“Sponsor me” I need Food!

Country profile for United Republic of Tanzania

HIV prevention interventions for men who have sex with men (MSM) are critical to halt the spread of the AIDS epidemic. However, homophobia and stigma and discrimination are major barriers to the implementation such interventions. As cases of human rights violations based on sexual orientation continue to occur worldwide, unaids.org examines, in a three-part series, the challenges faced by MSM in different parts of the world.

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Alisa (9y) from Hammanskraal South Africa

Welcome to Sponsor me. Above is Alisa now turning 12 this year. She was born with Aids and her life nearly came to an end just before this picture was taken. (Age 9) As a test she was choisen to receive the Imuniti food package under supervision of some adults. In two months Alisa recover drastically and are living a normal live on the form where he parents work. Alisa is still using the Imuniti food pack as there is still no cure for HIV. The food pack strenghten her immune system and allows her to have a normal life. There are many other young people born with aids that are critically in need of a sponsor. 

Here are some stats on children living through Hell dailly and most without the support of their parentswho both passed away from some illness. Most people living with Aids do not die from AIDS, Aids destroy the immune system and left you as a clear target for other common illnesses to take their toll.

According to estimates from the UNAIDS 2008 Report on the global AIDS epidemic, around 30.8 million adults and 2 million children were living with HIV at the end of 2007.

During 2007, some 2.7 million people became infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS.

The year also saw 2 million deaths from AIDS - a high global total, despite antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, which reduced AIDS-related deaths among those who received it. The number of deaths probably peaked around 2005, and has since declined only slightly.

Globally, around 11% of HIV infections are among babies who acquire the virus from their mothers; 10% result from injecting drug use; 5-10% are due to sex between men; and 5-10% occur in healthcare settings. Sex between men and women accounts for the remaining proportion – around two thirds of new infections.

Around half of the people who acquire HIV become infected before they turn 25 and typically die of the life-threatening illnesses called AIDS before their 35th birthday. By the end of 2007, the epidemic had left behind 15 million AIDS orphans, defined as those aged under 18 who have lost one or both parents to AIDS. These orphans are vulnerable to poverty, exploitation and themselves becoming infected with HIV. They are often forced to leave the education system and find work, and sometimes to care for younger siblings or head a family.

In 2007, around 370,000 children aged 14 or younger became infected with HIV. Over 90% of newly infected children are babies born to women with HIV, who acquire the virus during pregnancy, labour or delivery, or through their mother’s breast milk. Almost nine-tenths of such transmissions occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa’s lead in mother-to-child transmission of HIV is firmer than ever despite the evidence that HIV ultimately impairs women’s fertility; once infected, a woman can be expected to bear 20% fewer children than she otherwise would. Drugs are available to minimise the dangers of mother-to-child HIV transmission, but these are still often not reaching the places where they are most needed.

The area in Africa south of the Sahara desert, known as sub-Saharan Africa, is by far the worst-affected in the world by the AIDS epidemic. The region has just over 10% of the world’s population, but is home to 67% of all people living with HIV. An estimated 1.9 million adults and children became infected with HIV during 2007. This brought the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the region to 22 million by the end of the year. HIV prevalence varies considerably across this region - ranging from less than 1% in Madagascar to over 25% in Swaziland.

HIV prevalence (the proportion of people living with HIV) appears to have fallen slightly in this region over recent years because the number of new infections is exceeded by the number of deaths each year. However, the total number of people living with HIV is still rising because of overall population growth.

In sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS killed approximately 1.5 million people in 2007. Average survival in the absence of treatment is around 10 years after infection. ARV drugs can dramatically extend survival, allowing many years of healthy life, but these remain unavailable to most Africans. 

Unlike women in most other regions in the world, African women are considerably more likely - at least 1.4 times - to be infected with HIV than men. There are a number of reasons why female prevalence is higher than male in this region, including the greater efficiency of male-to-female HIV transmission through sex and the younger age at initial infection for women.

Source: http://www.avert.org/worlstatinfo.htm

If you do not have a place to find a child to sposnor, please visit “the World in One Place Social network and become a member. Once you mention that yo are willing to sponsor a child, one in real need will be allocated to you.