Buy the contest finalists' Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED cards today

Just three of the 10 finalists' cards

Don't forget to vote for your favorite Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED card design! The 10 finalists' designs have been posted on HALLMARK.COM/YOU, and the deadline to vote is coming soon: January 10, 2008.

While you're voting, I also want to let you know that the top 10 finalists' cards went on sale TODAY at HALLMARK.COM/RED! You can purchase the cards individually, or get the whole pack of 10. I'm gonna do the latter right now :)

Best wishes for the new year. --bn

Thank you Auburn University students!

Stephanie and Helen with the card

The inside of the card

Greetings from snowy, wintery Geneva, the home of the Global Fund. As you know, (RED) money comes straight to the Global Fund after you buy a (RED) product and then it is all sent on to one of the three Global Fund (RED) AIDS grants in Rwanda, Swaziland and Ghana.

But that’s not why I’m writing now.

I just popped out to the reception desk to see Helen and Stephanie about something and was excited to spy a Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED card standing proudly on the front desk for all staff and visitors alike to see! I opened it up and hey presto I was promptly serenaded by:

Lean on me
when you’re not strong,
and I’ll be your friend,
I’ll help you carry on

How neat! A (RED) song card winging its way across the Atlantic... but who from, I wondered?

Auburn University students in Alabama who wanted to tell us they support (RED), that’s who. So Allie, EmilyAnne, Alex, both Kristies, Caroline, Katie, Lindsey, both Ashleys, Brigitte, Sara, Laura, Jackie, Holly, Whitney, Emily, Meredith, Amelia, Kelly, Katy, all your friends… thank you!!

Happy Holidays to you all
Greta x

Stories about Sipho, Part 4

Since September, we've been posting Stories about Sipho, blog entries by Dr. Ryan Phelps about a Swazi boy named Sipho. We've been thrilled to see that Sipho is regaining his health due to the antiretroviral treatment that (RED) money is helping to pay for, through the Global Fund. --bn

Here's Ryan's latest update:

As I entered the pediatric ward, Sipho was still marching the halls. He recognized me immediately and walked toward me smiling, his arms outstretched. I was flattered by this gesture, for the previous time I saw Sipho he had waited for several hours in our crowded clinic lobby only to have me greet him briefly and stick two needles in his gluteus maximus, one on each side. Sipho could barely stand then, even before the shots. There was no reaching out that day, and there was no smiling.

Today was different. Sipho's wide grin uncovered several blackened, decayed teeth (another sinister legacy of the virus). When he reached me, I placed my hands under his arms, lifted him up and sat him down on a metal gurney in the hospital corridor. Sipho was still feather-light, his ribs thin and narrow under my fingers, like wicker furniture. His pulse was rapid, a compensation for his watered-down blood. I climbed onto the wheeled cot and sat beside the patient I had just mistaken for dead.

Sipho reached for my stethoscope and I helped him hang it around his neck. My movements were exaggeratedly deliberate and gentle, for despite my medical training I harbor an irrational fear of somehow breaking extremely frail children.

Sipho placed the listening end of the stethoscope in his ears, picked up the metal bell, and looked at me. I guided Sipho's hand to the ribs overlying my heart. His forearm felt like a skewer of tightly packed, uncooked marshmallows. He placed the bell next to my necktie, squinted for two seconds, and then smirked with satisfaction. As far as I know, it was the first time he had heard the amplified beat of a human heart.

I looked down at the cold shiny steel and small plastic wheels of the gurney beneath us. I was no longer sad or angry. An eight year-old who seemed destined to perish was alive, not only alive but sitting contentedly beside me, listening to my heart beat and smiling.

I smiled too, and not just for Sipho. If ARVs can restore life to a child so deathly ill, there is hope for thousands of other HIV-infected children.

After a minute or so of listening, Sipho carefully placed my stethoscope back around my neck, climbed from the bed, and scampered – as any normal child would -- toward the pediatric ward's food cart, where a nurse was distributing buttered bread.

TO BE CONTINUED…

ABOUT THE BAYLOR CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
In southern Africa, 40 to 60 percent of all deaths of children under age five years are caused by HIV/AIDS. Despite this fact, in almost every resource-limited setting worldwide where HIV/AIDS treatment has been initiated, children are grossly underrepresented among its recipients. The Swaziland Center of Excellence is helping to address this discrepancy. The COE is part of a global network of clinical centers created by the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) at Baylor College of Medicine. These clinics are modeled after two landmark HIV/AIDS care and treatment centers that BIPAI constructed and opened in Constanta, Romania and Gaborone, Botswana. The purpose of this network is to build critical infrastructure and human capacity to catalyze access of children worldwide to HIV/AIDS care and treatment.

These clinics are staffed by local health care workers and members of the Pediatric AIDS Corps, a group of over fifty health professionals that are linked to one of the Baylor Children's Clinical Centers of Excellence for purposes of professional development and training, continuing education and clinical consultation. In collaboration with local health professionals, we spend our time here building local capacity through one-on-one clinical mentorship and didactic trainings. We also provide high-quality pediatric HIV care for children like Sipho.

For more on Dr Ryan Phelps’ experiences in Swaziland, go to pediatrician-in-swaziland.blogspot.com.

In Ghana with (RED), Part 2

Rocky Dawuni with Dr. Patrick Bampo, HIV Coordinator and Medical Director in the Consulting Room of the Global Fund clinic of Tamale Central Hospital

Here's the second installment of our friend Rocky Dawuni's Ghana trip -- he visited more people who are fighting HIV/AIDS on the ground, with the help of Global Fund-(RED) money. Thanks, Rocky!

Click here to read Rocky's earlier posts on (BLOG) RED. --bn

Mr. Sarpong, NACP publicist, Kojo Asante and I arrived at the Kotoka International Airport early in the morning for our flight to Tamale, the capital of the Northern region of Ghana with a population of over 305,000 people. Our direct flight ended up being cancelled so we took another flight to Sunyani, a major city four hours from Tamale. We then traveled by road the rest of the way.

Our first meeting on arrival was with Dr. Patrick Bampo, the medical director of the Tamale Central Hospital and HIV coordinator for the Northern Region of Ghana and his team. Dr. Bampo explained that the Northern Region at 1.2% has the lowest HIV prevalence in Ghana. He attributed this to a comprehensive campaign of awareness on one hand and remoteness of parts of the north which impacts proper data gathering.

There are currently six Global Fund Antiretroviral Treatment Centers for the dispensing of ARVs in the entire Northern Region. The region also has six CD4 machines for testing and monitoring clients located in various hospitals. The Global Fund facility of the Tamale Central Hospital was a spacious and brightly lit room with three consultation rooms. It was also designed in such a way as to ensure privacy of the clients. Most of the clients who received treatment and counseling at this particular clinic were pregnant women. It is especially important that pregnant women be monitored and treated to lessen the possibility of mother-to-child transmissions.

We also visited an adjoining old ward that was in the process of being refurbished with new beds, showers to accommodate clients as well as a newly equipped laboratory.

From the Central Hospital we paid a courtesy call to the office of the Regional Administration where we were given a rousing welcome. I had worked with most of them earlier in the year on a UNICEF and Carter Foundation assisted campaign for behavioral change on clean water use and guinea worm prevention.

Our final visit was to the Tamale Teaching Hospital where Dr. Bampo showed us other Global Fund/(RED) supported laboratories, consulting rooms and ART centers. He stressed how the consultation, treatment and counseling rooms for HIV/AIDs were integrated with that of other diseases to prevent the issue of stigma and isolation.

Back in Accra I was pleased with the results of the efforts of the NACP in implementing
the Global Fund-(RED) initiatives as well as the dedication of the medical personnel on the ground doing all the hard work. My commendations to all the great people around the world who are supporting (RED) products and companies and strengthening the hands of the Global Fund to reach this far.

Rocky with a counselor at Tamale Hospital

Being briefed on the Laboratory of the Tamale Teaching Hospital

Briefing a pressman from the Ghana News Agency in Tamale

Global Fund-refurbished consulting room in Tamale Regional Hospital

Inspecting the newly refurbished lab with a CD4 machine with Dr. Patrick Bampo, HIV Coordinator and Medical Director of Tamale Central Hospital

Meeting with community leaders from various departments in the Northern region and explaining (RED)'s efforts. Rocky is with Mr. Deri of the the National Guinea Worm campaign who he worked with earlier in the year on a UNICEF clean water campaign

A (RED) World AIDS Day at Santa Monica High

We've had such a busy few weeks that I forgot to post Lia's recap of Santa Monica High School's World AIDS Day event! Although it's a bit late now, I think it's still worth reading -- I'm always thrilled to hear that students are spreading the (RED) message to their fellow students, friends and family! --bn

(RED) joined HIV/AIDS organizations in promoting the fight against AIDS on World AIDS Day globally with our online and PR efforts, but locally, we found that Santa Monica High School students were also on the same track.

Santa Monica High School, “SAMOHI” as it’s known, devotes a week to AIDS awareness every December, and this year they invited our chairman Bobby Shriver to speak on behalf of (RED).

When we arrived at SAMOHI on Monday, December 3, the school was decorated with red HIV ribbons and various signage that communicated the AIDS Awareness Week message. Many of the students who helped us set up were wearing (PRODUCT) RED shirts by Emporio Armani and Gap too! We stocked the stage with plenty of (PRODUCT) RED items and waited as about 100 students filed into the auditorium.

Bobby spoke about the severity of the AIDS crisis in Africa and its importance to us in the United States as being a function of the most basic concept of humanity. He stressed that care for our fellow man is the most fundamental reason to engage in the fight to save the lives of the thousands of Africans affected by HIV/AIDS everyday. After sharing how he and Bono conceived of and started (RED), Bobby performed his animated show-and-tell with much of the (RED) stuff we brought. He held up some of the Gap (PRODUCT) RED baby clothes to many an “oooh” and “aaahh” from the SAMOHI crowd, encouraged everyone to wrap all of their holiday gifts with the Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED wrapping paper, all while sporting his Armani Bono-inspired (PRODUCT) RED shades and being outfitted from head to toe in (RED) stuff himself of course.

The most memorable part of the presentation came when Bobby pulled the Africa issue of Vanity Fair from his pile of (RED) paraphernalia. He wanted the SAMOHI kids to see how antiretroviral treatment transforms the health of people dying of AIDS. He opened the magazine to the Lazarus Effect article, which features before and after photos by Antonin Kratochvil. He held up the picture of Sylvia before she started ARV treatment, then showed the photo of her after about 60 days of treatment. The audience gasped in disbelief. A few students even exclaimed out loud how blown away they were, to which Bobby reinforced their astonishment. How could the healthy young woman carrying her child and smiling so confidently be the same as the ghostly figure clinging to life just a month and a half before? The high school students were suddenly fully engaged in Bobby’s passionate message about the feasibility of winning the battle against HIV/AIDS in Africa. It was moving to watch the “ah-ha” moment as it rushed over the SAMOHI student body because of a simple yet invaluable series of photographs. On that bright Monday morning at Santa Monica High School, a picture truly was worth a thousand words.

Special thanks to Molly and the ASB students for organizing the event and inviting (RED)!

Vote for your favorite Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED card!

Wow. Thanks for all of your incredible entries to our first Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED card design competition! Out of the stacks of entries received, there were 10 in particular that rose to the top – and that's where YOU come in again!

The 10 finalists' designs have been posted on HALLMARK.COM/YOU, where you can vote for your favorite through Jan. 10, 2008.

Vote now at HALLMARK.COM/YOU!

The top 10 designs will be made into actual Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED cards available for sale on Hallmark.com starting Dec. 28. The designers' stories are on the back of the cards, too. Each designer will receive $250, and Hallmark will match that amount in a contribution to the Global Fund, to fight AIDS in Africa.

The entrant with the most votes will be named the Grand Prize Winner and receive $2,250, with Hallmark matching that amount in a contribution to the Global Fund, too. The winning card will also be sold at Hallmark.com for a year.

Check out the designs at HALLMARK.COM/YOU now and vote for your favorite!


What can the Global Fund provide in Africa with the $4,750 that it will receive from Hallmark? This amount can cover the cost of antiretroviral treatment for one year for 20 people living with HIV; provide 450 rapid tests to detect HIV and deliver instant test results; cover the cost of 2,083 single-dose nevirapine treatments to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child; and provide a year's worth of school materials and daily hot meals for 10 children orphaned by AIDS.

Thanks for being part of our first Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED design contest – keep an eye out for more to come next year!

Stories about Sipho, Part 3

In September and October, we posted Stories about Sipho, Part 1 and 2, blog entries by Dr. Ryan Phelps about a Swazi boy named Sipho. As you will see in this latest entry, Sipho is regaining his health due to the antiretroviral treatment that (RED) money is helping to pay for, through the Global Fund.

Here's Ryan's latest update:

When my colleague, Dr. Eileen Birmingham, told me that there had been several casualties in the pediatric ward over the weekend, I had a feeling that Sipho was one of them. I had been out of the country and had not seen the child in over two months. Every time I asked for news of Sipho's condition, the news had not been good.

As Eileen started to list some of the causes of death, her shoulders sank, her head bowed slightly, and her face grew tired. There are few activities more dejecting than listing dead children. I rested my forehead in my palm, waiting to hear the name “Sipho” or the word “anemia,” which would probably have been what killed him. HIV-induced anemia, that is.

Late last week, Sipho's hemoglobin had been down to 2. As I explained in my earlier blog, it had been 3.4 when I saw him in September, the lowest I had ever seen in a living child (12 is the lower limit of “normal”). About two weeks ago, he was hospitalized so that he could receive a series of blood transfusions. Though he had received several units since that time, he was on the cusp of cardiovascular collapse. Sipho's bone marrow, after years of assault by HIV, had simply stopped making new cells. After several months of treatment, his ARVs had certainly done much to vanquish the virus, but his bone marrow needed time to recover.

I listened as my colleague continued the list of “late” children. I prepared myself for the news, ready to add Sipho to our list of failures.

"Oh, yeah, and then there is Sipho," she finally said.

The name entered my ears more like a sharp object than a name. My gut tightened, blood rushed to my head. I felt that queer, breathless quiver in my chest that immediately precedes bad news. Dread and anticipation became a slurry of anger and sadness.

Dr. Eileen went on to explain that she had last seen Sipho on Saturday. He had been bedridden, and still catastrophically anemic.

"He looked as if he might die right then," Eileen explained.

When she returned to the pediatric ward Monday morning, Eileen had found Sipho's father sitting next to his son's empty bed. Parents of deceased children often have to wait until Monday morning to pick up a child's official death certificate, as they are not available over the weekend.

Seeing this, Eileen asked the father what happened.

The man pointed out toward the hallway and said, "He is there."

"They took him away?" Eileen had asked to clarify.

"No," the man said, confused. "Sipho…went out there."

Eileen looked out the door into the corridor, and there was Sipho, marching toward her, chin held high.

Upon hearing this, I immediately asked Eileen for a ride to the hospital so that I could see Sipho myself...

---

For every HIV-positive child like Sipho who survived the weekend, many did not. ARVs are not reaching children fast enough. As I write this, and certainly as you read it, Sipho remains in grave danger, and for one simple reason. He was HIV-positive for eight years yet only recently started receiving ARVs. While (RED) and the Global Fund are doing a lot to expand access to treatment, most people who need treatment are still not getting it. There is still a lot of work for all of us to do...

TO BE CONTINUED…


ABOUT THE BAYLOR CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
In southern Africa, 40 to 60 percent of all deaths of children under age five years are caused by HIV/AIDS. Despite this fact, in almost every resource-limited setting worldwide where HIV/AIDS treatment has been initiated, children are grossly underrepresented among its recipients. The Swaziland Center of Excellence is helping to address this discrepancy. The COE is part of a global network of clinical centers created by the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) at Baylor College of Medicine. These clinics are modeled after two landmark HIV/AIDS care and treatment centers that BIPAI constructed and opened in Constanta, Romania and Gaborone, Botswana. The purpose of this network is to build critical infrastructure and human capacity to catalyze access of children worldwide to HIV/AIDS care and treatment.

These clinics are staffed by local health care workers and members of the Pediatric AIDS Corps, a group of over fifty health professionals that are linked to one of the Baylor Children's Clinical Centers of Excellence for purposes of professional development and training, continuing education and clinical consultation. In collaboration with local health professionals, we spend our time here building local capacity through one-on-one clinical mentorship and didactic trainings. We also provide high-quality pediatric HIV care for children like Sipho.

For more on Dr Ryan Phelps’ experiences in Swaziland, go to pediatrician-in-swaziland.blogspot.com.

Photoblog: Rwanda

Tamsin and Krishna brought back a few photos from their Rwanda trip. If you missed Tamsin's blogs last week, here they are:

Returning to Rwanda
Fruits of Labor
NURTU(RED)

Community health workers just outside of Kigali

Excerpt from the log book where the VCT clinic has documented HIV test results.
As you can see, most of the results have been negative!

A nurse at work

(RED) on the Financial Times front page

I thought I should start our weekend on a fun note -- here's (RED) on the front page of the Financial Times this week!

You've probably read by now that Damien Hirst and Bono are hosting a (RED) Art Auction on Valentine's Day, with proceeds going to the Global Fund, to fight AIDS in Africa. The photo above is of a Hirst piece that will be part of the auction.

>> Learn more about the auction and preview the artwork
>> Read: Hirst persuades art world's biggest names to go (RED)

Have a good one,

bn

NURTU(RED)

Emailed by Tamsin Smith from Rwanda

We had dinner Wednesday night with Rwanda's Minister of Health Dr. Innocent and Ida, who coordinates Global Fund program implementation and has helped organize our meetings. This gives us time to talk through much of what we've seen and heard since arriving. The food and the company are nourishing in the most delightful way.

Rwanda is tackling HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria as interwoven challenges. Rather than running separate programs to address each, they strive to build a health system able to test, treat and prevent illness among Rwanda's 9 million people. By pooling resources and expertise and sharing information broadly within and across clinics and hospitals, they are creating a standard baseline of care and public health capacity, the benefits of which should extend beyond the hoped for elimination of the major three killers. This is emblematic of longterm thinking and societal planning, which is often lacking in many developed countries with vastly more resources at hand. I have heard from several leaders here that one of the effects of the horrific genocide, which tore this nation apart, is that they think every day and in every way about how to create the best future Rwanda possible. It's as if the recent past so fully obliterated the definition of what is real, that their imaginations have been washed of constraints about how the future could look. In some way, facing horror has given them the strength to dream.

Leaving dinner, we say hello to Dr. Anita, director of the TRAC clinic, and our first appointment in the morrow...

A year and half ago, when we last spent time at TRAC, the crowding was so bad that three people shared the same narrow beds and even the physical structure of the clinic seemed in weak shape. It was here that Bono and former executive director of the Global Fund Richard Feachem announced that Rwanda would be the first country to receive (RED) money, with the first check to be cut that week. Dr. Anita and her team are excellent examples of what the infusion of needed money has meant.

Dr. Anita and her colleague Dr. Patrick explain that their case loads are down to manageable levels, as they are now able to refer clients to other clinics, closer to their homes, for follow-up care and to receive their ARVs. This has allowed TRAC staff to put more focus on research and on programs for children. They use cartoon-style charts to help explain to HIV-positive children what is happening inside their bodies, how the ARV medicine fights the infection, and that it's okay to keep playing with their friends. This tool helps parents and their children manage, confusion, fear and misinformation.

Children at TRAC are invited to join peer groups with other HIV-positive kids their age to discuss problems and just to play. Counseling is provided on health matters, but also issues at school, and HIV-positive adult clients act as mentors to these kids. In Rwanda, primary education is free, but the (RED) Global Fund grants help pay for school supplies and books for families in need through organizations like TRAC. Again, I'm struck by how holistically Rwanda is approaching HIV/AIDS. It is a part of life for the kids at TRAC and other clinics throughout the country, but it is not the defining one. They are taught not just to live with HIV, but to live -- to value their lives and others, and to make the most of what is precious.

--Tamsin

Fruits of Labor

Emailed by Tamsin Smith from Rwanda

A bumpy, half-hour ride from the center of Kigali takes us by mango, pineapple, papaya and sugarcane fields... reminders of the morning's luscious breakfast and leaving me with a greedy pang for more fine Rwandan coffee.

I'm traveling with Dr. Daniel, coordinator of Global Fund programs for Rwanda, and Krishna from the Global Fund. We're greeted by Dr. Clotilde upon arrival at the Kigese clinic, a health center where local families come for care. We meet Christine and the beautiful baby boy she delivered just hours earlier. Both are healthy and HIV negative. We meet a dozen volunteer community health workers, who are there to make their monthly reports on the 100 or so households they are each responsible to support as clinic ambassadors and in-home medical advisors. They have been trained to recognize symptoms of TB and Malaria, and supplied with medicine to treat them. The next round of Global Fund financing will equip them to tackle HIV/AIDS as well.

We sit in on a counseling session full of multiple generations of men and women, all of whom want to be tested for HIV and to understand how infection can be prevented or treated. I'm struck by the clear readiness to discuss the disease. This is markedly different than other countries, where stigma remains a stubborn impediment in the fight to eliminate HIV/AIDS. This openness is evident from reading the local newspaper, which featured an op-ed from Minister of Health Dr. Innocent (who we met with yesterday) and a story on First Lady Kagame, both speaking out on the importance of HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and treatment -- and the ultimate goal of total eradication.

Dr. Charles, director of the regional hospital, arrives to brief us on results and the data are impressive reminders of the impact that the Global Fund is having with (RED)'s help. Since 2006, the Kigese clinic has experienced:

• zero malaria deaths and zero cases of severe malaria illness
• all pregnant women agreed to be tested for HIV after receiving counseling, as did the majority of their partners
• of all the HIV positive pregnant women, none bore infected children, after receiving preventative treatment
• increasingly, couples with multiple children are practicing family planning and receiving Global Fund-provided condoms at the clinic

This positive news is reinforced by our discussions at the Centre de Sante Kimironko back in central Kigali, one of 53 integrated care sites across Rwanda, funded in part by (RED) consumers. Adjacent to the Kimironko laboratory where they test for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, the clinic is dispensing nutrient-rich powder to families. This supplement mixture helps undernourished individuals better ARVs, as they begin treatment. It also acts as formula for infants of HIV+ mothers, who must adhere to the transmission-prevention protocol of 6 months exclusive breastfeeding, followed by a formula-only diet, which we learned about during a trip to Swaziland.

Available, affordable nutritional baby formula is key to keeping children from contracting the disease at this stage. And Rwanda is working on a smart approach. Plans are underway to build a local factory, which will produce formula from locally-grown soya. The formula will be free to all families for one-year, then a nominal copay of about 10 percent will be charged. The goal is for the Global Fund to make the initial capital investment to help the company become economically efficient. The enterprise will support farmers, workers in the factory, and families in need. Reap what you sow. Truly an inspired notion. Rwanda seems full of these.

More to follow, Tamsin

World AIDS Day UK recap

Greta has been in London with our (RED) team there and sent us this recap about World AIDS Day activities in Britain last week. Thanks, Greta! --bn

Q: What’s Black and White and (RED) all over?
A: The Independent newspaper on World AIDS Day!

You may remember that the UK’s Independent newspaper turned (RED) on several occasions last year, including for one issue guest-edited by Bono and another guest-designed by Giorgio Armani. This Saturday for World AIDS Day 2007, news stands in England turned (RED) again thanks to the Independent’s latest initiative supporting (RED) to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.

Read the online version of the Independent (RED) edition

Having devoured my copy of the Independent with breakfast on Saturday, I then headed out to the West End in London to take a look at the brand new GAP (PRODUCT) RED limited-edition collection which was launching in just a few GAP stores in London and Paris to mark World AIDS Day.

This GAP Europe collection was curated by fashion stylist Katie Grand who has brought together a diverse array of contemporary fashion designers and creatives including: Giles Deacon (who has also previously designed a Converse (PRODUCT) RED shoe, make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury, young New York design duo Proenza Schouler, Mulberry, British milliner Stephen Jones, accessories expert Katie Hillier, and the Parisian footwear designer Pierre Hardy.


According to the friendly and enthusiastic GAP staff, all dressed in (RED) to mark the day, the Mulberry for GAP (RED) Roxanne handbag in particular was selling like hotcakes! (And yes, I couldn’t resist buying one too!)


Just around the corner from GAP’s flagship store, Emporio Armani was also ensuring their customers and passers-by knew it was World AIDS Day with their truly (RED) window displays as you can see here...



And the marking of World AIDS Day wasn’t just in London either. Earlier in the week, Roz (from the London team) and I headed up to Birmingham to meet with staff from Emporio Armani and Gap there and talk to them about how (RED) money is making such a difference on the ground in Africa. We were blown away by GAP’s changeroom doors – take a look:

In Ghana with (RED)

Our friend Rocky Dawuni, whom you probably remember played our (RED) anniversary party, told us he was planning to visit his native country Ghana in November... and of course, we asked him to visit the folks who are fighting HIV/AIDS on the ground, with the help of Global Fund-(RED) money. Here's the first part of his story, along with photos! --bn

My country Ghana is part of the (RED) portfolio of Global Fund grantees. A few days after the concert I held in LA to celebrate (RED) hitting $45 million after one year in the U.S., I traveled back to Ghana. While there I met with officials of the National AIDS Control Program and visited clinics, including the Ridge Hospital in Accra and Koforidua Hospital in the Eastern Region. The following day, I went by plane to the Northern Region of the country to visit Tamale Central Hospital.

I saw firsthand how (RED) is helping. There were substantial facility improvements. What was a former basement had been converted to bright treatment rooms, a waiting area, space for counseling and dispensing of ARV's. There was also a larger meeting space for gathering of support group activities.

Ridge Hospital started doing AIDS testing in 1997, but really became very active last year with the help of (RED). The government is really doing a lot in this area, but the Global Fund money, and (RED) campaign donations have allowed for infrastructure improvements, equipment upgrades and ARV's.

Rocky with nurses and officials of GFRED clinic of Ridge Hospital

Rocky meeting with Ridge Hospital nurses in GFRED

Speaking with an NACPVolunteer at the GF clinic at Ridge Hospital

With Pharmacist and Adherence Couselor Lydia Afoko and the staff of the Ridge Hospital Pharmacy

Inspecting the pharmacy where the ARVs are stored at Ridge Hospital.

Now that the facility is up and running, there has been a huge increase in the treatment of pregnant women. It is especially important that pregnant women be monitored and treated to lessen the possibility of mother to child transmissions. All the care -- from counseling, exams during pregnancy, treatment and even availability of formula (there is a 5-10% risk for mother to child transmission from breastfeeding) is free to pregnant women. The cost to non-pregnant women is very minimal, but truly no one is turned away due to lack of funds.

I was fortunate to meet with many of the wonderful nurses, all dedicated professionals. Mathilda the lead social worker and coordinator explained the multi-dimensional problems associated with having HIV/AIDS in Ghana.

There were seven nurses that crowded into a small but ample treatment room, and briefed me on the various issues. One nurse pharmacist Lydia Afoko, talked of the necessity for proper counseling so that the drugs are taken correctly. All the nurses participated in the discussion, and gave me a much better insight into the challenges and triumphs in treating this disease. I explained the model of the (RED) campaign and showed photos of the various products that are sold and how the contributions get to them. It was time for the nurses to get back to work, but I couldn't refuse their request for a song, and we all sang "In Ghana."

While we were there the Dunwilla Future Foundation support group was meeting. The Global Fund encourages and assists these support groups, which aside from providing emotional support, often help jump start micro businesses which can assure a basic living for those afflicted with AIDS.

We visited the lab, met with Samuel Noral, head lab technician. He showed us the new CD4 machine purchased with Global Fund money. This lab also provides testing for free to neighboring clinics that do not have these machines.

Dr. Thompson, one of the doctors coordinating the various AIDS treatments, spoke of how after two to three months of quality treatment and ARVs, many of the clients regain their strength and with continuous treatment can go about their normal lives.

We visited the maternity ward where Mary Imbeah, principal midwife was posted to help prevent mother to child transmission.

After a few photo opportunities we left Ridge Hospital and started our two and half hour drive to Koforidua. At the Koforidua Central Hospital we met with Dr Addo, who is the director of ART (anti-retroviral treatment) in an impressively refurbished Global Fund section of the hospital. The Eastern Region has the highest HIV rate in Ghana at 4.9%. This region was the first to pilot ARV treatment. There are eight ART sites in the Eastern Region. From July 2005 to Sept. 2007 these sites have treated 1,120 clients.

In the Records Data Department of Koforidua GF Clinic

Meeting the Dr. Apori, Director of Koforidua Teaching Hospital

With Dr. Addo, Head of HIV AIDS Treatment Centre of the Koforidua Hospital

A theme that came up repeatedly while touring the various hospitals and clinics was the AIDs stigma that still very much exists in Ghana, and other African countries. The Koforidia Hospital has been doing extensive data gathering and analysis. We saw a long list of people who tested positive, started treatment and then dropped off, often with no way to contact them as they had given the wrong name or phone number to be anonymous. Sometimes they test positive and never come back. To truly combat this disease, the stigma issue must be addressed.

Often people come back when they become too sick. Where if they had begun or remained on treatment they could be enjoying their life. The staff does an incredible job at keeping their patients' anonymity. Records are coded and secured; all measures are taken to keep the trust of the patients.

At the close of the day we met with the hospital director Dr. Apori who told of the great work the National AIDS Control Program is doing. We left Koforidua at night and drove back to Accra to prepare for our next days trip to the Northern Region.

--Rocky Dawuni
rockydawuni.com

Returning to Rwanda

After more than 23 hours – with stops in London, Nairobi and Bujunbura – I'm now only an hour or so from landing in Kigali. It's been over a year and a half since (RED) funds began flowing to Rwanda and much has been accomplished. The power of (RED) consumer action has enabled 14,000 people to begin lifesaving antiretroviral treatment and helped deliver medicine to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission to more than 6,500 women. The numbers matter and prevalence rates are down to 3 percent amongst Rwanda's 9 million inhabitants. Rwanda's strong commitment to comprehensive services to fight HIV/AIDS is reaping real results. But for me it's always the individual stories that make the impact of (RED) feel most immediate. So watch this space to see statistics come alive. About to get airborne again. More soon... Tamsin