"The fight for health as a human right, a fight with real promise, has so far been plagued by failures. Failure because we are chronically short of resources. Failure because we are too often at the mercy of those with the power and money to decide the fates of hundreds of millions. Failure because ill health, as we have learned again and again, is more often than not a symptom of poverty and violence and inequality." In a recent "This I believe" archive Dr. Paul Farmer one of the founders of Partners in Health spoke to the notion that, health care should be a human right. Paul is a man that has the potential to make millions of dollars a year, and yet he has chosen, a modest life traveling the world ensuring that people receive health care. He does all of this not for money but, simply because he is passionate about it.
This is what really drew me to Partners in Health, and through them, the FACE AIDS cause. Trying to make a positive contribution in the world seems overwhelming, yes the saying "one person can make a difference" is uplifting but how can we as students in Colorado help make that difference? I was talking to teacher Amanda Leahy today expressing how I felt that CRMS represented a world of its own, there is diversity in ethnicity, race, culture, and economic status, each person here has different strengths and weaknesses that they bring everyday. Through our experiences with school trips, work crew, and active we have the opportunity to discover our own strenghths and weaknesses. We learn to trust one another, and most importantly help one another. Wouldn't it be great to take the lessons we learn through helping and apply it to the world at large.
During the past week it has been really amazing to hear all the stories that have evolved from our Cake Walk fundraiser. Operation Smile not only raised money to help those less fortunate but, has also created many memorable moments with family's and friends at CRMS. Teacerh Kayo Ogilby shared his daughter's excitement while making a princess cake, and the Head of School Leahy house was filled with fun and memories as they made a cake together for this charitable cause. Experiences like these are what truly inspire us. I think often times we gain more then we ever imagined by simply giving what we can.
Find what you are passionate about and dedicate yourself to the cause. CRMS offers a wide range of ways to help and give back: Work crews, Face Aids, Operation Smile, Peace Jam, Random Acts of Kindness club. Possibly these organizations are not what inspire you. Sometimes what stirs your passion doesn't have a preexisting structure, sometimes you have to be the one to begin. When you find a cause that touches you it becomes easy to dedicate yourself to it. Dr. Paul Farmer does not do what he does for recognition, he simply does it because it is the right thing to do. By joining something bigger then yourself it gives you a sense of purpose, a sense that you can make a difference.
With the coming holiday season and the holiday spirit in the air, with a seemingly endless supply of food and gifts it can become easy to forget just how fortunate we are. It can be a time when we take our good fortune for granite or.... we can use the holiday spirit to appreciate what we have,..... and share it with others.
A Haitian proverb says "Beyond mountains there are mountains." In other words as you solve one problem another one often presents itself, one of the great things about CRMS is they shine a light on a lot of the world's problems and give us the tools to problem solve. Before we leave tonight I encourage all of us to take a couple of moments to reflect on a problem that you are passionate about, and think of ways that you can help that cause. -- Katie Grant, 11th grade, Colorado Rocky Mountain School presentation to the entire student body at an evening program
Migingo Island in Kenya is only the size of one football field, yet in 2009 this small fishing island became the center of a full-scale international conflict that continues to echo throughout East Africa. This piece explores the effects that the conflict has had on the residents of Migingo.Migingo Island in Kenya is only the size of one football field, yet in 2009 this small... more
Lifting the 22-year ban leaves a dozen countries in the world that still continue the practice. President Obama made the announcement as he signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009, which provides help to more than half a million Americans.
Barack Obama said that a US travel ban against people infected with the HIV virus will be overturned early next year.
The order will be completed on Monday, Obama said, finishing a process begun during the administration of George Bush.
The United States is one of about a dozen countries that bar entry to travellers based on their HIV status. The ban has been in place for more than 20 years. Obama said it will be lifted just after the new year, after a waiting period of about 60 days.
"If we want to be a global leader in combating HIV/Aids, we need to act like it," Obama said at the White House before signing a bill to extend the Ryan White HIV/Aids programme. Begun in 1990, the program provides medical care, medication and support services to about half a million Americans with HIV or Aids, mostly low-income people.
The bill is named for an teenager who contracted Aids through a blood transfusion at age 13. Ryan White went on to fight Aids-related discrimination against him and others like him in the late 1980s and to help educate Americans about the disease. He died in April 1990 aged 18.
His mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, attended the signing ceremony, as did several members of Congress and HIV/Aids activists.
In 1987, at a time of widespread fear and ignorance about HIV, the department of health and human services added the disease to the list of communicable diseases that disqualified a person from entering the United States.
The department tried in 1991 to reverse its decision but was opposed by Congress, which in 1993 went the other way and made HIV infection the only medical condition explicitly listed under immigration law as grounds for inadmissibility to the country.
The law effectively has kept out thousands of students, tourists and refugees and complicated the adoption of children with HIV. No major international Aids conference has been held in the United States since 1993 because HIV-positive activists or researchers could not enter the country.
Obama said lifting the ban "is a step that will save lives" by encouraging people to get tested and to get treatment.
One of the major health issues facing the world — especially the developing world — continues to be HIV and AIDS.One of the major health issues facing the world — especially the developing world... more
Make a difference this Thanksgiving and Buy Your Thanksgiving Pies from Project Angel Food.
Your $25 pie purchase pays for the preparation and delivery of five nutritious meals to those affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
Project Angel Food's mission is to nourish the body and spirit of men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses. Volunteers and staff cook and deliver free and nutritious meals prepared with love throughout Los Angeles County, acting out of a sense of urgency because hunger and illness do not wait.
With a corps of 1,500 + dedicated volunteers, the agency provides more than 11,000 meals a week to 1,600 clients of all ages and backgrounds for whom a healthy meal, delivered with a warm smile, is truly lifesaving. Project Angel Food celebrates 20 years of service to the Greater Los Angeles community in 2009.
Project Angel Food - 922 Vine Street - Los Angeles, CA 90038-2702 - tel 323.845.1800 - fax 323.845.1818
www.angelfood.orgMake a difference this Thanksgiving and Buy Your Thanksgiving Pies from Project Angel... more
Dr. Robert L. Johnson of the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey talks about the triumphs and challenges of creating and sustaining healthy communities.Dr. Robert L. Johnson of the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey talks... more
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) opens a discussion on the challenges of HIV/AIDS in Black America at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference.Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) opens a discussion on the challenges of HIV/AIDS in Black... more
Actress Chery Lee Ralph delivers a powerful opening to a conversation about meeting the challenges of HIV/AIDS in America at the 39 Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference.Actress Chery Lee Ralph delivers a powerful opening to a conversation about meeting... more
HIV: NYC is part of the nationwide project HIV: USA. HIV: USA assists collaborative organizations in their HIV prevention, education, and fundraising efforts. HIV: USA is based on a video poetry project model. Participants share their writings in a cathartic and therapeutic writing environment to create an empowering video that features their writing, state facts and other issues related to HIV/AIDS. For more information on HIV: USA, please visit: www.hiv-usa.comHIV: NYC is part of the nationwide project HIV: USA. HIV: USA assists collaborative... more
HEALTH-SOUTHERN AFRICA:
Role for Marijuana in AIDS Treatment
James Hall
MBABANE, Aug 2 (IPS) - Advocates of new medical treatments for people living with HIV and AIDS are compiling scientific studies and anecdotal evidence to make a case for the use of the locally-grown illegal weed dagga (marijuana) to assist those who have contracted the virus or have developed AIDS.
Currently, it is illegal to grow, transport or possess dagga in the 14-member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The countries are also signatories to various international agreements that commit them to eradicate the intoxicating plant.
In Swaziland, where 70 percent of peasant farmers in the northern Hhohho region cultivate marijuana, the local police force vigorously enforces these agreements, working with South African police to exterminate crops where they are grown in the mountains. The dagga is burned in great controlled fires, with the media invited to observe.
CLICK FOR FULL ARTICLE....HEALTH-SOUTHERN AFRICA:
Role for Marijuana in AIDS Treatment
James Hall
MBABANE,... more
According to the article, the substance is inserted into the vagina before sex and turns solid in the presence of semen, protecting vaginal tissue by trapping HIV particles in a microscopic meshAccording to the article, the substance is inserted into the vagina before sex and... more
Scientists have created a "molecular condom" that will prevent the spread of HIV if inserted a few hours before sex.
"Due to cultural and socioeconomic factors, women often are unable to negotiate the use of protection with their partner," says Julie Jay, the study's first author and a University of Utah doctoral candidate in pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry.
So the researchers developed a vaginal gel that a woman could insert a few hours before sex and "could detect the presence of semen and provide a protective barrier between the vaginal tissue and HIV," Jay says. "We wanted to build a gel that would stop HIV from interacting with vaginal tissue."
Kiser estimates that if all goes well, human tests of the gel would start in three to five years, and the gel would reach the market in several more years. He and Jay want to incorporate an antiviral drug into the gel so it both blocks HIV movement and prevents the virus from replicating."Scientists have created a "molecular condom" that will prevent the spread of HIV if... more
The renovation of the building that will house the new headquarters and the International HIV/AIDS Awareness Education Center (IHAEC) near Antwerp is progressing.
The vision of this center is to be recognized as an up to the mark and global player that proactively reaches out to our younger generation. By using appealing, accurate and innovative prevention and awareness programs, DAA aims to minimize the risk of infection with the HIV/AIDS virus.
The mission contains developing and delivering up-to-date prevention and awareness programs which appeal to the young generation – mainly concerning matters with relation to sexual relationships and the related, possible consequences. This should, as a mental trigger, warn them and result in a downward trend of HIV/AIDS infections.
The program will contain the following aspects:
1. Train the trainer
At the Education Center, trainers who will deliver the training programs locally attend an extensive training course.
2. Education programs
Apart from the training programs (modules) delivered for the formal full training programs locally, the Education Center has different courses and supportive materials, including manuals, at its disposal which can be provided to interested parties e.g. separate modules, a shorter version, awareness brochures/flyers, introduction courses, etc.
3. Campus All-in-One
Specifically aiming at supporting schools and universities, the Education Center provides a full program/campaign that contains training (Instructor Led & eLearning), single point of contact, T-shirts, etc.
4. On-line coaching
For the recipients, the Education Center provides on-line support that can be consulted for feedback, questions and up-to-date information. The on-line coaching will also be available and accessible for organizations that are unable to follow the educational programs in the IHAEC itself or/and intend to launch their own awareness initiatives.
5. Knowledge platform
By means of a portal, the IHAEC provides a constant flow of information, facts & figures related to creating and maintaining awareness.
6. Events
Ad-hoc campaigns or events (concerts, fashion shows, …) to create awareness are also organized or co-initiated by the Education Center.
7. IHAEC Podcast
The Education Center hosts a IHAEC podcast to which youngsters (and other interested parties) can tune into and on which music, IHAEC campaigns, witnesses, interviews with artists etc. are broadcasted.
IHAEC will open its doors in the spring of 2010, the idea is to act globally by training IHAEC ambassadors from all over the world who will deliver the programs -in return- in their home country.
In order to make the IHAEC come to life, DAA is still looking for partners in order to accommodate our guests in the most comfortable and suiting ways.
DAA/IHAEC focuses on: ambassadors, guests, celebrities, young minded people who want to continue creating HIV/AIDS awareness and help control and prevent its spread.The renovation of the building that will house the new headquarters and the... more
An HIV-positive porn actress is suing the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) and the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation (AIM) for reportedly violating her rights to privacy, Courthouse News Service reports.An HIV-positive porn actress is suing the California Occupational Safety and Health... more
Scientists say the largest HIV/Aids clinical trial ever done in Africa should make it easier and cheaper to get life-saving medicines to villages.
The results of the Dart clinical trial are to be announced at an international conference in South Africa.
They show that expensive routine lab tests, part of normal treatment, have only a small benefit because they do little to extend survival rates.
Without the testing, patients would not need to travel to clinics in cities.
The tests are very hard to carry out in most of Africa, the research suggests.
Despite promises of universal treatment for HIV/Aids, only a third of the six million Africans who need treatment are getting it and there are concerns that money for Aids programmes is running short.Scientists say the largest HIV/Aids clinical trial ever done in Africa should make it... more
The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation just recently allocated 50 million to male circumcision programs in Africa based on studies that showed it reduced the HIV AIDS transmission rates. This new information calls male circumcision partially into question.
Dr. Maria Wawer of Johns Hopkins and her Uganda colleagues stopped their most recent male circumcision trial because it proved ineffective at preventing the spread of HIV from men to their female partners.
Wawer's earlier studies of male circumcision in Uganda — like other studies in Kenya — showed unequivocally that male circumcision could reduce female-to-male transmission rates. As nearly 3 decades of dealing with HIV-AIDS as an international public health crisis has shown, simply educating people about barrier contraception and making contraception more readily and inexpensively available — both difficult endeavors in developing countries, for a variety of reasons — are simply not having the same effect in some countries on reducing HIV transmission rates that developed countries like the U.S. experienced (let alone that such efforts seem to plateau when the perception of immediate danger declines and rates go up again). It's entirely possible (and somewhat unsurprising) that education and contraception access simply don't trump human sexual urges, culture and tradition, which is why scientists think adult male circumcision programs could provide a necessary addition to the HIV-AIDS reduction arsenal.
Wawer and her team were hopeful that male circumcision could reduce male-to-female transmission rates as well, given that in many places, women don't have access to barrier contraception or the power in sexual relationships to demand its use even if their partner's HIV status is known. Unfortunately, their hypothesis was incorrect.
"However, the efficacy of male circumcision for prevention of HIV in uninfected men is clear, and reductions in male acquisition of HIV attributable to circumcision are likely to reduce women's exposure to HIV-infected men. Male circumcision programs are thus likely to confer an overall benefit to women," the researchers concluded.The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation just recently allocated 50 million to male... more
Foreigners who have HIV would be allowed to travel and immigrate to the United States under a plan by federal health officials to lift a 22-year ban on infected visitors that critics say was unnecessary from the start.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are seeking public comment through Aug. 17 on the proposal, which would remove HIV from the list of diseases that can bar entry to the country and do away with HIV testing as part of medical exams for permanent residence and, in some cases, travel visas.
The proposed rule comes more than a year after Congress voted to repeal 1987 restrictions on HIV-positive immigrants as part of a package of AIDS reforms proposed by President George W. Bush.
Although that removed the legal requirement that HIV-infected people be excluded, the Health and Human Services department has final say over whether the disease remains on the no-entry list.
As it stands now, HIV is among several diseases that require exclusion, including active tuberculosis, infectious gonorrhea, syphilis and infectious leprosy. Also on the list are little-known sexually transmitted conditions such as chancroid, lymphogranuloma venereum or LGV, and granuloma inguinale. CDC officials said they may consider removing those conditions in the future, but wanted to move first to align health regulations with the new HIV statute.
Foreigners also can be excluded if they have quarantinable diseases designated by a presidential executive order and if they're affected during outbreaks that are public health emergencies of international concern.Foreigners who have HIV would be allowed to travel and immigrate to the United States... more
Established in 1982, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation develops innovative solutions, combining evidence-based strategies with community experience to fight HIV/AIDS and promote holistic good health. With the unrestricted funds raised by AIDS Walk San Francisco, the Foundation is able to provide direct services to thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS and focus intensive prevention programs to those most at risk of contracting the disease.Established in 1982, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation develops innovative solutions,... more
