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When we think of HIV/AIDS we think of Africa. We think of Africa as a dark, despairing, continent full of war, disease, poverty and of hopelessness. However, HIV/AIDS is not simply an African problem, it is a problem all over the world. HIV/AIDS is the most effective epidemic in the history of the world. Dignitas is a new organization that we started two years ago. We started working in Malawi, and we started with a view to take on the HIV epidemic in a new and innovative way. The innovation is very basic. We believe in the dignity of every single human being. We believe that every single human being has a right to exist. We believe that dignity is rooted in the experience of the sameness of self in the other. To see yourself in another, requires compassion. To see another in yourself requires wisdom. To see the interdependence of self and other, requires humility. And it requires, fundamentally, a respect for each and every human being. These are the basic values of Dignitas. We started in Africa because that is where the AIDS epidemic today is worst, and that’s where the impact of the epidemic is most profoundly and visibly felt. We believe that we have a revolutionary idea. It’s a very simple idea, it is called community based care. Sustainable community-based approaches bring essential medical care to the community level, helping to address the single greatest obstacle preventing millions of people from gaining access to effective treatment and prevention; Dr. James Orbinski the severe shortage of healthcare workers in areas overwhelmed by AIDS. What we are doing in Malawi is training hundreds of nurses, clinical officers, and community based volunteers to work in an integrated, systematic fashion to contain and control the HIV epidemic. In Malawi 20% of the population is HIV positive, and 500,000 children are orphaned due to AIDS. In 5 years, at a minimum, that number will be 1 million orphans. There are only 100 doctors in a country of 12 million. There are more Malawian doctors working in Manchester UK than in all of Malawi. In Canada, U.S., UK, Australia and New Zealand between 24-28% of our healthcare personnel come from the developing world. We call this phenomenon brain drain, others call it poaching of medical resources. “We believe that dignity is rooted in the experience of the sameness of self in the other.” The bottom line is to deal with the reality in Malawi today, we need an innovative approach. Our community based care program is a prototype. We have been working in the Zomba district for the last 24 months and we are growing at an exponential rate. In January 2006, fewer than 700 people living with HIV/AIDS had been started on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.
One year later:
We’re at the point now where we can grow exponentially in terms of our ability to work within this community based care model. We have chosen 3 three countries, Malawi, India, and Cambodia where we are going to design, test and implement this community based care model so we can figure out what works, what doesn’t work, what’s generalizable and what’s not generalizable. A major component of our program is research. In the last year we’ve built research partnerships with the University of Toronto, Harvard University Partners in Help, BC Center For Excellence in AIDS Studies, the University of Malawi, and many other individual researchers. Our next goal is to take the new knowledge that we create around community based care and disseminate that widely so that others can take up the approach. Our successes over the last two years are enormous and profound. The Malawi government recognizes Dignitas as one of the two best organizations in the country in terms of its ability to care for people living with HIV.
HIV/AIDS STATISTICS 2007
(Provided by UNAIDS)
Women: In sub-Saharan Africa, almost 61% of adults living with HIV in 2007 were women. Once a family member becomes ill, women overwhelmingly carry the burden of care, further increasing their vulnerability to the disease. Children: HIV/AIDS has led to over 15 million orphans worldwide. By 2010, this number will soar to over 25 million. Orphans are deprived of love, shelter, food, health and education. Poverty and Famine: HIV/AIDS-related illness and death destroy the economic viability of families and communities. In two-thirds of Zambian families where the father died, monthly disposable income fell by more than 80%. In 2002, famine was officially linked to HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa. Development: Workforce attrition due to HIV/AIDS is destroying the human capital that is the foundation of public and private sectors. In less than one generation, decades of development have been reversed. International Security: HIV/ AIDS threatens international peace, security and economic stability. Rising numbers of orphans without opportunity and rapid spread of HIV throughout the military represent significant destabilizing forces within. Global Statistics: People living with HIV: 33.2 million While the global prevalence of HIV infection - the percentage of people infected with HIV - has leveled off, the total number of people living with HIV is increasing because of ongoing acquisition of HIV infection, combined with longer survival times, in a continuously growing general population. The number of people dying from AIDS-related illnesses has declined in the last two years, due in part to the life prolonging effects of antiretroviral therapy. AIDS is among the leading causes of death globally and remains the primary cause of death in Africa. “Unquestionably, we are beginning to see a return on investment - new HIV infections and mortality are declining and the prevalence of HIV levelling,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Dr. Peter Piot. “But with more than 6,800 new infections and over 5,700 deaths each day due to AIDS we must expand our efforts in order to significantly reduce the impact of AIDS worldwide.” |
