World AIDS Day 2017

Today, Friday 1st December recognises World AIDS Day, a day in which we are given the chance to stand up and join in the campaign to help put an end to one of the world’s most serious health and development challenges.

Although over recent years we have seen a decrease in HIV prevalence; across the world today there still currently exists a massive 36.7 million people living with the HIV virus, with over 10,500 of those in the UK and Ireland. (Source: Global Health Policy).

With regards to the Sustainable Development Goals, without ensuring that all people are healthy and happy we can never fully achieve a secure level of sustainable development. Although all these goals are interlinked and interdependent of each other, Goal 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing places a particular focus on this issue, with target 3.3 stating that by 2030, we aim to “end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases”.

So, what can I do to help combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic?

There are so many ways in which you can get involved and help us to combat major health issues across the world such as HIV and AIDS. Below are just a few quick ideas

 

  1. EDUCATE

Educating ourselves and those around us is one of the best things we can do when planning to take action of any kind. How can we deal with an issue such as HIV/AIDS if we don’t know anything about it? Read, explore and learn – and then share this learning with your friends and family! Through education not only do we learn when and where an issue exists, but we can also discover the best ways to go about tackling it!

 

  1. VOLUNTEER

Across the world there are hundreds of development organisations which focus their work on tackling the problem of HIV/AIDS. Volunteering your time to work with these organisations and help those suffering from AIDS is a real hands on way in which you play your part in the tackling of this huge epidemic.

If you ever feel like you would like to get involved with the work of Children in Crossfire, we are always welcome to anybody who wants to give a helping hand – whether it’s to fundraise, to educate or just to have a bit of fun, give us a call on (028) 71269898 or drop us an email at info@childrenincrossfire.org – it would be great to hear from you!

 

  1. DONATE

By donating to organisations such as Children in Crossfire you are donating to improve the health and wellbeing of many. As a development organisation Children in Crossfire works to help achieve every Sustainable Development Goal, however through our health and nutrition programmes in both Tanzania and Ethiopia, we work to support children and their parents to lead a healthy and happy life free from all major diseases.

Although we all still have a long way to go before we fully achieve a full eradication of HIV/AIDs, with every success story we hear we become ever closer to reaching our aim. Let’s all work together on this World AIDS Day and help raise awareness to create a world free from HIV/AIDS!