Approximately 25 million people in Africa have HIV/Aids and 2.5 million more contract it each year in Africa alone. This has resulted in more than 12 million children being orphaned. We believe that something should be done, and that something can be done.
In line with our aim of realistic goals, we aim to focus on the people on the grassroots levels, those directly affected by the Aids epidemic in Africa.
We have 2 different areas under this heading of HIV/Aids and healthcare:
1. Awareness and education: sending out groups of volunteers and youth to educate people about Aids and healthy living, aimed at the prevention of STI's and HIV. Many people contract the disease for reasons that can be avoided, if only they had the knowedge to do so.
2. Healthcare: providing resources to people to keep them fit and healthy whilst living with the disease and other diseases (medical treatment). This includes education about healthy lifestyle factors in terms of behaviours and attitudes. These are seen to have the capacity to prevent onset of symptoms (in the case of Aids) or prolong lifetime expectancy.
From an ecological perspective, we aim to address the interdependence between people and their environments when addressing health issues. We acknowledge there is a strong interaction between people and the socio-environmental context in which they live. Herein lies the idea of reciprocal causation, and through work in the other initiatives of our organisation, we have the ability to address the problem through a multidimensional approach. For example, economic empowerment can make a person more likely to engage in protective health behaviours suh as wearing condoms and drinking clean water, because they value their life and have the necessary resources to do so. In terms of education, having the knowledge to engage in these behaviours provides an opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty, and in turn influencing those around them (such as family and friends) to do the same.
