ONE Campaign - Help End Poverty in Africa

In countries around the world, such as Africa, poverty is a way of life, AIDS is as familiar as a common cold, and Malaria and Tuberculosis are prominent daily health concerns. Africans deal with the lack of education, unsafe drinking water, and they, as a country, are so deep in debt that they cannot seem to hold their heads above water financially. Medications and aide for these people who truly need it are not nearly as expensive as people might think. So why are we, the more fortunate who can afford to donate money for these causes, not doing more? The ONE Campaign is a campaign that urges Americans to urge other Americans to help fight global AIDS and poverty. It is based on the idea that if an additional one percent of the United State's budget was put toward providing basic needs for developing countries, it would make a world of difference.

There are eight goals that the ONE Campaign has defined as the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's). These goals are to wipe out extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equity and empower women, reduce child morality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development. The goals were developed in the year 2000 with 189 nations working toward the goal of ending poverty by the year 2015. Currently, we are halfway through the allotted time, and still working to fight for developing countries such as Africa.

One of the most prominent issues in Africa is the spread of HIV/AIDS, a virus spread from person to person through body fluids that attacks the white blood cells, creating problems in the immune system. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the world. Since the beginning of the virus in 1981, AIDS has killed over twenty-five million people, and fifteen million children have lost at least one parent to AIDS, twelve million of those in sub-Saharan Africa. The numbers are startling when you consider that the antiretroviral medication used to treat AIDS patients only costs $140 per person, per year.

Tuberculosis and Malaria are also problematic health issues in this area of the world. Tuberculosis is a common infectious disease that often times causes death. It is caused by mycobacterium that gets inside of the body, and begins to take over. Some symptoms include a bad cough that has lasted for more than three weeks, coughing up blood, chest pain, night sweats, weight loss, and paling among others. This disease brings death to millions of people, but the treatment costs as little as sixteen dollars per person for a full treatment with an 80% success rate. Malaria, another common concern among the impoverished, is a disease that is caused by a parasite that comes from mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites, the parasite enters the human and grows and multiplies inside of the liver. Once it is in the liver, it begins to infect the red blood cells, and it can disrupt blood flow to vital organs and lead to death. Fever, headache, and vomiting are all signs of Malaria. The treatment for this disease only costs two dollars per person.

These diseases, that don't cost much for treatment, are affecting every aspect of life. Teachers, doctors, and nurses are dying out, businesses are losing employees to these diseases, and families are losing the ones who go out and make their money. For those already living in poverty, this makes every single day a struggle.

Issues

There are six issues that the ONE Campaign sees will tremendously help combat poverty. The issues are more and better aid, education, clean water and sanitation, trade justice, debt cancellation, and maternal and child health.

I - More & Better Aide

In the year 2000, there were only 50,000 HIV positive Africans that could obtain the antiretroviral medications needed to treat their medical condition. Since then, an additional 1.2 million people are being treated. As the aide increases, so will this number.

II - Education For All

It is believed that education can decrease poverty. A child who is educated, gets the knowledge and tools needed to have greater opportunities into adulthood. These opportunities work toward better health benefits as well as monetary benefits. If the goal of universal primary education is met by the year 2015, seventy-seven more children will have access to education than in the year 2000.

III - Clean Water & Sanitation

Without access to clean water, sicknesses arise. Workers cannot go to work to make money, girls cannot go to school because they have to collect water, and children die. One child dies every fifteen seconds from a disease associated with unclean water, lack of sanitation, and poor hygiene. To put that into perspective, that would be like you closing your eyes and counting to sixty seconds. When you open your eyes back up, four children will have become casualties due to unclean living conditions.

IV - Trade Justice

Unfair trade competition does not allow countries like Africa to benefit from trade. If fair trade was instigated, one hundred twenty-eight million Africans could be pulled out of poverty, bringing an additional seventy million dollars to the country itself.

V - Debt Cancellation

According to the ONE Campaign website, "for the world's most impoverished countries, the cost of debt overshadows their ability to provide access to clean water, education, and basic health care." For some countries, putting twenty-five to thirty percent of their budget towards debt is not uncommon, and that is more than education and healthcare combined. Debt cancellation would allow more funding to go toward eliminating poverty and dependence on foreign aide.

VI - Maternal & Child Health

The health systems are getting worse and worse due to lack of funding. This is affecting pregnant women and young children the most. One in six children die every year before making it to their fifth birthday Birthing complications also kill more than 500,000 women each year. In developed countries, women have a 1 in 28,000 chance of dying during child birth, but in developing countries, the chance of death during childbirth is only 1 in 20.

It is apparent that the situation is only worsening. As citizens of more fortunate countries, we need to step up and take action. To find ways that you can help, and for more information on the ONE Campaign, go to www.one.org.