Where are we now?

I was looking for a new angle on the story of HIV/AIDS work both here in Indiana and also in South Africa, and I came across an interesting fact.

In 2001, the United Nations made a declaration of commitment to working together on the problem of HIV/AIDS around the world. This commitment called for all nations of the world to work together and bring all their resources to bear to provide "universal access" to HIV prevention and treatment...and eventually to halt and reverse the global AIDS epidemic.

They had target dates, and two years ago in 2008 the UN reaffirmed its commitment to the projects and the timeline they had created.
The target date for universal access was 2010.

The target for reversing the epidemic is 2015.

I'll be seeking interviews with representatives from the Indiana State Department of Health, as well as the Indiana AIDS fund, to see how things are going for universal access here at home. I'll also talk with someone from Loving South Africa and perhaps a partner of theirs in Kwazulu Natal about how progress toward universal access is looking there. I'm curious what I'll find. Perhaps universal access in Indiana is accomplished and well-funded--perhaps not. Everything I've heard from Kwazulu Natal's poorest areas is that access is by no means universal, but I've not gotten hard figures.

The World Health Organization also recently posted some data about progress being made in some regions of the world toward slowing and reversing the progress of AIDS...but if memory serves, the data for sub-Saharan Africa was not nearly so positive. Still, they are some hard figures to consider.

In other news, I am pleased to say I have now TWO sponsors for the trip, and I haven't yet sent out any overt pleas for support. Thank you very much to J & C, as well as H & J. I appreciate your trust and support very much.

Thanks for reading,
Marcus