Mary & Martha's battle against malaria

There’s a famous Africa proverb;

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito”

Living with malaria is a preventable and harsh reality for millions of people across the world, especially in Africa, where 90% of deaths occur, South America, and India.

660,000 people are killed needlessly by the malaria parasite entering their bloodstream, which is often caused by the bite of a mosquito.  One bite causes respiratory problems, feverish sweats, and vomiting and ruins the lives of two to three thousand families and individuals lives per day.

Pretty bleak right? Well, we’re making progress.

Malaria deaths have decreased by more than a quarter, 26%!

The Global Fund has treated more than 290 million cases (that’s more than twice the population of Russia)

And the campaign, Malaria No More, predicts that by 2015 we could save a further three million lives.

So how can we do more? 

Well, if you put together an Academy-award winner, a directing legend, and one of Britain’s most infamous actresses; I think we’re on the right path to raising awareness of one of the world’s deadliest diseases.

Mary and Martha is a story of two women, who travelling to Africa lose both their sons to malaria, and in an ambitious struggle try to save the lives of infected children.

Written by Richard Curtis and directed by Phillip Noyce, Mary and Martha stars Hilary Swank as Mary and Brenda Blethyn as Martha, and premieres on the BBC on the 1st March at 8.30pm!

You can watch the trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=s7l7nWx1VHY

GET INVOLVED:

The USA is the biggest donor to the Fund.  By (US) law, it cannot contribute more than one-third of the Fund’s budget.  For 2011-2013, the US pledged a total of $4 billion.  ONE is currently lobbying the White House to extend this level of funding for 2014 (ie $1.65 billion).  President Obama will announce his decision along with other federal funding decisions in the coming weeks.

The UK is the third biggest contributor to the Fund (behind France and ahead of Germany).  DFID has yet to announce the level of UK funding from 2014 onwards, although former International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell had committed in April 2012 to doubling the UK’s contribution if certain conditions were met (reforms that have now been enacted). 

The end of AIDS: a politician’s promise or a 21st reality?

In 1980, the World Health Organisation declared the world had become free of smallpox. Skip to today and Polio has decreased 99%, since 1988, over 290 million mosquito nets  protecting against malaria have been delivered to Africa alone and incredibly, 80% of cholera cases are now treatable.

The world is becoming a healthier place and doctors are making sure that diseases fill the chapters of history books rather than the pages of hospital records.  It’s an exciting time.

So it probably shouldn’t come as a huge shock that the “beginning of the end of AIDS” is the world’s next big possibility. Treatment of AIDS has become incredibly effective. With antiretroviral drugs, more commonly known as ARVs or ART drugs, reducing the risk of the disease by 96% and pretty much eliminating the HIV transfer between mother and child, eradication is the next stop.

So what is AIDS?

Well AIDS is a disease that attacks the human immune system. AIDS is caused by HIV which is an infection that gradually takes over the body, producing more and more cells, until the body’s immune system is so weak that it can no longer fend for itself.

AIDS is not a purely African or homosexual disease, with approximately 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the USA alone. You can become infected during sex, by becoming exposed to infected body tissues or fluids, or babies can be infected by catching the disease from their mothers. As Dr. Patricia Nkansah-Asamoah, a doctor in Ghana, recently said at the ONE Campaign’s conference in London, you cannot catch AIDS from sharing a cup or holding hands with an infected person. 

Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State

1^st December 2012 was World AIDS day, not that anyone would have known due to the lack of red ribbons on sale, and the fight starts now.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled, on Thursday, that the US has a "blueprint" to guide global efforts in wiping out the AIDS virus BUT the UN estimates that there is roughly still a $6 billion annual funding gap for AIDS.

However, with President Obama posing a $330million cut to the Global Health Initiative, which is targeting diseases like AIDS, how can the US government claim to be at the forefront of the fight against AIDS?

We may be living in tough times, but this is a matter of life and death. Literally. 

The Crisis in Congo: A beginner's guide

The Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Congo-Léopoldville, Congo-Kinshasa, and Zaire, has had a tough history to say the least. It’s been dragged through civil wars, a dictatorship, witnessed one of the world’s largest genocides (during the 90s and 2000s when Rwandan army spilled into its neighbour’s territory), and half the population lives in extreme poverty.

 So you would probably be surprised that the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) is actually one of the world’s richest countries, in terms of natural resources, right? It produces a $1 billion worth of gold each year, an abundance of diamonds, and houses 70% of the world's coltan, which is not only in your mobile phone right now, but your laptop and probably any other electrical device you have.  

The Congo has the resources to be a world super-power in an age where technology is king.

But that’s not the reality. The Rwandan government, the Congolese army and various rebel groups have looted, rinsed and profited from the natural riches the country owns. The “Democratic” Republic of Congo is a myth.

M23 Leader,  Sultani Makenga

Recently, a rebel group called M23, which is believed to have between 1,200 and 6,000 armed members, took over one of the country’s largest cities, Goma, with an aim to overthrow the government. M23 are believed to be funded by the Rwandan and Ugandan government and along with the Congolese army, have been accused of murdering innocent civilians and raping women.

Congo’s institutions are corrupt and flawed. From the government to the police, the Congolese people have been continually side-tracked in the name of profit and power.

The British government has been funding Rwanda for years and the country will soon receive nearly £85 million pounds in foreign aid. How generous.

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame

Last week, David Cameron told President Kagame, of Rwanda, that the world could not ignore the evidence of Rwanda’s involvement in Congo.

Rwanda is driving the DRC into despair, funding the M23 rebel group and evicting villages to plunder the Congo’s natural resources. The British government is funding Rwanda.

The DRC is not up for sale, its resources belong to the people who own the land and without a stable government, or army, the country has become an open invitation for unjust exploitation.  

http://stopm23.com/

The day I went to Downing Street..

t’s not every day that you get to knock on the infamous black door of Number 10 Downing Street, but then again it’s not every day that you hear the sound of 143,021 voices demanding that the EU protects its life-saving foreign aid budget.

Of course, I’m talking about ONE’s Lifesaver petition which is campaigning to make sure that the European Union does not cut crucial foreign aid. As one of many ONE Campaign student leaders supporting the campaign, I took to Twitter, and into the flats of the University of Birmingham’s passionate students, to gather as much support as I possibly could. A few retweets of support later, varying from the cast of the Only Way is Essex, to the former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, and the Sky News anchor Alex Crawford, I had the honour, along with fellow student leader, Shahban Aziz, to bring the life saver petition to the British government.

Now, I’m not one for stereotypes, but the London isn’t particularly known for its blaring sunshine. In fact, on the delivery day, you could have mistaken central London as being the backdrop for “Saving Private Ryan” with torrential rain, flashes of lightning, and gale-force winds standing between in our way. Three broken umbrellas and a few drenched ONE t-shirts later, we arrived at 3.00pm sharp to deliver the petition, as well as a lifesaver shirt for Mr Cameron himself.

From there, we traveled to the Treasury, where staff kindly accepted a letter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osbourne, and a rather large placard with the faces of those who had signed the petition. Similarly, we popped into the Department of International Development, where the petition was passed onto Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening, which proved to be an incredible result.

The 21^st November 2012 was certainly a success story. It was an honour to deliver such a worth-while petition, on behalf of the thousands of people who care so passionately about saving lives. European aid costs us £12 per year and has already put, between 2005 and 2009, more than 9 million children in primary education, helped vaccinate more than 5 million against measles, and connected more than 31 million people to clean water. The EU is not wasting money, the aid budget is an incredible sign of progress and Europeans are making sure that lives will continue be saved.

Africa no longer fits the stereotype; it’s the world’s fastest growing continent.

For years, Africa has been seen through the eyes of charity television appeals. Crippled by poverty, corrupted by military leaders, and overcome with drought and famine; unable to stand on its own two legs and develop, apparently earning the name, the “Third” world.

There’s no denying it – Africa has problems, but the overriding stereotype that Africa is backwards, unwilling and falling apart at the seams is plain wrong.

Africa is growing at an incredible rate. It possesses 6 of the world’s fastest growing economies, it’s the second biggest mobile market in the world, and just counting Nigeria alone, has produced more films than Hollywood. It’s quite a CV. Mobile technology has transformed the lives of millions of Africans with services such as “M-Pesa” allowing customers to pay their bills and transfer money, and text services such as “M-Farm” making sure that farmers know their markets and can get the best deals, all at the twiddle of a thumb.

Government is changing too. Rwanda has the largest proportion of women in parliament in the world, an achievement Europe could only aspire to. The continent has 20 Nobel peace prize winners under its belt and Malawi’s President Joyce Banda took it a step further by not only vowing to repeal bans on homosexuality, but also abandoning the presidential jet and fleet of luxury cars which the previous government had previously insisted upon.  

Culturally, Africa is a hipster’s dream. With Afrobeats, the vibrant hybrid of African electronic hip-hop, permeating the charts, with Kanye West’s signing D’Banj’s hit Oliver Twist reaching number 9 in the top 40, African music has been reignited. Similarly, you don’t have to travel far to see Africa fashion at the forefront of this season, with explosive prints on Topman’s t-shirts and the front cover of Vogue oozing African style.

The face of Africa has changed from the improvised to the empowered, with the potential to progress, inspire and innovate, and with the recent spoof appeal for Africa to donate radiators to freezing Norwegians, with the brilliantly named “Radi-aid”, it looks like the world is opening its eyes to 21^st century Africa. 

Sources

http://www.seeafricadifferently.com/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/01/malawi-joyce-banda-discards-presidential-jet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bXjgx4J0C4