Your (RED) impact continues to grow in Rwanda

Rwanda continues to be a true success story in the fight against HIV and AIDS – thanks in part to your (RED) purchases. In the last week, (RED) has expanded its support in Rwanda – adding a second program, the Global Fund Round 6 HIV/AIDS grant, to get more people there the treatment they need to stay alive.  

Rwanda’s success in reducing the number of lives lost to AIDS has been outstanding. As the first country to receive (RED) funds, Rwanda is now able to provide 71% of people living with HIV and AIDS the lifesaving antiretroviral therapy (ART) they need. This is a fantastic increase since 2003 when only 1% of people who needed ART could access it.

Of course this still means that nearly one-third of people in Rwanda who need ART to stay alive (nearly 20,000 people) are not yet able to access it … and this is where (RED) and the Global Fund play a vital role.

Now your (RED) dollars will help get even more people access to lifesaving antiretroviral therapy. And we will help prevent mother-to-child-transmission with the treatment mothers need to give their babies a good chance of being born healthy. This grant also supports vital care and prevention services, as well as supporting some of Rwanda’s 200,000 AIDS orphans.

In addition to Rwanda, other positive results are already being achieved by Global Fund and (RED) supported programs in Swaziland, Ghana and Lesotho. More than 2.5 million people have been impacted so far by programs supported by (RED).  

Thanks to you.

The TRAC clinic is the major clinic in Kigali for people living with HIV. 

Ruhengeri Hospital pharmacy, Rwanda 

Rwanda street scene

(RED)UCATION 101

(RED) is LIVE on Campus. Our college outreach program has been in full swing since the start of the fall semester. Our six (RED) U Ambassadors are hard at work, connecting with fellow students, other campus organizations, faculty, community members and even employees at (RED) product partner retail stores. They may represent diverse schools from across the United States, but all are inspired by the same goal: mobilize more people to buy (RED) and save lives.

Stephanie, our student Ambassador at North Carolina A & T, has been going non-stop since August, hosting and arranging meetings and planning a fashion show for World AIDS Day on her campus.

Jordyn -- her counterpart at U of Wisconsin-Madison -- has been connecting with her fellow students for the past month now, forming alliances and educating about the (RED) model, and will soon be hosting regular film screenings on campus.

At Sacred Heart, Mike has been recruiting and training volunteers, and working to get his campus newspaper to turn (RED) for World AIDS Day on December 1st.

From San Diego to Harvard, both Kelsey and Tian have been organizing peers, hosting tabling sessions and planning big World AIDS Day activities at their respective campuses.

Simon -- our Ambassador at Notre Dame – is building a network of students and alumni, some of whom were ‘embraced’ at a recent football game!

All together, our six enthusiastic Ambassadors have already educated thousands of fellow students about the AIDS crisis in Africa and how the (RED) model works to end it. Check out their blogs for regular updates and enjoy these photos!

United Nations Association of the United States of America Honors (RED)

Last week, the UNA-USA held its 50^th Annual Global Leadership Awards Gala honoring the champions of the Millennium Development Goals at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. (RED) was honored for exceptional efforts and leadership in addressing the 5^th and 6^th MDG’s: improving maternal health and combating HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Susan Smith Ellis accepted the award for (RED), joining others including Dr. Larry Brilliant of google.org, Jay-Z and Ted Turner - all of whom have contributed to achieving the MDG’s by 2015. As the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon wrote, the evening celebrated “our common vision for building a better world in the 21^st century, and freeing humankind from hunger, illiteracy, disease, disempowerment and environmental degradation.” Michael Douglas, a United Nations Messenger of Peace, was the host of the evening.

2 million people.

By Colin Brady, (RED)

2 million people.

That’s the total number of people in Africa who are alive today thanks to anti-retroviral medication—just two pills a day that can keep a person with HIV alive and healthy.

2 million people. That’s about equal to the entire population of Houston, Texas.

Imagine being part of a movement that could bring 2 million people back from the brink of death so that they could live and work and take care of their families. Well, if you’re (RED), you are. All (RED) money goes directly to the Global Fund to help distribute those two little pills.

And it’s working.

“Lives are being saved on an unprecedented scale”.

Those are the words of Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of The Global Fund. Dr. Kazatchkine and his staff were in New York last week for the UN General Assembly to meet with world leaders, heads of state and, well…us. I mean, these are the people running the global fight against pandemic disease and yet, here they were, crammed into our conference room, surrounded by (RED) staffers, telling us what a difference (RED) makes. If you have ever chosen (RED), I wish you could have been there because, really, they were here to talk to you. And to thank you for what you have done.

Thanks to (RED) people and (RED) companies, The Global Fund has $115 Million more dollars on hand to buy and distribute life-saving medicine. That money is going to work right now in (RED) programs in Rwanda, Ghana, Swaziland, and Lesotho.

And every time you choose a (RED) product that number grows.

Yes, it’s working. And there is a lot more we can do. I have seen a few of the new (RED) products and new (RED) partners that will be coming out in the next year of (PRODUCT)RED, and I can tell you that we are all just getting started. Thank you for being part of this. And thank you for choosing (RED). Buy (RED). Save Lives.

Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of The Global Fund