[Vision2020] 03-30-05 NY Times: When Marriage Kills

[Tom Hansen]

Melynda -

I am of the impression that the Bush administration initially (back when
George first assumed office in 2001) came out with a promise of major
financial support (I believe the number to be in the billions) of the
nations most infected with HIV and suffering the most from AIDS, yet the
vast majority of the promised support has yet to be realized.

Could you possibly provide me with verification, and possible additional
information.

Thanks,

Tom

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are
dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all
exist very nicely in the same box. 

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Melynda Huskey
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 2:26 PM
To: fiat_lx at yahoo.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] 03-30-05 NY Times: When Marriage Kills

"Fiat" ponders some important questions about HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan 
Africa.  I believe s/he is overly optimistic about the possibility of an 
"effective, collective recovery," though.

24.5 million people in Africa have HIV--that's 71% of all HIV cases in the 
world. Seven African countries--Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, 
Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe--have adult prevalence rates above 20%; in 
Zimbabwe, it is 32%--nearly a third of all adults are HIV-positive.  African

women are considerably more likely—at least 1.2 times—to be infected with 
HIV than men. Among young people aged 15-24, this ratio is highest: young 
women are 2.5 times more likely to be infected than young men. 13 million 
children across Africa have been orphaned by HIV, that number is expected to

rise to 15 million in the next three years.  It is the leading cause of 
death among all Africans.

The U.S. Senate has proposed $800 million in aid to Africa for HIV this 
year.  In comparison, we're spending $1.8 billion dollars on aid (not 
HIV-related, but all aid) to Egypt, $1.7 billion in Afghanistan, $570 
million in Columbia, and $560 million in Jordan.  The majority of our funds 
will be going to Ethiopia (infection rate:  4.4%), Uganda (infection rate: 
9%), and Kenya (infection rate: 22%).  We will not be spending money in the 
seven nations with the highest infection rates.  And a full 33% of money 
earmarked for prevention must be spent on abstinence campaigns.

The most effective long-term strategy for HIV-reduction, in my opinion, is 
to fund universal free education for children, particularly girls, 
throughout the developing world.  Economic empowerment, sexual 
self-determination, and access to human rights are directly related to 
education for women.

I am haunted by the knowledge that in Malawi, in Zambia, in Lesotho, at this

moment, a woman is weighing the risk of her own HIV infection and death 
against her children's hunger, and choosing to sacrifice herself for $4 to 
feed them.

Melynda Huskey
(Co-chair of the Palouse HIV Consortium)


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