BANGKOK, July 12 -- PRNewswire/ AsiaNet
Innovative, Successful Low-Cost Efforts Offer Comprehensive Care for Children
Orphaned and Affected by AIDS in Colombia, Brazil, Uganda and Rwanda
The Association Francois-Xavier Bagnoud (AFXB) Will Present Four New Studies
During Special Satellite Session in Bangkok on 'Rights and Costs: Advocacy and
Sustainable Development for children, families and communities living with
HIV/AIDS'
Results of four successful low-cost and comprehensive care projects
addressing the escalating numbers of orphans and vulnerable children affected
by AIDS in Africa and Latin America will be released here during the 15th
International AIDS Conference (IAC).
(AFXB) will present Country Study Papers of its programs in Latin America
and Africa that demonstrate four distinct approaches using minimal financial
resources and local leadership to successfully assist families and children
affected by the AIDS pandemic.
Increasingly, the international donor community is turning its attention
to these vulnerable children who have been left to deal with insurmountable
burdens on their own while aid monies have flowed to more traditional
recipients.
The AFXB studies describe innovative approaches that have evolved from 15
years of on-the-ground field experience in 18 countries.
The evaluations of AFXB efforts in Colombia, Brazil, Uganda and Rwanda
will be released at a satellite session on "Rights and Costs: Advocacy and
Sustainable Development for Children, Families, and Communities Living with
HIV/AIDS" on July 14, 2004, 18:00 - 20:00 in room EC 5.
The studies illustrate that comprehensive care that includes education,
food, health, and psychosocial counseling can be done affordably in a wide
variety of cultural contexts and in differing stages of the pandemic. The
papers focus on:
* A Model Promoting Self-sufficiency: How an innovative "Module for Self-
Sufficiency" in Rwanda enabled an in-kind grant of $127,000 to support
up to 100 families and 400 children for three years, helping most
participants to become self-sufficient and credit-worthy.
* Coping with Poverty: How Parish Orphan Communities (POC) and Village
Orphan Communities (VOC) in Ugandan rural areas have maximized income-
generating activities for families to raise them above the poverty
level and secure income to welcome orphans into their families.
* Home-based Treatment of Pediatric AIDS. How FXB House assists families
and children affected by HIV/AIDS in a poor community in Barranquilla,
Colombia, and provides antiretrovirals for those who need them.
* Advocacy and Care: How the FXB House in a slum in Sao Paulo provides
support and comprehensive care for children affected by AIDS, and
assists the community in advocating for people living with AIDS and
other rights issues.
Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS
AFXB is presenting jointly with the Global Business Coalition a poster
presentation on business sector involvement with AIDS orphans and vulnerable
children that illustrates the actions taken by business leaders for these
children and what can be done in firms and in communities by businesses.
AFXB Celebrates 15 Years of Work in International Health and Human Rights
A delegation of 33 AFXB staff members from 15 countries, including
managers from all four featured programs, will be in Bangkok for satellite
programs, poster presentations, and to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of AFXB.
Also, on July 12, 2004, Albina du Boisrouvray, AFXB founder and president,
will receive the prestigious Thai Komol Keemthong Foundation Award. The award
will be given for her contributions in Thailand and Myanmar in the fields of
education, vocational training, protection of children's rights, and support
of HIV/AIDS affected children and their families. It will take place at a
special ceremony during the celebration of AFXB's 15th Anniversary at the
Landmark Hotel here on Sukhumvit Road from 7:00pm - 9:30pm.
At the IAC, AFXB will present the abstracts on the following subjects:
* Psychological impact of HIV diagnosis and its manifestations among
children in Barranquilla, Colombia.
* Massive information education communication strategy to reduce the
spread of HIV in rural India.
* HIV Prevention with Fun: An Innovative Method, India.
* HIV/AIDS Training for Health Care Providers in Rajasthan, India.
* Prevalence of HIV Infection in counseling and testing centre, Jodhpur,
India.
* Workplace intervention program: Matching intervention with needs, India.
* Reasons among married couples for not disclosing their HIV Status to
their spouses, India.
* Prevalence of malnutrition among HIV-infected individuals in Rajasthan,
India.
* Towards a holistic approach to protect sex workers from STIs/HIV/AIDS,
India.
* A comprehensive support program for HIV/AIDS-affected families in
Rwanda.
* How People Living with AIDS (PLWA) can provide HIV/AIDS care, Rwanda.
* The burden of HIV/AIDS on the elderly in a rural setting. Luwero,
Uganda.
* Comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention for highly vulnerable women in
Montevideo, Uruguay.
* Understanding Linkages Between Orphanhood and Factors of Vulnerability,
India.
About AFXB
The association is named after Francois-Xavier Bagnoud, a young helicopter
pilot committed to rescuing people, who died in 1986 at the age of 24 during a
mission in Mali, West Africa. In 1989, his mother, Albina du Boisrouvray, his
family, and friends established and provided the initial funding to create
projects for the Association Fran?ois-Xavier Bagnoud (AFXB) to perpetuate the
compassion and generosity that guided Francois' life. AFXB is an international
NGO in consultative status with ECOSOC that creates and implements its
projects for AIDS orphans, orphans from other causes and all vulnerable
children worldwide and mobilized funding to do this. For more information
about AFXB's work, please see: http://www.fxb.org.
SOURCE: The Association Francois-Xavier Bagnoud
CONTACT: US - Don Casey,
+1-718-237-9173, or
THAILAND - Supattra
Kattiya-Aree,
Mobile +661-803-5830,
both for The Association Francois-Xavier Bagnoud
Web site: http://www.fxb.org
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