INTRODUCTION The spread of HIV/AIDS is different from that of other epidemics that have occurred in human history, owing to the fact that it touches sexual behavior and death, and remains hidden for much of the time.
The latency period for HIV to reach full blown AIDS on average is 10 years, and patients need long-term care and support. Mode of spread of the disease is another factor that makes it different from other recent diseases. Globally, an estimated 38. 6 (33. 4-46.
) million people worldwide were living with HIV in 2005. An estimated 4. 1 million became newly infected with HIV, and estimated 2. 8 million lost their lives to AIDS (UNAIDS, 2006). HIV/AIDS now causes more deaths than any other infectious diseases, having overtaken malaria and tuberculosis.
It is the fourth biggest killer in the world (after heart disease, stroke and respiratory diseases) and has become the single largest cause of death in Africa (Matlin & Spence, 2000).It has become a social catastrophe in Africa, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV/AIDS turns children into orphans, women to widows and weakens the breadwinner. In addition to its appalling human consequences, it weakens societies, destroys productive forces, reduces life expectancy, and demolishes social structures (UNAIDS, 2002). HIV/AIDS is not only a terrifying illness; it is also a major challenge to development.
The World Bank has defined empowerment as “the process of increasing capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes” to ‘build individual and collective assets, and to improve the efficiency and fairness of the organizational and institutional context which govern the use of these assets” Empowerment - is about people -both women and men- taking control over their lives: setting their own agendas, gaining skills, building self-confidence, solving problems and developing self-reliance, and expressing their voice.It is both a process and an outcome. No one can empower another: only the individual can empower herself or himself to make choices or to speak out. However, some institutions can support processes that can nurture self-empowerment of relegated individuals or groups.
SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT Social empowerment is the process of accessing opportunities and resources in order to make personal choices (e. g. choosing what to eat, what to wear, what neighborhood to live in etc. and have some control over our environment.
(What is social Empowerment) Take a look at MT Kenya Focus on HIV/AIDS Empowerment Program it is a nonprofit making youth community based organization, operational within MT Kenya region and its environs . it was started in year 2004 In brief MT Kenya Focus on HIV/AIDS Empowerment Program serves as a forum to empower the infected and the affected to overcome the setbacks associated with HIV/AIDS and its impacts.The mission is to mobilize and empower the youths and community by providing and promoting leadership, collaboration and enhancing capacity building among young people and community for collective response towards prevention and reduction of risks and vulnerability of HIV/AIDS among young people. Out of nearly 25 million Africans today living with HIV/AIDS, almost 60 per cent are women, reports the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Take a look at Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya (WOFAK).
WOFAK ventures into the fields of care, support and behavior change, a critical gap continues to be seen in the area of sustainable livelihoods for young women and widows both affected and infected by HIV & AIDS. Much as many community interventions are trying to mount responses, it is evident that many of the strategies do not address the critical aspect of long term welfare, empowerment and sustainable livelihoods for young women affected by HIV & AIDS.The holistic approach to care for women affected by HIV & AIDS, in our opinion should address the economic livelihoods, survival and self-reliance of women living with and affected by HIV & AIDS, especially in urban slums where disparities always compromise on prevention of infections and re-infections for many of the women.
