|
Our Challenge
As we go
forward in our work, we do so knowing that millions of Africans face an
almost unimaginable scale of disease, poverty and disparity:
- In
Swaziland, in the 15 to 49 age group 38.6 percent of the population is
HIV positive, representing the highest HIV prevalence of any country in
the world.
- In
the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa, 36.5 percent of pregnant women
are HIV positive.
- Nigeria,
a country with 2 percent of the world’s population,
experiences 10 percent of the world’s maternal deaths.
- In Africa as
a whole, the maternal death rate of 940 per 100,000 is 160 times that of
the United States.
-
Of the
nearly 30 million Africans who are HIV positive, less than five percent
will receive antiretroviral drugs.
-
In Nigeria
the government spends only $2 per person per year for health care, in
Uganda $5, in Malawi $8.
Behind these
statistics are human beings -- men, women, and children with infinite
value and intrinsic dignity gifted to them by God. We can no longer
allow this dignity to be betrayed by AIDS, poverty, and meager medical
care. The betrayal must be answered by meaningful HIV treatment, by
improved maternal health care and by a compassionate human presence for
those who are sick and suffering.
|
