Responding to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
In 2006, 4.3 million people became infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. By the end of 2006, an estimated 39.5 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS, and approximately 2.9 million people lost their lives to the disease. Though new data suggests that the AIDS epidemic appears to be slowing down globally, infection rates are growing rapidly in certain regions and countries and HIV/AIDS continues to remain an exceptional threat.
Direct Relief’s efforts focus on providing healthcare professionals with the necessary tools – pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and equipment – to treat the secondary infections related to HIV/AIDS, supporting prevention education programs, and providing general healthcare services to persons infected with the disease and their families. Direct Relief is committed to supporting communities worldwide affected by this devastating disease. Direct Relief has provided condoms, educational materials about sexually transmitted infections, and HIV diagnostic kits to our partners to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and to also educate communities about prevention.
Direct Relief currently supports 32 facilities worldwide that maintain a primary or secondary focus on HIV/AIDS or have significant HIV/AIDS programs to complement their primary care services.
A C-section delivery significantly reduces the HIV transmission rate from mother to child. Direct Relief is equipping surgical suites at five targeted facilities in high HIV-incidence countries where trained physicians are unable to perform surgeries because of lack of anesthesia, air, operating table, lights, and sterilizer. The cost of each suite is $30,000.
Of the estimated 39.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS, almost 24.7 million live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Direct Relief has partnered with the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa to provide supplies and equipment to 104 hospices in the area treating HIV/AIDS patients and their families. With donated personal care products, antibiotics, and other pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and hospital care products such as bed sheets, many HIV/AIDS affected persons are receiving the care they need.
HIV/AIDS is an epidemic that is plaguing communities worldwide. With the help of our donors and partners, Direct Relief will continue efforts to battle the disease and help persons affected by its effects.
Examples of Direct Relief's HIV/AIDS Related Assistance
UGANDA - Jinja Municipal Council
The Department of Public Health of the Jinja Municipal Council operates four hospitals and clinics within its jurisdiction with a total of 300 beds. These four facilities see an average of 2,500 inpatients and approximately 110,000 outpatients every year. Each of the facilities runs outreach programs in school health, vector control, and community health development. Besides HIV/AIDS, which is a major health epidemic, the people also suffer from other sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, and bilharzia (an intestinal parasitic disease).
Direct Relief has worked with Dr. Stephen Banonya – the Medical Officer of Health of the Jinja Municipal Council since 2000 – to send necessary medicines and medical supplies to the people of Jinja and the medical professionals who serve them. Since 2000, Direct Relief International has provided $2.2 million in medical assistance to the Jinja Municipal Council and the Jinja Central Clinic.
Direct Relief’s recent provisions of aid to Jinja Municipal Council included the anti-infective drug Lorabid, which is ideal for treating life-threatening acute respiratory infections (ARI’s) commonly found in developing countries. They have also contained specially procured HIV test kits, laboratory equipment, blood glucose test kits, and cough medicine.
INDIA - Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre
India is extremely vulnerable to the HIV/AIDS epidemic because of its socioeconomic status and a large at-risk and marginalized population. AIDS is already the second largest killer of Indian adults, second only to tuberculosis. It is estimated that 5.1 million Indians were living with HIV in 2003; a notable percentage of those infections occurred in married women infected by their husbands. Though India’s HIV rate is low compared to those found in some African countries, the nation’s large population means that the total cases could significantly increase by decade’s end if left unchecked.
The Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre, located in Madurai, is a 500-bed nonprofit hospital and medical research center. The hospital has been in operation since 1990, and its 46 specialized medical departments serve the Madurai and Southern Tamil Nadu region. Its mission includes the combining of state of the art medical service with social work and community outreach. Notable activities have included AIDS prevention research under the umbrella of the AIDS Prevention and Control Project, and its Mother Teresa Special Ward for HIV/AIDS patients.