ALICIA KEYS KIDS FREE

We must keep pressuring our politicians to fund programs. At last! But my question is: Where is the money going to come for this? In September, the World Health Organization issued new guidelines stating that every HIV patient should be placed on antiretroviral drugs as soon as they test positive, rather than waiting for their immune system to begin failing. We can’t give up on this generation of kids.īut without the appropriate funding and resources, we won’t see an end to the AIDS epidemic. As a mother, it’s unacceptable to me that only 32 percent of children living with HIV who need treatment are getting it, and that AIDS is the number one killer of adolescents in Africa, and the number two cause of death worldwide. That’s why at Keep a Child Alive we support grass-roots organizations in Africa and India that are rooted in their communities, treat people with respect and elevate the voices of children, youth, women and families infected with, and affected by, HIV.Īnd children and youth are being left behind. What has kept the movement going? It’s empowered communities! It’s always been people living with HIV and community groups that have stood up and demanded accountability.

In the history of AIDS, governments, pharmaceutical companies and other institutions have failed people living with HIV. We all need to work together to have a shot at achieving this goal, but I especially want to call out the critical role of communities and community solutions: both here in the U.S. And that means addressing the issues that universally get in the way of testing and treatment and fuel this epidemic, such as poverty, stigma, gender inequality and violence towards children and women. So that means getting more people tested, enrolling them in care, and keeping them there. To do this we need to provide far greater access to treatment, because treatment is prevention, meaning that if a person with HIV is successfully on treatment it is very unlikely they will transmit the virus to others. The world is now on a mission to end AIDS by 2030. They’ll need medicine for the rest of their lives, including 2.6 million children.

ALICIA KEYS KIDS FREE

When I hear the phrase “AIDS-free generation,” I think of the 36.9 million people still living with HIV today who, unless a cure is discovered, will never be free of the threat of AIDS. I’d always had an affinity for children and I couldn’t forget the looks on their mother’s faces as they begged me for help getting the drugs, and so together we created Keep a Child Alive.ĭo you see us reaching an AIDS-free generation on a national and global level? I was totally onboard. I remember specifically feeling that whether you live or die should never depend on where you were born. In 2001, I was asked to perform in a remake of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” that Bono and my dear friend Leigh Blake were producing. It was to draw attention to the AIDS crisis that was claiming millions of lives in Africa. Leigh had spent time there, and had seen first hand the despair of families and the needless deaths of so many people.Īnd why? Because they couldn’t get access to the lifesaving antiretroviral drugs available to us in the West. When Leigh explained to me how I could make a difference, and after I witnessed firsthand the suffering of children and families in South Africa, in 2002, I knew I would never be the same. What inspired you to get involved with HIV/AIDS advocacy work? In September 2014, she also launched We Are Here, a movement empowering the global community to build a better world where all people are heard, respected, equal and treated with dignity.

The Grammy-winning vocalist takes us inside her work outside the studio, as well as inside her music to show how the two sometimes come together for a powerful cause.Ī dedicated and influential advocate in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, Alicia Keys co-founded Keep a Child Alive (KCA) in 2003, to combat the impact of the epidemic on children and families in Africa and India.

Alicia keys kids