AIDS Education in Africa

AIDS is currently the leading cause of death in Africa. More than 22.5 million people in Africa carry the HIV virus, according to the Boston Globe. Every minute 11 people worldwide are infected with HIV, and 10 of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. Across the continent AIDS is a largely silent epidemic filled with stigma and shame, and African leaders have been slow to respond to the growing crisis in their nations. In South Africa 13% of all pregnant women are testing HIV positive, while in the northern regions of Namibia over 30% of pregnant women are infected. In Côte d'Ivoire, at least one in ten adults is HIV-infected. It is estimated that 90% of those infected do not know it and are therefore unaware that they may transmit the virus to their partners and their children. In addition, the number of AIDS orphans is predicted to rise dramatically in the next five to ten years and by 2010 it is projected that South Africa alone will have over 2 million AIDS orphans.

In an effort to halt the spread of the HIV and AIDS epidemic, World Education is conducting a sustained education, training and community mobilization effort in close collaboration with African partner organizations. Since its inception fifty years ago, World Education has advocated a participatory approach to capacity building in a wide range of sectors, tailoring activities to meet local needs in collaboration with indigenous partners in Africa, Asia and the US. For the past five years, World Education has been fighting the spread of AIDS in southern Africa through AIDS education and a "training of trainers" effort.

The result of this effort has been a significant increase in the number of HIV counselors and home-based care providers in local communities, particularly in Namibia where World Education's approach has been extremely successful. The program has a strong multiplier effect by strengthening the training capacity of government and NGO health workers so that their knowledge is transferred to local communities where services are most needed. By targeting health professionals already employed in the health system, World Education helps institutionalize counselor and home-based care training at the ministry level so that new skills become an integral part of regular health care delivery. Combining participants from different ministries and the NGO sector has created a way for participants from multiple sectors to share their experiences and skills. Building stronger links between the government and NGO sector and between different line ministries promotes a unified national approach to combat the epidemic across different sectors. By also emphasizing community level training, local capacity can be built to help fight the spread of AIDS.

As the crisis grows, World Education recognizes the urgent need to do more. Our AIDS education and training programs must be scaled up quickly to reach communities and individuals across Africa who are most affected by the AIDS crisis. We must dramatically increase awareness of the pandemic and the efforts to control the rampant infection rate. World Education realizes that AIDS is a life and death issue, a very real threat to the survival of this vibrant continent and its people.

If you would like to support this effort, please send your contribution to:

The World Education AIDS Prevention Fund for Southern Africa
44 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA  02210-1211
USA