
How Does Education Fight AIDS?
Submitted by Rachel Hoy Deussom on August 27, 2009Add Comment
Education Fights AIDS is a truth that has many explanations. EFA’s work is based on the belief that education can impact people on many levels: individuals, families, communities, nations, and globally.
- Individual: Helping HIV+ people to understand their disease and its implications means that they can live longer and healthier lives. EFA’s work includes sharing information to help people make healthy choices concerning their reproductive health, and encouraging individuals to get informed about their serostatus.
- Family: Informed family members can provide better support to HIV+ individuals, help fight stigma, and have a better understanding that HIV is a disease like any other. EFA’s work helps to prevent future HIV infections by preventing partner transmission, as well as MTCT (mother to child transmission).
- Community: Knowledge of HIV prevention can help stop its spread in high risk populations. EFA’s work also aims to reduce stigma in communities.
- National: A better understanding of the epidemiology of HIV and a commitment to applying evidence leads to better focused and more effective public health programming. EFA’s work includes sharing information about the importance of national research and the need to reinforce laboratory capacity to manage individual cases as well as advance research. By improving local, regional, and national health care centers (primary, secondary, tertiary), HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care can be integrated more effectively. EFA’s work promotes understanding about the increased prevalence of TB and other opportunistic infections among seropositive people and advocates for support from bilateral and multilateral donors.
- International: HIV affects economic and societal development. EFA shares information about these effects and advocates for HIV+ persons in order to reduce stigma and promote continued research about the disease and its prevention, care, and treatment.
Tags: advocacy, care, community, education, families, individuals, information, international, knowledge, MTCT, news, prevention, Research, serostatus, stigma, treatment


