Africa's killers

Last week the Prime Minister made a speech about the Ebola crisis facing parts of Africa and I was rather taken aback when he made the following comment:

Ebola is the 'biggest health problem facing our world in a generation.'

No one can argue that the present Ebola outbreak is horrific and clearly having a terrible impact in some parts of Africa. However, two things struck me about this statement. Firstly, the Ebola outbreak has been around for some time, yet, it is only now that western governments, including our own and the USA, seem to be responding with anything approaching adequate resources. Could this be because we have one or two cases of the disease on our own shores and so now the illness is being taken seriously?

Secondly, and to my mind more importantly, is the Ebola outbreak really 'the biggest health problem facing our world in a generation'? I well remember the gradual emergence of news in the 1980s of a disease that was devastating parts of Africa and various communities in western countries. I remember the chilling government advert, accompanied by images of tombstones and John Hurt's voice, shown across the television channels. I remember meeting people my own age with AIDS who were at that time living under a death sentence. A couple of years ago in Kenya I was struck by how many public signs and warnings there were about the continued threat of HIV/AIDS. Is Ebola really a greater threat to the world than HIV/AIDS? Does this sort of hyperbole help or hinder in situations like the one we face at the moment with Ebola?

Then my attention was drawn to this graph by Paula Gooder which seems to suggest I was right in questioning the statement.

The NGO Water.org, co-founded by Matt Damon and Gary White, points out that 3.4 million people a year die as a result of a water related disease. This dwarfs the impact of Ebola and we have the means to address this problem, but of course it doesn't really impact on most of us living in the west.

I'm pleased that David Cameron and Barack Obama are finally addressing the Ebola outbreak and its impact on various countries in Africa. I support the allocation of resources to deal with the crisis and want to see other countries respond in the same way. But when the Ebola crisis is over I also hope that our governments are prepared to invest the same commitment of time, energy and resources to the other much 'bigger' health problems facing the world in our generation, even if they don't pose the same threat directly to us as they do to our brothers and sisters in other parts of our world.

Aids and Abishag

Today is World Aids Day. When I was in Kenya last month I noticed this sign outside a large tea factory on the slopes of Mt Kenya. These signs are quite common in Kenya. A person I met who really impressed me was the wife of Bishop Charles, the Bishop of Meru. Whenever her husband preaches the bishop’s wife then speaks and she invariably repeats the ABCD message on this sign. She does. however, change the last part so her message is:

ABSTAIN; BE FAITHFUL; use a CONDOM; or DIE

A very powerful message spoken by a remarkable woman whose name is Abishag.



Update: And here is the Archbishop of Canterbury's message for World Aids Day.

lace up save lives

I don't usually do product endorsements but tomorrow is World Aids Day and to mark the event Nike has joined with RED to launch a RED Laces campaign. 100% of the profit from the sale of Nike’s RED laces goes to the Global Fund and Nike’s football based programmes. It’s part of RED’s ongoing work of developing partnerships to fund the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa.

If you were watching Chelski beating Arsenal in the London derby yesterday you may have noticed Didier Drogba, who scored twice for Chelski, was wearing RED laces. Today Drogba joined Bono (a key player in RED’s work) and other footballers to publicise the campaign at a press conference in London. RED sums up its approach as educate and medicate; aiming to ensure that HIV positive people in Africa have access to the drugs they need to stay alive and supporting education programmes about the illness across the continent.

The RED laces are intended for football boots but anyone can wear them, though I’m not sure how they would go down on a pair of black shoes at a funeral. Anyway, I think it’s a simple way of raising awareness about HIV in Africa and an effective method of fund raising. The laces would make a good Christmas present for sports mad friends and relatives and for those not into sport there are other RED partnership products. Other companies working with RED include: GAP, Starbucks, Dell, Apple, Converse and Hallmark.