The Lazarus Effect Book

19
LESOTHO 2008

description

The Lazarus Effect Book

Transcript of The Lazarus Effect Book

LESOTHO 2008

EVERY SINGLE DAY IN AFRICA, 4,100 PEOPLE DIE FROM AIDS…NEEDLESSLY.

AIDS is a preventable and treatable disease.

If you can afford lifesaving antiretroviral medicine that costs only 40 cents a day, you can live a full life with HIV instead of dying from AIDS. ARVs have kept Magic Johnson alive for over 20 years.

If people do get access to the drugs - sometimes when they’re close to death’s door – an incredible thing can happen.

In as little as 40 days, the drugs can bring them back to life, hence the term ‘THE LAZARUS EFFECT.’ It’s nothing short of miraculous.

The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, was established in 2002 to eradicate these three preventable and treatable diseases ravaging the developing world. Global Fund-supported programs have provided ARVs for more than 2.1 million people in Africa. In 2004, only 50,000 people in Africa had access to ARVs –

THAT’S INCREDIBLE PROGRESS.

EVERY SINGLE DAY IN AFRICA, 4,100 PEOPLE DIE FROM AIDS…NEEDLESSLY.

AIDS is a preventable and treatable disease.

If people can afford lifesaving antiretroviral medicine that costs only 40 cents a day, they can live a full life with HIV instead of dying from AIDS.

If people do get access to the drugs - sometimes when they’re close to death’s door – an incredible thing can happen.

In as little as 40 days, the drugs can bring them back to life, hence the term ‘THE LAZARUS EFFECT.’ It’s nothing short of miraculous.

MOST PEOPLE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA CAN’T AFFORD 40 CENTS DAILY.

The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, was established in 2002 to eradicate these three preventable and treatable diseases ravaging the developing world. At the end of 2008, Global Fund-supported programs had provided antiretroviral medicine to more than 1.4 million people in Africa with HIV. At the end of 2002, there were just 50,000 Sub-Saharan Africans on ARV’s.

THAT’S INCREDIBLE PROGRESS.

(RED) WAS CREATED TO HARNESS BUSINESS AND CONSUMER POWER TO HELP ELIMINATE AIDS IN AFRICA.

It began as an idea with Bono and Bobby Shriver; they persuaded American Express, Gap, Converse, Emporio Armani to join and they launched in 2006. The idea of (RED) was that the companies could make products using (RED) licensed marks in exchange for donating up to half their profits from those products directly to the Global Fund for investment in AIDS programs in Africa. The Global Fund charges no overhead on the money so every cent makes its way to Africa.

Since the launch, (RED) has expanded to nine corporate partners (and counting) generating ALMOST $135 MILLION FOR THE GLOBAL FUND. Theoretically, that amount of money can deliver 300 million days of ARVs.

(RED) is making it its mission in 2009 to show how easily and cheaply people’s lives are saved and restored and to make us think about why every person on the planet doesn’t yet have access to medicine that we can easily access at our corner drugstores.

It is still early on for (RED) but we now have some powerful stories to share. Stories that show the impact of ARVs from the sale of (RED) products on people’s lives and the impact on those who didn’t get the drugs in time… Motselisi, Tlotliso, Mafusi, and Qekizoa.

14 months old photos taken before and

after 90 days of treatment

Motselisi began antiretroviral (ARV) therapy at age 11 months to TREAT THE HIV THAT SHE WAS BORN WITH. The disease had already taken its toll on her tiny body -- she weighed almost the same as the day she was born.

Motselisi and her mother Mapelaelo live many hours away in a remote village. Coming to the special pediatric clinic near Maseru was no easy feat for them but fortunately her mother knew someone they could stay with when they made the long journey into town for treatment.

Three months after she started treatment we visited Motselisi at home. After an arduous journey through mountain ranges and over dirt roads, we arrived at Motselisi’s tiny, picturesque village called Litsaneing. It is nestled half way up a steep mountain with just 14 huts, no power and just one communal tap.

When we first arrived, we could hardly see Motselisi as she was snuggled on her mother’s back wrapped in a blanket which completely covered her. But when her mother unwrapped the blanket and held Motselisi for us to see –we were amazed and thrilled at the difference in how she appeared. FROM WASTED AND LISTLESS…TO PLUMP AND ALERT.

MOTSELISI IS NOW AN ACTIVE CHILD WHO’S STARTING TO MASTER THE ART OF CRAWLING -- MUCH TO HER MOTHER’S PRIDE.

Motselisi, 3 months after she began treatment, with her mother Mapelaelo

11 years old photos taken before and

after 90 days of treatment

At 4am, eleven year old Mafusi and her family leave their modest two-room home and they begin to walk.

They resign themselves to a long two and a half hour walk across the rough Lesotho terrain. MAFUSI’S SIBLINGS TAKE TURNS CARRYING HER ON THEIR BACKS BECAUSE SHE IS TOO WEAK TO WALK.

Mafusi has AIDS and tuberculosis and she is severely malnourished. Her family has had tough times fending for themselves, Mafusi’s father died of TB when she was just 4 months old. Luckily, with the help of ARVs, her mother is still alive.

After 3 months of ARV therapy, Mafusi can walk the two and a half hours to the main road herself. She’s very active and loves playing with her friends. She has put on nearly fourteen pounds, and her TB is gone thanks to treatment. Mafusi tells us she is feeling well and is happy to have returned to school this January.

MAFUSI IS HOPEFUL FOR HER FUTURE, AND ONE DAY WANTS TO BE A POLICEWOMAN.

19 months old photos taken before and

after 90 days of treatment

At age 16 months, Tlotliso was very ill in the hospital suffering from AIDS and tuberculosis. HE WAS CLEARLY IN GREAT PAIN.His arms and body were wasted, and he weighed just 11 pounds.

He remained hospitalized, with his mother at his bedside, for more than two months.

When (RED) saw Tlotliso just three months later, the transformation was stunning. For a start THIS TODDLER WAS NOW OUT AND ABOUT WITH HIS MOTHER – and well away from the hospitals he had spent so much time in. He now weighed almost 19 pounds!

His mother, Makelobohile, is thrilled that she has her little boy back home.

SHE WANTS TO SEE TLOTLISO FINISH SCHOOL AND HAVE A BRIGHT FUTURE.

13 years old passed away June 2009

Qekizoa’s story is one of both triumph and loss. Qekizoa became ill and was diagnosed with AIDS in May 2007; she began antiretroviral (ARV) therapy soon after.

Around the same time, the aunt she had been living with, Sejeng, had to move to South Africa and Qekizoa was sent to live with another. This new caregiver did not take Qekizoa for follow up treatment. So, aged twelve, fully aware she had HIV, she quickly ran out of the medicine she knew she needed to stay healthy. Qekizoa was forced to drop out of school and stay at home with no one helping her.

Her aunt Sejeng came back from South Africa just over a year later. What she found was a very sick, WASTED YOUNG GIRL WITH STAGE 4 AIDS. In the first week of August 2008 she took Qekizoa to the Baylor Clinic for treatment and care. Qekizoaweighed just over 33 pounds.

When we visited Qekizoa in November 2008, she had gained more than 8 pounds. She was still tiny compared to other thirteen year olds but she had improved greatly.

Her doctors were aware that Qekizoa would always be smaller than other children her age. They were hopeful, however, that if she was able to adhere to her treatment this time and get adequate nutrition, she would be able to look forward to a normal life and even have children in the future.

In the past months, Qekizoa’s health took an unexpected turn for the worse. It is possible that because her treatment had been interrupted for a significant period, Qekizoa’s immune system did not recover as it should have over time. After being admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, she passed away onJune 30 of this year.

THANK YOU

Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation LesothoExecutive Dir. Dr Edith Mohapi, Dr Kathy Ferrer, and all staff

Global Fund Coordinating Unit for the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning

Nkhala Sefako, Mokhothu Makhalanyane, Dira Tsotleho, and all staff

Queen II Hospital and Bophelong Pediatric HIV ClinicDr Tlali Mpolo

Chief Counselor Mantsebo Bereng

Senkatana ART Centre Lesotho Director Dr Pearl Ntšekhe,

Dr Lydia Ranyali Otubanjo, and all staff

Lazarus Project PhotographerJonx Pillemer

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and MalariaKrishna Vadrevu

(RED)Greta Thomas

Motselisi Thaisi, 14 months old

Mafusi Khantsi, 11 years old

Tlotliso Letsela, 19 months old

Qekizoa Molebatsi & her aunt Sejeng Molebatsi

IN MEMORY OF QEKIZOA MOLEBATSI