July 8, 2002

· Africa is the only continent where the number of women with AIDS outnumbers men. Why? Why are many African professional women choosing to remain single and celibate?
· U.S. President George W. Bush has proposed $500 million to stem mother-to-child transmission of HIV. While this will save the lives of thousands of children each week, who will care for them once their mothers die?
· African women are the primary caregivers for the sick, the dying, and the orphans left behind. How are women fighting AIDS?

BARCELONA -- “Addressing the AIDS crisis apart from its root causes – poverty, ignorance, illiteracy and women’s disempowerment – is only rhetoric,” said Dr. Chalya Lar, HIV/AIDS specialist for World Vision, and a delegate at the AIDS 2002 Conference in Barcelona July 7-12. Africa, home to 70 percent of the world’s 40 million AIDS cases, is the only region where women with HIV/AIDS outnumber men. In Africa, 55 percent of those infected with HIV are women, compared with 20 percent in North America.

WHO: Dr. Chalya Lar is an HIV/AIDS program and technical specialist for World
Vision. Dr. Lar works with people in countries hard-hit by the AIDS epidemic to plan, fund and implement programs aimed at preventing the spread of HIV and caring for those affected by the disease, especially orphans. Dr. Lar, a native of Nigeria, worked in the Nigerian national health care system where she instituted the first HIV/AIDS surveillance program. Dr. Lar holds a medical degree from the University of Jos in Plateau, Nigeria and a master's of public health from Johns Hopkins University.

WHEN: Monday, July 8

WHERE: By phone from Barcelona

WHAT: The international humanitarian organization World Vision, which has been tackling the AIDS issue on the ground since 1990, has 11 delegates to Barcelona, including three physicians and two nurses. Several staff are presenters.