Why Medical Support

AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was recognized in 1981, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. AIDS is not going to go away on its own. We must invest in stopping this global epidemic!

The American Foundation for Children with AIDS is committed to providing medical help to children with HIV/AIDS and their families by sending free and new medicine to our partnering hospitals who care for these victims. Studies show that treatment programs can succeed even in very poor settings, as long as anti-retroviral medicine is available.

It has been shown over and over again that children who take anti-retroviral medication live long, productive lives. Where care and treatment are not available, studies suggest that 35% of infected children die in the first year of life, 50% by their second birthday, and 60% by their third birthday.[1]

Despite recent, improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions in the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed 3.1 million lives in 2005, more than 1⁄2 a million of them children. Why is that? Because free medicine is only available to a small percentage of children with HIV/AIDS, according to UNAIDS. [2]

In Africa, only 8% of those who required ART in 2003 were able to receive these life-saving medications. These numbers, although still shockingly low, actually show a considerable improvement on statistics from 2002. At the UN General Assembly Meeting on HIV/AIDS on September 2003, WHO, UNAIDS, and the Global Fund declared the lack of access to HIV treatment a global health emergency.[3] In response to the gross inequities in the availability of anti-retroviral treatment (ART) and the growing HIV/AIDS endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa, the American Foundation for Children with AIDS has implemented a life-saving program to deliver free ARV medications to children suffering with HIV/AIDS.

[1] WHO World Health Report, 2005

[2] UNAIDS Fact Sheet, September 2003, Access to HIV Treatment and Care

[3] UN General Assembly Meeting on HIV/AIDS, September 22, 2003