In line with the 28th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial there will be a candle lighting activity and a yoga session on May 15 at the Glorietta 3 Park in Ayala, Makati City from 3:30PM to 7PM.
The yoga activity in partner with the annual candlelight event for HIV/AIDS entitled Yoga for Life: Touching Lives, will be supported by Yoga instructors such as Roland dela Cruz, Jeannie Javelosa, Tesa Celdran, Marilen Elizalde, Marc Carlos, Lex Bonife and Rebecca de Villa. It encourages participants of the activity to live a healthy and well life, inner peace, and self empowerment especially the advocates of HIV/AIDS awareness and those living with AIDS. For those who want to participate must bring extra clothes and mats for the yoga session.
As of August 2010, the number of reported cases of people living with HIV/AIDS reached 5, 742. Making the record of 2-3 new cases each day, and it is alarming that in all part of the world there are new cases each day that reaches almost 70, 000. The issue of HIV/AIDS falls on the UN Millennium Development Goal number 6 which is combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases that hinder the campaign of UN to end poverty.
In connection of HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, the United Nation Joint Project for AIDS created an online campaign called Prevention Revolution. This is there way to utilize social networks and the internet to reach out to all in the cyberspace on what we call revolutionized awareness. The youth who is mostly vulnerable to have the virus because of the exposure on casual sex and drugs, UNAIDS wanted to inform them the risk of involving themselves to these kinds of activities.
Like in all my HIV/AIDS related post, people living with AIDS is considered as modern lepers by others who doesn’t know the right information or proper awareness. The virus can only be transferred through unsafe sex, sharing needles or syringe, blood transfusion and breast feeding that involves an infected mother to a child.
There are ABCDE to prevent the spread of virus; A – Abstinence, B – Be Faithful, C- Condom use, D – Don’t share needles, and E – Education. Among the five choices, I can still say the most important is education. The proper guidance of the youth in particular to enlighten them and be responsible. The youth has the larger portion in the population of people living with AIDS because of being risk takers which lacks responsibility, most were men and portion is those having same sex affair.
Go out and be tested. This is one of my challenge to all to go out and be tested especially those who are in doubt. The test is confidential. There are two options, if found positive they will undergo counseling and medical help and if found negative this will make them more responsible next time. For HIV/AIDS testing you can visit Social Hygiene Clinic - Manila Health Department, 2nd Floor of 208 Quiricada Street, Sta. Cruz, Manila, for inquiries contact for inquiries, call 711-6942 and look for Dra. Diana Mendoza or Ms. Malou Tan, Monday to Friday only from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Or you can call Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC) at 7438301 local 2553 for counseling. Some of the accredited HIV/AIDS treatment hubs include Philippine General Hospital (PGH - contact number 5218450), San Lazaro Hospital (SLH - contact number 7408301 local 6000), and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM - contact number 8072628 local 801). For other AIDS Hotline you can call; Lunduyan Foundation INC (4214953), Pinoy Plus Association INC (5244507), Remedios AIDS Foundation INC (5240924), and Positive Action Foundation Philippines INC (8326239).
The Prevention Revolution doesn’t start and end on World AIDS Day, instead the campaign for education and awareness and to be responsible should be taken each day. Let’s spread the awareness and not the virus!
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This year’s Stand Up and Take Action to End Poverty campaign (SUTA) of the United Nations, organized by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Millennium Campaign (UNMC) and various UN agencies, is very special since this is a pre-event for the upcoming UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit, which will be held on 21st to 22nd of September, 2010 at New York.
Happening on September 17-19, 2010, the goal for this year’s SUTA is to make noise or making the world leaders hear the concerns of the people who want the MDGs to be fulfilled. Aside from making noise, SUTA would like to encourage all the citizens to take action by joining other MDG advocates to monitor their leaders and government offices with their implementation of their projects that will help to eradicate poverty and hunger, achieve and promote universal primary education, to lessen child mortality rate, promote gender equality, execute comprehensive maternal care, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, to have sustainable environment, and to establish strong global relationship among nations.
In my two years of supporting the MDG campaign of the United Nations and working with various UN agencies as an advocate such as in World Food Programme (WFP), UNAIDS, UNDP, non-government organizations such as WWF-Philippines, Greenpeace Philippines, Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (DSWP), Probe Foundation’s Mulat Pinoy, Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD), Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC) and other much more,I saw the issue the pertinent issues that pertain mostly to human rights, health and the effects of climate change to the humanity. I would like to emphasize on the 50 peso test (US$1.25 test) of UN Millennium Campaign (UNMC), where I was one of those who took the challenge on how a person can live for a day with that amount of money. However in reality, 50 pesos is not for a single person, but for a family with four to five members. I had doubts on how 50 pesos could provide the family members with decent food and shelter, provide children with right nutrition, education and health care and same with the maternal care that women needs especially those who is bearing a child.
According to United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) in its Women Delivers Congress, everyday there are 11 mothers around the world that die during child bearing. Like other reproductive health advocates, I believe that mothers should not die in giving birth. Sadly, in developing nations like the Philippines, the number and the equipment in health centers are not sufficient to serve its patients. In the case of the Philippines, there are only 9 health centers from every 13-15 urban or rural barangays (villages).
Aside from maternal and child healthcare, one of the major concerns of the MDG is the eradication of hunger and poverty. WFP and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of UN launched the 1 Billion Hungry campaign to let the world know that there are more than a billion hungry mouths to feed and most of them are children and women. The campaign challenges individuals to take part and aid the hungry, and everyone has the chance to start that change.
Same challenge that UNAIDS calls individuals and advocates spreading awareness and not the virus in combating HIV/AIDS. With the mindset of “modern lepers” toward the people with AIDS, UNAIDS and other NGOs are faced with the problem on how to halt the spread of virus, like in the case of Malawi where they imprisoned a gay couple because of the sexual preference and other countries imposing travel restrictions to those who had the virus. In the 110th Parliamentary Assembly in Bangkok, Thailand, one of the challenges that were raised to the leaders was to put down travel restrictions and impose a law that would safeguard the welfare of people with AIDS.
Each one has the responsibility to take part in making poverty, history. Let’s all Stand Up to show unity, Take Action on issues concerning their respective nations, and Make Noise so that their leaders going to the UN Summit will hear and have no excuses not to fulfill their promise. 2015 is just a few sleeps away!
I am Flow Galindez, blogger and a proud advocate of UN World Food Programme Against Child Hunger and Protection. WFP's Bloggers Against Hunger Philippine Connector and MDG advocate. Also advocates for climate change and HIV/ AIDS awareness, education, child and women's rights. I also blog about entertainment, events, lifestyle, news, tech and gadgets, movies and theaters and foodie stuff--- Opinions expressed here are my own.
