Advocate for Children Affected by Global AIDS

The AIDS pandemic is the one of the most devastating humanitarian disasters of our time, leaving a generation of children in jeopardy.

The impact on children | U.S. a major force in the global AIDS fight
Fully-funded, child-focused | Learn more | Three things you can do

The impact on children

An estimated 17 million children under age 18 have been orphaned due to AIDS, and the number is rising. (1) About 14 million of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa. (2)

The devastating impact of AIDS on children is immeasurable. It destabilizes families and entire societies, leaving children without the care and support necessary to grow up, survive, and thrive. Nearly 33 million people are living with HIV and AIDS, of which 2 million are children under the age of 15. (3) Children under 15 account for one in six AIDS related deaths and one in seven new HIV infections (4), which usually occur in the womb, during birth, or through breastfeeding.

U.S a major force in the global AIDS fight

The United States has made significant contributions to the fight against global AIDS in the past few years — but we are still only skimming the surface. Established in 2003, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the largest international health initiative dedicated to a specific disease. The three goals of PEPFAR are to:

• Treat at least 3 million people


• Prevent 12 million new infections


• Care for 12 million people (including 5 million orphans and vulnerable children) by 2013

PEPFAR specifically includes a provision that sets aside 10 percent of the global AIDS budget to help care for orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. World Vision played a critical role in securing this 10 percent dedication of funds.

Because federal budget and appropriations cycle provides funding on an annual basis, advocacy is necessary each year to ensure the resources remain available to meet the needs of millions impacted by HIV and AIDS. Each cycle brings competing priorities with special interest groups lobbying for funds.

PEPFAR will soon be integrated with the President’s new six-year Global Health Initiative (GHI). GHI should build upon past success, not undermine previous efforts and promote solutions that directly involve hard hit communities where World Vision works. With your help, we are working to:

• Ensure that funding for AIDS programs increase based on need, particularly for orphans and vulnerable children


• Increase support for community solutions in the President’s Global Health Initiative
• Support funding for other diseases, such as malaria, that also impact AIDS

Fully-funded, child-focused

Thanks to the courageous bipartisan efforts of Congress and the Administration, PEPFAR was renewed for another five years and signed into law on July 30, 2008. Having already provided approximately $16 billion in the first five years of the initiative, the new legislation has committed the United States to providing $48 billion over five years for AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis programs.

In order to fulfill the U.S. commitments to continue and increase the contribution to the global HIV and AIDS emergency, World Vision calls on Congress to:

• Fully fund PEPFAR over the next five years by providing at least $7.2 billion in fiscal year 2011 in addition to resources for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.


• Urge the President to ensure that any effort to improve HIV and AIDS programs in the new Global Health Initiative includes direct support for communities and community-based organizations.


• Given the deadly synergy between HIV and AIDS and malaria, fulfill the commitment to providing $48 billion over the next five years HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

Learn more

• See what the Bible Has to Say About HIV and AIDS (PDF).
• Download a one-page talking points sheet (PDF).

Three things you can do

• Contact your members of Congress. Urge them to continue exercising leadership on this critical issue.
• Visit the "World Vision Experience: AIDS" in a city near you.
• Sponsor a child in an AIDS-affected nation.

Sources

1. Kaiser Family Foundation (2009) Global health facts
2. UNAIDS (2009) Report on the global AIDS epidemic
3. UNAIDS (2009) Report on the global AIDS epidemic
4. UNAIDS (2008) Report on the global AIDS epidemic