Join the fight on World AIDS Day

IMA has played a role in prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS for nearly a decade. Here a bottle of antiretroviral medicine sits in the window of a hospital in western Tanzania. IMA has been part of AIDSRelief Constortium in Tanzania since 2004.

IMA World Health/Laura Burkey

For HIV/AIDS awareness, 1988 was a big year.  James W. Bunn and Thomas Netter of the World Health Organization created the first World AIDS Day, and the International AIDS Society was formed. That very next year, the first World AIDS Day took place with the theme: Our Lives, Our World – Let’s Take Care of Each Other.

Fast forward 23 years to the 2011 World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. And this year, it’s about Getting to Zero: Zero new HIV infections, discrimination and AIDS-related deaths.

The 2011 UNAIDS World AIDS Day report showed a 21-percent drop in newly infected people with HIV, which is the lowest since 1997. The decrease is mainly thanks to 6.6 million people now having access to life-prolonging drugs, which is an increase of 1.35 million since 2009. The rate of children becoming infected continues to fall, as nearly 50 percent of pregnant women living with HIV are receiving antiretroviral therapy to stop the virus transmission.

With a long history of managing interventions, IMA World Health remains focused on strengthening the bond between local response and the community. In fact, IMA facilitated the distribution of $720 million worth of Diflucan in sub-Saharan Africa through a partnership with Pfizer from 2003 to 2010. Diflucan is a drug used to treat opportunistic infections in people who are infected with HIV/AIDS.

The faith-based organization plays a major role in prevention, care and treatment of HIV and AIDS, particularly in South Sudan and Tanzania.

South Sudan: In conjunction with the Southern Sudan AIDS Commission and the Ministry of Health, IMA has increased HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment in six counties in two of the country’s largest states. Services include HIV counseling and testing, prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission and even condom distribution.

Tanzania: With Catholic Relief Services’ AIDSRelief Consortium, IMA has provided assistance to 32 public and faith-based partner treatment centers in Mwanza, Mara, Manyara, and Tanga since 2004. Not to mention, longtime national partner, the Christian Social Services Commission, will receive direct U.S. Government funding for their leadership of eight treatment facilities in Tanzania. Also, in partnership with Pact for a Global Fund Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project, IMA created integrated services including health care, educational support, vocational training, psychosocial and nutritional support for children in 76 villages in the Lushoto District from 2009 to 2010.

Won’t you join the fight and Get to Zero? Make a donation to support IMA's work to advance health around the world. When you give by Dec. 31, your gift will have double the impact through our Matching Gift Fund!