Kenya

            HIV in Kenya first began to spread through its sex workers (mainly in Nairobi). Presently, women are disproportionately affected with prevalence rates nearly twice that of males. Kenya was accused of not initially responding as aggressively to the HIV problem as its neighbor country, Uganda. However, since 2000 Kenya has made significant strides in prevention and care. Prevalence has decreased from its peak rate of 13.4% in 2000 to 6.9% as of 2006. Around 20,000 children are reported as HIV+ each year in Kenya which is decreased from the rate in 2000 at around 40,000. However, according to the Kenyan newspaper Business Daily, these figures are not accurate and many more children are infected but not reported (http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/-/539444/1176552/-/122i2bbz/-/). This lack of information has hindered the ability to implement effective pediatric programs according to the article. Additionally, Kenya has a very low number of pediatricians that are mostly concentrated in urban areas which poses major problems for children living in rural areas to get treatment.

On a related note: the UN is currently holding a High Level Meeting on AIDS and First Ladies from around the world have put forth pediatric AIDS and gender inequality as top priorities. I will be following the UN meeting and writing more on the issues that are presented and focused on. If you would like to read more on it as well you can go to www.unaids.org.   

Prepping for Africa

In preparation for my study abroad this upcoming fall to Ghana I, unfortunately, had to get six shots and order anti-malarial pills on Wednesday. But the shots didn’t phase me nor did the daunting task of taking those malaria pills every single day the whole time I’m in Africa. What truly affected me during the nearly-two-hour session was the way in which Ghana was perceived by the nurse. I know she certainly didn’t mean any harm by it but I also got the feeling that she had never been to Africa. As she was giving me precautionary advice she kept referring to the Ghanaians as “them” and was telling me not to trust their police or hospitals or water or anything for that matter. I was informed that I absolutely should not get tap water in my mouth nor should I eat anything that has not been cooked. I should not use their hospitals unless absolutely necessary since their doctors are not up to par with American standards. I should remember that their police are not to be trusted and have no interest in helping foreigners. And as she kept listing what I should and should not do all I could think was “Do you expect me to stay holed up in my dorm room the entire time?” There’s no need to fear going to a country in Africa (or any country for that matter). Yet, this is what she seemed to want—she wanted me to fear all the diseases and parasites and dirty food and unsanitary water that I would be exposed to. She had this strange perception of Africa as this dangerous and dirty place and it really bothered me. I’d love to hear from people who have been to Africa—have you experienced this perception from others?

A Cure?

This week marks the 30 year anniversary of the discovery of AIDS. There still has been no cure but an article on Reuters does provide some hope.  A man in Berlin was, in fact, “cured” of AIDS. There is a genetic mutation that is well-known to be resistant to the virus. The CCR5 delta 32 mutation has been found in a (very) small proportion of people. Timothy Ray Brown was both HIV positive and sick with leukemia. He needed a bone marrow transplant and his doctor suggested a transplant from someone with the genetic mutation. Miraculously it worked and Brown survived and has since not had any signs of the virus replicating and his doctor does not believe he will have any problems with HIV ever again. Obviously a very risky procedure such as this could not be implemented on all HIV+ patients and, in fact, this could be the only success story of its kind.

This story does brings hope that a cure could be found in the near future but it has also sparked a debate, or, rather, reignited the debate over whether money and attention should be focused on prevention or finding a cure. Some believe that research for a cure would detract from the immediate need for stemming the transmission of HIV. It’s an interesting debate and I still don’t know where I truly stand on it. What is your view? Feel free to share your thoughts on this subject or on anything else!

Here’s the link for the article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/01/us-aids-idUSTRE75030I20110601

Uganda

I’d like to take a little time to introduce the four separate countries that AFCA works in and hopefully make it clear why those countries need this aid. So here’s just a brief picture of the HIV/AIDS problem in Uganda. For starters, the CIA World Factbook states underneath its population estimate for the country (a little over 34 million) that this estimate takes into account the effect of AIDS on the population and the resulting increased mortality rate (it doesn’t do this for every country). As of 2009, 1.2 million people are living with HIV in the country setting the HIV prevalence rate at 6.5%. Orphanage due to HIV/AIDS is a significant problem in Uganda. Uganda has the highest proportion of orphaned children due to HIV/AIDS in the world with 2.3 million orphans attributed to the disease. While HIV/AIDS is still a serious issue in Uganda, there has been some progress since the disease first became known in 1980’s. The disease spread rapidly and peaked in the 1990’s but has since declined and prevalence has stabilized at around 6% (in the 1990’s it was as high as 18% in rural areas and 30% in urban areas!). AFCA provides medical supplies for three different hospitals and clinics in Uganda (more on that can be found at http://www.afcaids.org/about/impact).  HIV weakens the immune system and increases the lethality of infections that would not necessarily be fatal so these medical supplies are needed to treat both HIV and any other common infections or illnesses. These are just some statistics for you to think about and hopefully help you understand why AFCA works in Uganda. If you want to learn more about the country I recommend the CIA World Factbook as a good starting place (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ug.html) and the UNAIDS website which has a “country factsheet” for Uganda (http://www.unaidsrstesa.org/regional-country-profiles-home/country-profiles/uganda).

Statistics, statistics, statistics

Sub-Saharan Africa is the hardest hit area for HIV infections. This is the area that AFCA works in (specifically in the four countries of Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and the DRC). Over 22 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are living with HIV and 14 million children have been orphaned as a result.  We’ve all seen the pictures, heard the stories, read the statistics like the ones I just gave you. But what about the treatments? The progress? The success stories? You can’t just focus on the death and despair or you won’t have any hope for the future. This also works the other way around though too: don’t just look at the progress and success stories or you may begin to downplay how serious this disease is.

Looking at HIV/AIDS statistics can be overwhelming. And often, the statistics people tend to focus on are the negative ones. For example, when I looked at the first page of this UNAIDS report (http://www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/dataimport/pub/factsheet/2009/20091124_fs_global_en.pdf) I saw the numbers representing the millions of people living with HIV, the deaths, the orphans as a result of the disease and all I wanted to do was click out of the document. It was depressing, overwhelming. But I kept reading and amid those depressing statistics were numbers on the increase in people receiving treatment and drugs. Through some of my preliminary research I’ve been excited by the progress that’s been made. For example, just last week a news report was issued stating that the mortality rate in China for those infected has decreased by 60% since 2003 thanks to the free access to antiretroviral drugs (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/health/19aids.html). And organizations like AFCA have made a significant impact on the lives of those affected with this disease. You certainly can’t overlook those gruesome statistics, but don’t forget about the progress that has been made in the past few decades. And I’ll make sure to continue to post about both.

A Brief Introduction

First I’d like to introduce myself: I’m Hannah Snyder, the new intern here at AFCA. Last semester at Goucher College I took a class titled “HIV/AIDS: Tearing the Social Fabric.” It really challenged me to see the disease as not only medically complex but also socially complex. I was required to teach and lead the class discussion with two other girls one day on the macroeconomic impact of AIDS.  We had the class do a role play in which they saw how AIDS spreads and impacts mobile groups (for this example we had them role play as truckers). Some were HIV-positive, others were not but all had to end up with the same basic necessities of life by the end through whatever means necessary. The class remarked how difficult it was to get everything they needed to survive the game: money, medicine, food etc. For me, that just about sums up HIV/AIDS. It’s confusing. How do we help those who are HIV-positive? What if they’re in poverty? How do we tackle this issue in third world countries? There are so many aspects that need to be taken into account. That’s why I took this internship, because I wanted to understand the disease and its impact a little more and see how an organization can help those affected.

            I’d like this blog to be an informal, yet still informative, discussion on the nature and impact of this disease as well as on Africa in general. I will share with you my research on the countries that AFCA works with (Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and the DRC), how HIV has impacted those countries, and the progress in HIV/AIDS research across the globe. I’d also love to hear from the readers. If there is a topic you’d like me to cover in the blog let me know!

Want to do some good with change?

How much money did you spend today? Maybe you got a cup of coffee for $3.50, bought lunch for $11.34 and then picked up a new pair of shoes on the way home for $58.60. What if you could round up each of those purcahses to the nearest dollar, and donate the spare change to American Foundation for Children with AIDS?


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