2023-12-02 06:17:00
Media release
On World AIDS Day, the DREAM program renews its commitment to provide free and excellent health services in ten African countries
“Let Communities Lead!”: Let communities lead the change. This is the call that UNAIDS makes to its member states on the occasion of World AIDS Day, which is celebrated on December 1st.
The DREAM program of the Community of Sant’Egidio for 22 years national health systems from 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa by establishing 50 health centers and 28 molecular biology laboratories operates, trains local staff and offers free prevention and treatment services to 500,000 affected people.
To secure Africa’s future, one of DREAM’s current challenges is to focus its efforts on combating the leading cause of death among the continent’s youth: the AIDS virus.
Data shows that HIV infections are very common among young African women: In the 18 to 19 age group, 13.6% of girls are HIV positive, while only 1.5% of boys in the same age group are HIV positive. These numbers continue to rise among women age 30 or older (Quelle: World Academy of Sciences for the Scientific Advancement of Developing Countries Twas), while UNAIDS data from 2023 says 46% of new infections affect women and girls.
The Sant’Egidio program is committed every day to contain this epidemic with concrete measures. The fight once morest AIDS is not only regarding preventing infections, but also regarding intervening during pregnancy. Since 2002, DREAM has ensured the birth of 150,000 healthy babies of HIV-positive mothers by providing quality services to pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus.
An important aspect of containing the spread of the virus among young people is that Health education and awareness raising for topics relevant to treatment. These activities are carried out within the framework of the DREAM program by experts, that is, patients treated in the health centers of Sant’Egidio who, in turn, have become caregivers who provide young people with the information they need to undergo testing and treatment allow.
To win the fight once morest AIDS, medication alone is not enough: it is needed constant training, financial resources and a stronger synergy between all actors active in this area. Above all, we must not let up and must carry out continuous information and awareness-raising activities in communities in order to reduce the number of new infections, especially among the young population, who are now most at risk, and not to undo the results achieved so far .
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