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• SF Aids Resources
• World Aids Day
• Aids in Africa
• New Research Information
• Aids Information
• What your money can do

Additional Links/Resources:

CRS World AIDS Day resources:

• World AIDS Day e-postcard: This e-card, which can be e-mailed directly from the CRS web site, highlights key statistics about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and provides links to more resources on the CRS web site. Send some today!

• Bulletin Quotes -- Quotes from Catholics Bishops, and statistics on global AIDS to reprint in church bulletins and newsletters.

• Prayer Service -- weaves themes of Catholic Social teaching into a prayerful call for just and compassionate responses to the global AIDS pandemic.

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Other Resources on the CRS web site:

• Fighting Back: Living Positively and Reaching out in Kenya. Photo gallery and stories of AIDS outreach work.

• More on CRS' AIDS programming throughout the world.

• The Picture of Compassion (2 page PDF) - two-page CRS World AIDS Day info sheet that discusses the global reach of AIDS, Catholic Relief Services' AIDS outreach and ways for Catholics in the United States to get involved.

• Maps on CRS AIDS programming in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

• CRS' policy work on HIV/AIDS

• Africa Rising! Hope and Healing Campaign -addressing the AIDS pandemic in Africa is a major focus of this campaign, which seeks to raise awareness and foster action among U.S. Catholics on issues that affect the poor in Africa.

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  The Well Project, Inc A Not For Profit Corporation, is an initiative conceived, developed, and administered by HIV+ women and those who are affected by this disease. Our Founder, Dawn Averitt Bridge, was diagnosed with HIV in 1988. Our editorial team consists of several of the most prominent writers and editors on HIV disease and women. Our National Advisory Board reflects the population we serve with more than 60 percent women of color and more than 25 percent HIV+ women.

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• Project Inform is a national nonprofit, community based organization working to end the AIDS epidemic. Our mission:
  Inform people living with HIV, their caregivers and their healthcare and service providers about the treatment and monitoring of HIV disease; Advocate to facilitate research towards a cure and for appropriate policies, legislation and funding for HIV research, treatment and care; and Inspire people to make informed choices, take effective action in the fight against HIV and choose hope over despair.

Facts and Figures on HIV/AIDS

• The spreading HIV/AIDS epidemic has quickly become a major obstacle in the fight against hunger and poverty in developing countries.
  

• Because the majority of those falling sick with AIDS are young adults who normally harvest crops, food production has dropped dramatically in countries with high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates.
  

• In southern Africa, close to 500,000 people died of AIDS in 2001 alone, fueling a serious food crisis in 2002-2003 in which more than 14 million people faced hunger and starvation.

• Infected adults also leave behind children and elderly relatives, who have little means to provide for themselves. In 2001, 2.5 million children were newly orphaned in Southern Africa.
  

• Since the epidemic began, 25 million people have died from AIDS, which has caused more than 13 million children to lose either their mother or both parents. For its analysis, UNICEF uses a term that illustrates the gravity of the situation; child-headed households, or minors orphaned by HIV/AIDS who are raising their siblings.
  

• 42 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in the world – 92.8 percent of them in developing countries. 3 million are children under the age of 15. 2.9 million of those children live in the developing world, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  

  What your
  money can buy

  $3 can provide one dose of antiretroviral drugs for an HIV-positive mother or child.

  $150 can provide education, medical care, food and support for an orphaned child for one year.

  $482 can prevent the transmission of HIV from a pregnant woman to her unborn child.

• More than 42 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in the world today- the majority of them in countries where AIDS exacerbates poverty and is spreading quickly. In Sub-Saharan Africa, hardest hit by the disease, 70 percent of the population is living with HIV/AIDS.

• According to United Nations estimates, an additional 45 million people in 126 low- and middle-income countries will become infected between 2002 and 2010, unless the world succeeds in drastically expanding its efforts to halt the spread of the disease.

  The solution requires a global commitment to provide effective methods that decrease the prevalence of AIDS and to battle the misinformation and stigma that advances its spread. In addition, access to adequate nutritional resources, medications and effective care are paramount in helping to extend the lives of the millions of people living with the disease.

  World AIDS Day 2003 provides an opportunity to learn more, spread the word, and be a force for change. Consider observing the day in your diocese, parish or school by:

  • Sending a World AIDS Day e-postcard from the CRS web site to your family, friends and fellow advocates.

  • Inviting a speaker to discuss the local and global reach of AIDS.

  • Holding a World AIDS Day prayer service.

  • Including prayers for those suffering from AIDS among the prayers of the faithful on Sundays leading up to World AIDS Day.

  • Inserting quotes from Church leaders, global AIDS statistics or World AIDS Day info in your church bulletin.

  • Joining the ongoing effort to secure more U.S. funding to combat global AIDS by joining the CRS legislative network to receive legislative updates, action alerts and advocacy resources.

  • Holding a fundraiser to support CRS HIV/AIDS programming throughout the world.