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verte76

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December 1 is World AIDS Day. Please join the African Well Fund's Virtual Candlelight Vigil by clicking on the URL in my sig! Thanks!
 
Here's my letter-

Senator McCain Senator Kyl and JD Hayworth--

As a registered Republican and a strong supporter of President Bush's policies, I would like to continually encourage President Bush to keep his promise and help the people of Africa by sending the needed 15 billion dollars quicker and more if needed.

In doing so this will show the world we are a compassionate nation by helping millions of people who are suffering. The world will see not only are we ridding nations of terrorists but also ridding countries of horrific diseases,thereby eventually changing the hearts and minds of all people thru out the earth.

Sincerely-
Dave Schroeder :eyebrow:

(im sure my letter will be put on top of the pile:angry:)
 
This is great guys! When you write and call, please don't forget to remind your reps that cancelling the debt of these nations is a great way to fight AIDS, as it plugs the "debt drain" and frees up needs resources for education, clinics, etc. DATA and Jubilee USA both have lots of details, if you're interested. :) :wave:

I wish the world could pull together like this everyday....

SD
 
As if we didn't need another reason to do more...check out this story from Yahoo!:

AIDS Pandemic Set To Explode For India's Billion
Mon Dec 1, 5:28 AM ET

NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (OneWorld)-On the occasion of World AIDS (news - web sites) day, a United Nations (news - web sites) report warns of a serious AIDS epidemic in parts of India, where around four million people were infected nationally by the end of 2002, partly due to poor awareness of the virus, which is no longer restricted to high-risk groups.

Health experts stress they are concerned about the spread of the virus in several Indian states, including Maharashtra in the west and Tamil Nadu in the south.

"The figures are alarming," remarks B P Thiagarajan, joint director, monitoring and evaluation of the Population Foundation of India, a New Delhi based nongovernmental body that has just published a study on the spread of AIDS/HIV (news - web sites) in India, in collaboration with the Washington based Population Reference Bureau.

According to government figures, the number of people with HIV/AIDS in India increased by 610,000 in 2002. India accounted for about 12 percent of the 5-million increase in HIV/AIDS cases in the world last year.

"The HIV/AIDS picture in South Asia remains dominated by the epidemic in India, where between 3.82 and 4.58 million people were infected nationally by the end of 2002," says the United Nations in its AIDS epidemic update for 2003.

Groups such as the Population Foundation and the government's National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) stress that the only way to combat the virus is by informing people about ways of preventing its spread.

"In some parts of India, people are aware of AIDS, but often the information is incorrect," says Thiagarajan. "Elsewhere, there is no knowledge at all about HIV or AIDS," he says.

According to the experts, HIV/AIDS is not just confined to high-risk groups - such as sex workers or drug users - but is now spreading to the general population in India. NACO stresses that HIV/AIDS is gradually spreading into rural areas and the wider population.

Yet, according to the study, three out of four rural women in three of the largest states - Bihar in the east, Gujarat in the west and Uttar Pradesh in the north - have not even heard of HIV/AIDS.

"Only 100 percent awareness of HIV/AIDS and how it spreads can be an effective safeguard against the menace," says A R Nanda, executive director of Population Foundation of India. "Much has been done but much more needs to be done," he emphasizes.

According to the United Nations, which released a report last week, there is an AIDS prevalence of over 50 percent among sex workers in some cities in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu and of 60 to 75 percent among drug users in Manipur in northeast India.

"Worryingly, not enough is known about HIV spread in the vast populous interior of Uttar Pradesh and other northern Indian states, where current HIV surveillance is providing an incomplete picture of the epidemic," the UN report says.

The UN states that while India dominates South Asia in the spread of HIV/AIDS and the number of cases, epidemics could break out in neighboring Bangladesh and Nepal because of what it describes as risky behavior among sections of the population.

"In ...Bangladesh and Nepal, national HIV prevalence has remained under one percent, but risky behavior in parts of the population is so extensive that it could be just a matter of time before wider epidemics erupt," it predicts.

In the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, there is an HIV prevalence of up to 68 percent among sex workers and 17 percent among injecting drug users.

"Young people are at the hub of Nepal's AIDS challenge. While studies suggest that their HIV/AIDS knowledge is passable, they remain prone to HIV exposure," it says.

Though Bangladesh has a low prevalence, the UN says it poses "as big a challenge" because of high rates of unsafe injecting drug use, a thriving sex trade and unsafe blood-transfusion practices.

"In addition, knowledge of AIDS is slight: only about 65 percent of young people, and fewer than 20 percent of married women and 33 percent of married men have heard of AIDS," it says. "The upshot is a very high potential for rapid HIV transmission."

The UN report says that the few HIV surveillance studies conducted in Pakistan point to a low HIV prevalence. "However, a growing number of the estimated 3 million heroin users in Pakistan have begun injecting since the late 1990s," it says.

A recent study among drug users in Quetta found that one out of two people injecting drugs used unclean equipment while the same number had sex with a sex worker. But only four percent of the people surveyed had used a condom and only 16 percent had heard of AIDS.

:sigh:...when will this nightmare end?

Angela
 
Even more reason to continue to bother your Congressmen and Senators.

http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/policyupdate.html

World AIDS Day December 1, 2003: President Bush?s Record on the Global AIDS Epidemic
The news this World AIDS Day focuses on the increase in infections and death rates documented by the UN. Over the past year, more than 3 million people have died from AIDS. More than 20 million people have already died from AIDS and at least 40 million more are infected. By the end of the decade, the CIA predicts that as many as 100 million people will be infected around the world. The latest data show that the epidemic is now rapidly spreading across Asia and the Americas as well as in Africa

...

But, the question that should be asked on World AIDS Day is, ?How well is President Bush living up to his promise of emergency action on AIDS?? And, ?How well does his effort contribute to what the World Health Organization now says is required to expand treatment on a global basis??

In fact, the President seems to have forgotten his bold call to action:

? The White House?s Director of National AIDS Policy has written to Congress at least three times since the President?s Africa trip to try to stop Congress from providing full funding to global AIDS programs. The President has used distortions and half-truths about Africa to block expanded funding that would benefit all developing countries fighting AIDS.

? The President is preparing to submit a global AIDS budget request for FY 2005 that is not much greater than what Congress will likely provide in 2004. Under the President?s spending plan, the US will provide just 16% of what the UN has stated is needed for a minimal response to AIDS by 2005 ($10.5 billion), in contrast to the 33% the US has provided to effective international efforts against polio and smallpox. Equally troubling is that even if the US provided the full amount Congress authorized, the contribution would still fall short of a US fair-share contribution.

? While publicly proclaiming his support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tb and Malaria, behind the scenes the Fund?s chairman, Secretary Tommy Thompson, is working to undermine the multilateral initiative. Because of White House pressure, the Global Fund will likely cut its grant-making in half next year. Europe has now far outpaced the US in donations to this innovative and cost-effective funding mechanism.

? AIDS is growing fastest in the world?s most populous regions, but these areas are virtually ignored by the President?s approach. AIDS and Tb in these regions have been identified as threats to global security by the US government?s National Intelligence Council. Regional nuclear powers (China and India) are at risk for societal disruption.

? The President?s new Global AIDS Coordinator, Randy Tobias, is implementing the Bush plan largely in secret. Important questions about the implementation of abstinence-until-marriage programs and support for groups that disparage condoms remain unaddressed.

? While the much-celebrated AIDS legislation passed in May directed the White House to pursue deeper debt relief for countries fighting AIDS, President Bush has made no progress on the issue, flagrantly disregarding the will of Congress.

? While stating his initiative on AIDS would use the cheapest available medications, the President is negotiating a Central America Free Trade Agreement and a wider Free Trade Agreement of the Americas that will undermine the price competition required to ensure broad access to medications for AIDS and other illnesses. The Bush approach threatens one of the world?s most successful anti-AIDS programs, that of the Brazilian government.

...
The White House effort to stop Congress from fully funding AIDS programs at the 3 billion dollar level in FY 2004 has provoked strong public reaction. The United States Catholic Conference, the heads of 13 Protestant and Orthodox Christian denominations, major Jewish groups, World Vision, CARE, and Save the Children have explicitly appealed to the President to back the $3 billion and even taken out newspaper ads calling for action. The Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, Bono and others have issued appeals. 52 African heads of state signed a declaration calling for the $3 billion, and Africa?s foremost church leader, Archbishop Ndungane of South Africa, has publicly rebuked the President for failing to back full funding. Dozens of editorials in major US newspapers have called on Bush to reverse course and back full, immediate funding.

AIDS advocates are hopeful that the President begins backing a fully multilateral response to AIDS, the kind that polls show Americans are ready to support, rather the current US-goes-it-alone strategy.

The public outcry over Bush?s go-slow approach has led to a startling development on Capitol Hill. 89 Senators, including previous backers of the Bush position, voted for an 18% increase ($289 million) in AIDS funding, significantly above the President?s request. The startling defiance of the President by Senate Republicans, led by Senator DeWine (R-OH), dramatically showed how out of touch the President has become on the funding issue.

SEE WE DO MATTER!

Keep on keepin on :up:
 
Let's keep on raising hell people!! If we keep speaking out the politicians will get nervous about our votes and they'll get the job done. Nothing has ever been accomplished without putting a ton of pressure on the politicians, both Democrats and Republicans.
 
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