HIV/AIDS
A terrible distinction for a country its size, Ethiopia now ranks fifth in sub-Saharan Africa for its number of people infected with HIV: up to 3 million. Although it comprises only 1% of the world's population, Ethiopia represents 7% of the world's HIV/AIDS cases, with numbers rising. Today, an estimated 4.4% of all adults are infected. And each week an estimated 5,000 more succumb—mostly young people between 15 and 24, three times more females than males. Tragically, but not surprisingly, mother-to-child transmission causes the second highest number of new infections each year. A leading cause or morbidity and mortality nationwide, AIDS is now a growing killer of children, responsible for 1 in 16 childhood deaths. Social DevastationBut this is not a story told in numbers, but in lost and damaged lives. Children already threatened by disease, hunger, and poverty are now at high risk of joining the 720,000 orphans of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Already hungry households strain to take in more dependents. As families and social norms crumble, so do restraints on abuse, exploitation, and sexual violence against women and children. Girls as young as 11 years old are recruited or forced into prostitution and kept ignorant of their risks for STIs, including HIV. In the age group that should be most productive, young women bear the heaviest burden of HIV/AIDS infection and illness, aggravated by FGM practices. And this breakdown in women's health and economic power only serves to reinforce Ethiopia's vicious cycle of poverty. Barriers to PreventionBy withdrawing support from reproductive health organizations and cutting the supply of condoms, the U.S. Global Gag Rule has deepened Ethiopia's HIV crisis. Confusion and fear about the policy seem to have discouraged some HIV/AIDS initiatives from seeking desperately needed U.S. funding. Call to ActionHelp halt this tragedy by supporting our project's direct services and advocacy work:
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