Why Black ?

Graphic Version of the Heading

This World AIDS Day, AVERT.org has abandonded its usual bright colours and turned black, the colour of mourning.

Why black? Because of the reality of AIDS in 2006, a year in which three million men, women and children died, including two million in Africa. (Read press release)

  • Mourners at funernal in Aliwel North township, Eastern Cape
  • A girl living with HIV in Malawi
  • Expanding graveyard at Missionvale township

    • Suffering and death

    The reality of AIDS is sadness and pain: funerals for young adults; children suffering; graveyards filling up. In South Africa, recorded deaths from all causes rose by 79% between 1997 and 2004. Among young women, the death rate quadrupled.1

  • A grandmother with her grandchildren orphaned by AIDS
  • Young people orphaned by AIDS in the Eastern Cape

    • Orphans

    The reality is millions of orphans – not just five year olds but also teenagers and young adults. In sub-Saharan Africa, 12 million children have lost at least one parent to AIDS.2

  • Orphaned child living on rubbish dump in rural Eastern Cape
  • Orphaned children living on rubbish dump in rural Eastern Cape

    • Impact on society

    The reality is children growing up without the education or skills they need to pull themselves out of poverty. Societies are not equipped to cope with this many orphans. Many are left to fend for themselves, scrounging from rubbish tips or begging on the streets.

  • Home-based care in Missionvale township
  • Singing about HIV and treatment at self-help community group, Sisonke project
  • Doctors at the Rixile HIV clinic treat an ill HIV child, Tintswalo
  • Assessing the circumstances of an AIDS orphan in rural KwaZulu Natal

    • Responses

    Help is reaching some people. Home-based care, support groups, care for infected children and orphans can all make a great difference. But such projects are not reaching nearly enough of those in need.

The reality of AIDS in 2006

Many people think that AIDS these days is not such a big problem, thanks to better drugs, new initiatives and promises like those made at the G8 summit last year.3

In fact the AIDS epidemic is worse than ever and still growing. Millions of people who need treatment aren't receiving it,4 most women can't get help to prevent them infecting their babies,5 most drug users and others at high risk of infection can't access prevention services.6

AIDS is tearing apart families and societies.

Most of the photos featured in this page were taken just a few weeks ago in South Africa. We didn't have to go out of our way to find them. This is the daily reality of millions of people around the world.

This is unacceptable.

Enough talking. We know what works. We need more action, more mobilisation, more delivery on the ground at the grassroots where it's needed. And the money that's been pledged needs to be spent now.

This World AIDS Day, our leaders must be held accountable for the promises they have made.

 

If you would like to contribute to AVERT's efforts to help people affected by HIV and AIDS in Southern Africa then please visit our donations section.

Notes

  1. See our South Africa statistics page for more information
  2. UNAIDS/WHO 2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic
  3. At the G8 summit in July 2006, the leaders of the world's most powerful countries pledged to ensure as near as possible to universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment worldwide by 2010. Two months later, all United Nations Member States committed themselves to pursuing the goal of universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes, treatment, care and support by 2010. (Read more about the “All by 2010” targets)
  4. According to the latest figures, only 24% of the 6.8 million people in low- and middle-income countries who need antiretroviral treatment are receiving it. (WHO, Progress in scaling up access to HIV treatment in low and middle-income countries, June 2006, 16th August 2006)
  5. Preventive drugs are reaching just 9% of pregnant, HIV-infected women. (UNAIDS/WHO 2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic)
  6. Only 9% of men who have sex with men received any type of HIV prevention service in 2005. Among drug users the figure was 20%, and was below 10% in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where drug use is fuelling rapidly expanding epidemics. Just 12% of people who want to be tested for HIV are able to do so. (UNAIDS/WHO 2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic)

Last updated April 10, 2007