Inside this Edition: From Girls at-Risk to Girls Empowered in St. Lucia [more] |
From Girls at-Risk to Girls Empowered in St. Lucia
 In the Caribbean, young women are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection than their male peers. To combat this disparity, Girl Guides, a program supported by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is working to enhance the advancement of girls, providing an opportunity for young women in the Eastern Caribbean to develop and exercise their leadership skills in order to reduce their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. In the impoverished fishing village of Anse-La-Raye, the Girl Guides of Saint Lucia, with the support of a PEPFAR small grant, launched the Prevention and Healthy Lifestyles Training Program in October 2008. Run by a Peace Corps volunteer and a Saint Lucian native, this training aimed to empower Girl Guides to reduce their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in order to lead healthy, productive lives. The program also provided skill-building sessions to groups that wished to further the design and management of community HIV prevention projects. Along with hosting these sessions, Anse-La-Raye Girls Guides created HIV "fact books" to document information, reflections, and lessons learned since the implementation of the Lifestyles program. Girl Guides also explored everyday contexts and tracked and assessed their decision-making against the personal goals and achievements they set for themselves. Additionally, they made and posted HIV education and healthy lifestyles posters around the island on World AIDS Day 2009, and hosted teach-ins for their mothers, aunts and grandmothers. Anse-La-Raye Girl Guides also visited Dennery, a nearby fishing village, to share their posters and conduct HIV education and prevention activities among their peers. The work of the Anse-La-Raye Girl Guides inspired the girls in Dennery and motivated them to revive their Girl Guides troop. Since this visit, Dennery Girl Guides have created posters on HIV/AIDS transmission, care and support, as well as HIV "fact books," which were exhibited in the village as a way to raise community HIV/AIDS awareness. The Dennery Girl Guides were also trained as peer educators and today host sessions about HIV/AIDS at local schools. |  |
Twinning Center Partners in Mozambique and the U.S. Develop Positive Prevention Toolkit
 With support from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), HIV/AIDS Twinning Center partners at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, in close collaboration with their Mozambican counterparts at Namaacha Health Center and Esperanza-Beluluane Voluntary Counseling and Testing Center, developed a comprehensive toolkit that provides information, training materials and technical assistance for organizations looking to implement a prevention program for people living with HIV/AIDS. The content of the toolkit, which is based on two intervention studies conducted in the United States, was adapted by partners to local HIV risk factors and care options in Mozambique. The curriculum is designed to train staff and volunteers about the prevention and care needs of people living with HIV/AIDS in Mozambique. The goal of these programs is to prevent re-infection and co-infection of HIV among those already living with the virus, as well as among sero-discordant couples. Topics such as helping people living with HIV/AIDS to disclose their status, negotiating steps to reduce risk of HIV infection, and preventing transmission to partners and children are covered. The materials contained in the toolkit are based on two successful "Prevention with Positives" programs in Maputo Province - a clinic-based intervention at Namaacha Health Center and a community-based intervention at Esperanza-Beluluane Voluntary Counseling and Testing Center. The toolkit, training manual, and other positive prevention materials are available online in English and Portuguese at: www.positiveprevention.ucsf.edu. |
World Health Day - April 7, 2010
| On World Health Day, the U.S. Government renewed its commitment to ensuring the health and well-being of individuals around the globe. This year, the theme for Worth Health Day was "Urbanization and Health: Urban Health Matters." The rapid rise in the number of people living in cities will be among the top global health issues of the 21st century. This will be particularly felt in the developing world as the speed of urbanization is outpacing the ability of governments to build and maintain essential health and hygiene infrastructure, as well as provide basic services to their countrymen and women. Many of the countries that the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) works in partnership with are affected by this disparity and, if it is not addressed, poor health will continue to spread - preventing economies from flourishing and denying the youth of the world the opportunity to live up to their full potential. Through the Global Health Initiative (GHI), the U.S. Government is investing $63 billion, with an emphasis on women and girls whose health has a critical impact on families and communities. As the cornerstone of the GHI, PEPFAR is committed to working with our partners to improve health and strengthen health systems in the countries in which it works. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's World Health Day Statement is available online at: www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/04/139594.htm. |  |
World Tuberculosis Day - March 24, 2010
| Despite recent progress, tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global public health challenge. TB kills more than 1.7 million people every year, making it a leading world-wide cause of infectious disease deaths. TB is both a disease of poverty − with transmission rates higher in over-crowded conditions − and a contributor to poverty. It destroys families, undermines economic opportunity, and holds back progress. People living with HIV/AIDS are more likely than others to become infected with TB. In sub-Saharan Africa, TB is the leading cause of death for people living with HIV/AIDS, and in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, rates of co-infection exceed 50 percent. The U.S. is a leader in the global effort to battle TB. In FY 2009, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) provided direct support to care for more than 308,700 TB/HIV co-infected people in PEPFAR countries, mostly in Africa. And across the federal government − from PEPFAR to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which assists TB programs in 40 countries - the fight against TB is a priority. The Global Health Initiative will build on these efforts, forging partnerships to improve outcomes for patients and develop stronger, more sustainable, more accessible health systems around the world.
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On April 21, 2010, the Alpha Gamma Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland showcased an episode of "Shuga" on campus. The screening was followed by a dynamic dialogue featuring representatives from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), BET Rap It Up!, and medical professionals. HIV counseling and testing was also available during and after the movie. "Shuga", a Kenyan television series targeting teens and young adults supported by PEPFAR and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), is raising HIV/AIDS awareness across sub-Saharan Africa. The three-part mini-series, produced by MTV in partnership with PEPFAR and UNICEF, focuses on a group of friends exploring the complexities of love in Nairobi, Kenya. | |||||
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