On December 1, World AIDS Day, more than 8,000 people will die from AIDS-related causes. With 40 million people across the globe living with HIV/AIDS and less than 10 percent receiving adequate treatment, the AIDS pandemic represents one of the most pressing humanitarian and development priorities of our time.
The disease exacts an especially heavy toll on individuals and families in the poorest communities. Because people with few economic opportunities may be more likely to engage in high-risk behavior, they face increased vulnerability. Poor communities also lack the resources to cope with AIDS and the loss of their most productive members. As the pandemic takes its course, poverty and AIDS compound one another in a grim cycle of interdependence, changing the very landscape of societies.
CARE's response has grown with the AIDS pandemic, starting with one project in 1987 to well over 100 projects in 40 countries today. As our portfolio has expanded, CARE has come to understand HIV/AIDS as a larger development concern, rather than just a health issue. We have challenged ourselves to take a more holistic approach to tackling the virus, placing emphasis not only on prevention and care for individuals affected by HIV/AIDS, but also on stigma reduction and larger policy and advocacy efforts. During my visit to Rwanda in September, I met with a group of 100 HIV-positive widows who are members of an organization called "Don't Fear." They are working with CARE's support to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, and their efforts are helping to reduce discrimination and stigma in their communities.
In collaboration with partners in the United States and abroad, CARE strives to empower communities to effectively address this crisis — to gain access to antiretroviral drugs, to educate their peers about prevention, to advocate for much-needed resources and to combat discrimination. We are committed to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS and to helping households affected by HIV/AIDS receive the medical care, educational opportunities and emotional support to live productive and dignified lives.
This year, to honor World AIDS Day, we have displayed panels from the global AIDS Memorial Quilt project at CARE's headquarters lobby. These panels honor friends and family members of CARE staff around the world lost to AIDS. In addition, CARE's HIV/AIDS Unit will be launching three new publications on World AIDS Day, including case studies of programs in Rwanda and Lesotho, and a series of briefing papers on CARE's implementation of an organizational HIV/AIDS workforce policy.
Ninety-five percent of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations, but HIV is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world. It touches all of our lives. On World AIDS Day — and every day — CARE is committed to using every tool at our disposal to fight this pandemic, protect our common future and help people affected by HIV/AIDS live with dignity.
