Did you know…?

• One billion people lack access to health care systems
• About 11 million children under the age of 5 die from malnutrition and mostly preventable diseases, each year
• Only 12% of the world’s population consumes over 85% of the global water supply
• In 2002, almost 11 million people died of infectious diseases alone, far more than the number killed in the natural or man-made catastrophes that make headlines. (These are the latest figures presented by the World Health Organization.)
• AIDS/HIV has spread rapidly. UNAIDS estimates for 2007 that there were roughly:
  • 32.8 million living with HIV
  • 2.5 million new infections of HIV
  • 2 million deaths from AIDS

So…what is the problem?

There are currently two main concerns about global health.

The first is a result of the Structural Adjustment Programs created in the 1990s by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank when they wished to resolve the issue of debt repayment between wealthy countries and those still undergoing development. Inadvertently, the SAPs sapped many developing countries of the resources needed to provide their people with a basic standard of living - causing a shortage of health care and education services.

More disturbing than the first, the second concern has destroyed over 25 million lives since it was first identified only 27 years ago in 1981: the HIV/AIDS epidemic. HIV is a virus that weakens a person’s immune system and makes it vulnerable to AIDS. At least two-thirds of the over 40 million thus far diagnosed reside in sub-Saharan Africa, while 95% of HIV/AIDS cases occur in developing countries. Recent cases of the disease are now increasingly concentrated in the youth population, with almost 6,000 getting diagnosed each day.

The world’s response

In response to the on-spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemics, international funding is being amassed for the benefit of developing countries. One organization leading this campaign is the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, & Malaria [link to: www.theglobalfight.org]. In the 1990s, the mortality rate for children under age 5 decreased by 11 percent; in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Arab States, this decline was over 30 percent. In addition, the quest for an HIV/AIDS vaccine and the effort to increase access to other vaccines, anti-retroviral therapies, basic medicine and healthcare has accelerated dramatically in the past several years. However, significant strides still have to be made to significantly improve global health.

Now it’s your turn…TAKE ACTION!

Organize an AIDS Awareness Day!

Organize a workshop or full-day event in your school or community to educate people about AIDS, erase stereotypes, and promote safe sex practices. A series of activities can be accompanied by an informational session in which HIV/AIDS is defined and explored as a health issue social epidemic.

Donate Blood-Give the Gift of Life!

Organize, volunteer at, or participate in a blood drive in your community in conjunction with first-aid organizations like Red Cross.

Raise Awareness about Infectious Disease

Tuberculosis, malaria, and measles are some of the leading causes of death for children in developing countries, but most people don’t know much about them. Research the causes, effects, and prevalence of these diseases and then make a presentation to your neighborhood or class about what you have learned.

I AM READY TO IMPROVE GLOBAL HEALTH!

Sources:

www.globalissues.org/health

www.netaid.org/global_poverty/hivaids

www.issues.takingitglobal.org/hiv