The Free To Shine campaign led by the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) and the African Union was launched on the 29th of January 2018. The goal of the campaign is to realise the vision, to end childhood AIDS in Africa by 2030 and keep mothers healthy.
The campaign will first focus on the more immediate 2020 global targets outlined by UNAIDS ‘Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free’ super-fast-track framework for children, adolescents and young women.
Progress towards these goals will help to break the cycle that leads to childhood HIV and AIDS, taking us a step closer to success. Free To Shine will aim to unite people and organisations from local to global level and support personal and collective understanding of the actions we can take to drive the effective delivery and use of healthcare services to end childhood AIDS.
The Free To Shine campaign is widely supported by organisations that are leading the work to end AIDS, including: UNAIDS, WHO, Abbott, EGPAF, UNICEF, UNDP and AIDS Accountability International.
CAMPAIGN GOALS
- Raise awareness of the HIV epidemic in children and the need to prioritise children and mothers, to ensure that successes achieved in reducing infections are extended to this vulnerable group.
- Increase understanding of how to prevent HIV and AIDS in childhood by keeping mothers healthy, preventing mother to child transmission and ensuring fast and effective identification and treatment of HIV infected children.
- Advocate to mobilise the resources and prioritise the delivery of effective and sustainable HIV and AIDS health services that are accessible to all who need them.
- Highlight the need to remove barriers that prevent women and mothers engaging with HIV and AIDS related health services for themselves and their children.
For more information go to http://freetoshineafrica.org/about/ or follow @Free_To_Shine on twitter.