Why Global Health?
President Clinton has made finding solutions to global problems a major focus of his more than 30 years in public service. After leaving office, he knew he wanted to continue to address the inequalities in access to health care in the developing world. While delivering the closing remarks with Nelson Mandela at the 2002 International AIDS Conference, President Clinton realized his Foundation could play a significant role in expanding access to life-saving medicines and tests and in helping developing countries systematize their approach to HIV/AIDS treatment. As a result, he launched the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, now the Clinton Health Access Initiative.
Why HIV/AIDS?
HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic that is significantly impacting the developing world and threatening to undermine virtually all social and economic goals in these regions. In some countries, more teachers die of AIDS every year than can be trained to take their place. And in several sub-Saharan African countries, more than half of the hospital beds are frequently occupied with AIDS patients, crowding out care for others.
Today there are:
- 33.4 million adults and children living with HIV/AIDS
- 7,400 people newly infected with HIV every day
- 32 children dying of AIDS every hour
These numbers paint a picture of the grim impact that the disease is having across the world. And while progress is being made – via the efforts of governments, NGOs and donors – more needs to be done. Today, only 42 percent of people in need of treatment in low- and middle-income countries have access to it, and only 45 percent of HIV-positive pregnant women receive treatment that can prevent transmission of the disease to their children.
Learn more about what CHAI is doing to help turn the tide on the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Why Malaria?
Malaria affects an estimated 300-500 million people worldwide each year, and is the single greatest killer of African children, claiming the lives of roughly 1 million every year. In addition to the toll it takes on families, malaria overwhelms already crowded health systems, accounting for as many as half of all hospital admissions in some countries. Further, the disease costs African countries an estimated $12 billion each year in lost productivity.
Learn more about what CHAI is doing to combat malaria.
Why Health Systems?
To effectively scale up treatment for HIV/AIDS and malaria, significant investments in the national health systems of developing countries must be made. Access to healthcare services must be extended to rural communities, where 80 percent of people in the developing world live, and where basic healthcare services are often limited. And an adequate number of well-trained healthcare workers must be available to deliver these services. The global response to HIV/AIDS and malaria represents a unique opportunity to address these crosscutting challenges and strengthen broader healthcare services in developing countries.
Learn more about what CHAI is doing to strengthen national health systems.
PROFILE
After opening his own pediatric AIDS clinic in Kenya, Dr. Shaffiq Essajee joined the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative to develop a global pediatric HIV/AIDS program.
