aid –

The message in Freddie Mercury’s silence

November 24, 2011 By Sarah Turnbull Leave a Comment

World Aid Day raises awareness around the globe. Photo: Courtesy UNAIDS

“Goodbye everybody – I’ve got to go, gotta leave you all behind and face the truth.”

These are some of the lines from one of the most famous songs in music history and looking back they seem hauntingly accurate. The song, written by Freddie Mercury, reached number one for the second time in 1991, staying there for five weeks following his death.

Mercury was a larger than life character and shocked the world by publicly announcing he was HIV positive one day before he died.

The legendary icon died at 45, from a type of bacterial pneumonia brought on by AIDS. He died in London, 20 years ago. Mercury is still well known for his flamboyant stage presence, powerful vocals and talented songwriting that has inspired millions.

With the anniversary of his death today, and the upcoming World AIDS Day next week, there are even more reports and research being published to raise awareness of the virus.

The purpose of World AIDS Day is to remind people around the world of the HIV and AIDS epidemic. It has been 30 years since AIDS was first reported, and it is estimated that today 34 million people are living with HIV around the globe.

World AIDS Day 2011 has a ‘looking forward’ theme with a focus on 2015. The organisation, UNAIDS, which is a joint United Nations programme on HIV and AIDS, is leading the campaign with what they call ‘Getting to Zero’. The organisation claims “we have three main targets which are: zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS related deaths by 2015”.

UNAIDS is promoting a “smarter, faster, better campaign” to raise awareness of these targets. They may seem ambitious but with the global statistics of HIV and AIDS decreasing it might not be impossible.

The total number of Scots with HIV is now 6,845 with 72% made up of males and 28% females. The main spread of HIV is mainly due to drug use and the sharing of needles and syringes.

The Scottish charity, Positive Help, has created services to help those who are affected by HIV and AIDS in the Edinburgh area. They provide a transport service, home support service and a children and young people befriending system. The befriending system is aimed at children from three to eighteen who are HIV positive, or have parents that are.

Angus Mackenzie from the charity claims, “the befriending system is very helpful to both children and teenagers, but also their parents.”

“There was one little boy we took to a festival and his reaction was just mind blowing, as if he’d never seen anything like it before.”

One of the biggest issues with HIV and AIDS is the embarrassment and taboo that still surrounds the virus toady. Mercury himself remained silent about his illness until one day before it killed him. Many suffer discrimination and feel restrictions in relationships with friends and family. This is what the befriending systems aims to prevent.

Despite the advances in life expectancy, Positive Help claims that those influenced by HIV still suffer physically, mentally and socially. Mental health issues are a problem with the virus as it can lead to ill health, depression, isolation and agoraphobia.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Health Tagged With: aid, Freddie Mercury, HIV, music, NHS, Positive help, UNAIDS

Haiti facing Tomas storm as aid agencies stretched

November 3, 2010 By subablog Leave a Comment

A tropical storm called Tomas is nearing towards Haiti, that could turn into a hurricane according to forecasters. Storm Tomas could become a hurricane category of 3 or 4 meaning stronger winds than 178km per hour.

Alastair Burnett, British Red Cross recovery operations manager said:“This is cause for serious concern,” said. “The people of Haiti have already lived through an earthquake, fear of a cholera epidemic and now a hurricane is on its way. These people are already highly vulnerable, and of course, hundreds of thousands of people are still in camps because of January’s earthquake.”

“Although we have made extensive preparations and prepositioned stocks across the country, some crucial supplies have been badly depleted by ongoing needs, particularly the response to the ongoing cholera epidemic,” Nigel Fisher the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti claimed.

“With our Haitian counterparts, we are appealing to donors, to organizations in the region and to humanitarian partners to help us get what we need in time.” Mr Fisher said there is a severe shortage if soap, traps, hygiene kits and field tents.

Following the earthquake in January which claimed 300,00 lives and made 1.5 million people homeless a cholera epidemic has broken out due to lack of drinking water and sanitation facilities. A potential storm or hurricane would have devastating effects given the existing humanitarian crisis situation. Aid agencies are already stretched to their limits as they are trying to contain the cholera outbreak amidst a shortage of aid supplies.

A spokesman for the UN Martin Nesirky claimed: “Supplies are being pre-positioned notably in Jérémie, Les Cayes, Jacmel and Léogane which are expected to experience the storm more severely”

Imogen Wall, a spokeswomen for the UN Office of Coordination has stated in a press conference that warehouses are running out of tents and ropes – things which are badly needed for the camps set up as temporary accommodation for the homeless.

This storm would be the first to affect Haiti since the 2010 earthquake, and would be highly likely to cause a bigger devastation than previous storms as the 1.5 million homeless people mostly live in tents, which would be very vulnerable to a heavy storm let alone to a potential hurricane.

Filed Under: News in Brief, Travel and Communities, Uncategorized, World In Depth Tagged With: aid, Environmental Disaster, Haiti, Humanitarian Crisis, Hurricane

Scottish Volunteer Convoy Delivers Aid to Gaza

March 9, 2009 By The Rumour Mule Leave a Comment

by Stevie Kearney

Despite initial concerns regarding passage into Gaza, a group of volunteers from Scotland have managed to deliver a convoy of medical aid. The group crossed over on Monday with no problems, having arrived at the border crossing at Rafah in Egypt soon after the much publicised Viva Palestina convoy.

Campaign groups across the world have been calling for more medical supplies to be allowed in to the stricken region of Gaza, where the recent conflict with Israel has caused a humanitarian crisis and damage to many key buildings, including hospitals. It is estimated that around 1,330 Palestinians have lost their lives in the conflict, with a further 5,450 injured. The supplies have been delivered directly to the Al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical facility in Gaza.

Journalist and volunteer driver Bruce Whitehead spoke of the the moment the group arrived, “The welcome we received from the Hamas government could not have been better. It is good to have finally hand-delivered these much needed medical supplies to the besieged people of Gaza”.

The Scottish convoy passed through France, Spain and North Africa on its way to Gaza, where 1.5 million people live in one of the world’s most densely populated areas. The journey began on the 14th of Febrauary.

Abdul Aziz, a driver and spokesperson on the convoy, said “I hope that the lasting memory for the people of Gaza will be the knowledge that these people drove thousands of miles across two continents to bring aid to the besieged people of Gaza, and the knowledge that people on the other side of the world cared about them”.

Earlier on Sunday the huge Viva Palestina convoy, led by George Galloway MP and journalist Yvonne Ridley, was stopped at the Rafah Crossing in Egypt and denied entry to Gaza by Egyptian authorities. It is unclear as to why access has been denied, but Ridley reported that the group could be, “mere political pawns in a much wider game being played out in Egypt at the moment with Libya, Egypt and Israel”.

The Scottish convoy of four trucks, four transit vans, an ambulance and a jeep also reported Israeli shells landing within a few hundred metres during the crossing into Gaza. However, there are no reports of any injuries.