.” 

 

Napolitano served as Governor of Arizona from 2003 - 2009 before being named Secretary of DHS by President Obama
Napolitano served as Governor of Arizona from 2003 - 2009 before being named Secretary of DHS by President Obama

 

Spain currently holds the rotating president of the EU and wants the entire union to make a unanimous decision about full-body scanners being installed in airport security checkpoints. 

Countries in the EU are also encouraged to begin sharing data with security services in other EU states.  Current policy only mandates that EU countries share information using the Passenger Name Record (PNR) system with airlines operating trans-Atlantic flights.  The European Commissioner for Justice, Jacques Barrot also mentioned the possible institution of European air marshals.

Britain is taking an alternative course in an attempt to reduce the risk of a terrorist attack. The country has made an effort to tighten security of its borders because of the “abuse of student visa rules by migrant jobseekers and potential terrorists.”

These new security measures were pushed by the US after the turmoil caused by the thwarted terrorist attack by Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab on Christmas Day. These new restrictions will affect those applying from outside the UN, but will target those from the “Indian subcontinent and countries in the Arab and Muslim world” because of the large numbers of “allegedly fake applicants” that originate from these areas.

 

Additional Photos

Colts and Saints on the Field, Haitians off the Field

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garcon2Both Pierre Garcon and Jonathan Vilma squared off in Super Bowl XLIV with football on their minds and Haiti in their hearts.  After the earthquake devastated Haiti, killing tens of thousands of people, these two professional athletes took on the responsibility to help with the relief efforts.

Pierre Garcon carried the flag of Haiti around the field after the Indianapolis Colts defeated the New York Jets in the AFC Championship game.  Although, the Colts lost to the Saints two weeks later in the Super Bowl, he was happy Vilma could serve Haiti as a Super Bowl champion.

vilma2Jonathan Vilma, starting linebacker for the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, decided to design a T-shirt to benefit Haiti.  The T-shirt design is impeccable in correlation with the circumstances.  The top of the shirt reads, “Department of Domeland Defense,” with the bottom stating, “Here We Come to Get You.”

The Superdome is home to the New Orleans Saints; however, it served as home to the people who lost everything because of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the use of the phrase, “Here we come to get you,” serves as truth both on the field and in Haiti.

Both Vilma and Garcon head a major movement towards relief for Haiti.  The entire sports nation is coming together to raise money.  ESPN, the largest sports network on television, constantly runs ads for Red Cross saying “Donate ten dollars by texting Haiti to 90999.”

Athletes are major inspirational figures in society, and Jonathan Vilma and Pierre Garcon show us that it’s not always about winning or losing, but uniting together in support for a bigger cause.

Photos courtesy of Todd Robinson, Bonza Graphics and Michael Conroy, Associate Press

Bush's Positive Legacy

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President Bush signing PEPFAR
President Bush signing PEPFAR

There are many who consider the most significant positive legacy of George W. Bush’s eight years as President of the US to be his implementation of PEPFAR: the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.  Developed in 2003, the initiative designated $15 billion dollars to be spent on AIDS relief efforts.  $9 billion of this was allocated to 15 focus countries that are most harshly affected by the disease, 12 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.  The goals of the effort were lofty:

  • Provide treatment to 2 million people with HIV infection
  • Prevent 7 million new HIV cases
  • Provide care to a further 10 million people affected by AIDS

Reporting directly to the Secretary of State, OGAC (the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator) managed the implementation and realization of the initial “2-7-10 by 2008” goal.

In November of 2008, President Bush announced that both the treatment and the care goals had been met.  Yet prevention of a disease is much harder to gauge because it is difficult to measure a non-event.  For example, the distribution of one condom could be counted as one case of AIDS prevented, when no foreign aid worker can truly know whether or not that condom was used.

PEPFAR has certainly done a lot of good on the African continent, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where AIDS relief is so needed.  Yet Bush’s program was not without stipulations, many of which clashed with traditional African social norms.  Many think that even though PEPFAR has done great things, more significant results could have been achieved.  In my next posts, I will go into more detail about how the PEPFAR funds were divided and allocated.

Disaster Strikes in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

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On Tuesday January 12th at 4:53 pm our neighboring country of Haiti experienced a catastrophic event that would change her forever. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit near the capital city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti leaving 230, 000 dead, 300,000 injured, and over a million homeless. Over 90% of the nations buildings were damaged or destroyed, including many government and public buildings, hospitals, and schools. Immediately when news broke of this disaster, American media began to cover the story in depth and as a result many Americans and American organizations have contributed a great deal to the relief effort. Some top contributors include:

Many celebrities and other prominent figures in US media have also contributed their time and efforts to Haiti relief.  President Barak Obama responded at once promising to use US funds and military to help with relief effort, and also employing former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton to hop on board by starting their own ClintonBushHaitiFund. At first most relief efforts were focused on rescuing Haitians still trapped in the debris, but when the Haitian government Continue reading “Disaster Strikes in Port-au-Prince, Haiti”