Statement by Randi Weingarten, President,
American Federation of Teachers,
On World AIDS Day 2008
AFT Launches New AIDS-Awareness Web Site

WASHINGTON— For two decades now, the world has set aside Dec. 1 as World AIDS Day, when millions across the globe—including the American Federation of Teachers—unite to draw attention to the 33 million people affected by this terrible disease, and to push to stop it from spreading.

This year’s World AIDS Day slogan is “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise,” a reminder to leaders at all levels to take action to stop the disease. Although we now live in extraordinary times, where financial cuts everywhere are a harsh reality, the AFT stands firm in its commitment to combat this deadly epidemic. We know that those who suffer from the complications that come with AIDS need our support now more than ever. The AFT will continue to fund programs in the United States and abroad, and will continue our education-outreach efforts on the causes, prevention and treatment of AIDS.

Building on the AFT’s work in the fight against AIDS, both domestically and internationally, over the past 25-plus years, the union has just launched a new AIDS-awareness Web site www.aft.org/topics/aids. It includes information about the AIDS pandemic in the United States and Africa, how the disease affects education, and how education is the most powerful way to combat AIDS. The site has tools and resources that can be used in AIDS-education and AIDS-awareness campaigns and projects.

Many AFT locals have active union-based school-workplace HIV/AIDS programs that have been highly effective in reducing the vulnerability of teachers to HIV infection, fighting the stigma and discrimination against HIV-positive teachers in the workplace, and addressing the personal needs of our HIV-positive members. The AFT also has empowered its teachers and their students, by providing curricula on transmission, prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
 
Another AFT program on HIV/AIDS awareness and education, launched in October, links students and faculty at Artesia High School in California’s ABC school district with their counterparts at Umlazi Technical High School in Durban, South Africa. Using e-mail, students will learn from their partners abroad about the impact of AIDS on their communities and what action is being taken to prevent the spread of the disease. Future plans include student exchanges, which will give students an opportunity to forge a greater human connection to each other, and will underscore the message that we are all in this fight together.
 
The AFT also commends Congress for its increase this year in PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) funding, up to $48 million from $30 million, which will help in the fight against AIDS in Africa and other regions of the world. With funding from PEPFAR and the AFT-Africa AIDS campaign, the AFT now works with eight teachers unions in Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe to provide support for teachers infected and affected by this devastating disease. AFT members have generously contributed more than $200,000 to the AFT-Africa AIDS program.

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