BigShinyThing

If you can’t face buying the Alicia Keys/Bono iTunes single [has Apple just bought U2?], then find other ways of contributing at becomeadrugdealer.com. The main site, keepachildalive.org spells it out for you:

There are nearly 3 million children living with HIV/AIDS today, nearly all of them in poor countries in Africa and elsewhere. Each year over 700,000 more children are infected with HIV. Roughly half die before the age of two, and most of the rest die before reaching school age.

In the U.S. and other wealthy countries, antiretroviral medicines (ARVs) have transformed AIDS from a virtual death sentence to a chronic, manageable disease. But over 95% of all people with HIV/AIDS live in impoverished countries that can’t afford these medicines. At least 6 million people with HIV/AIDS in poor countries are in urgent need of treatment. But only 400,000 are getting it—less than 7 percent of those in need. In sub-Saharan Africa, where the epidemic has hit hardest, only 100,000 people have access to ARVs—just 2 percent of those in need. And even fewer children are receiving treatment. This is the gap that Keep A Child Alive is trying to fill—and it’s a big one.

It’s also important to remember that most children with AIDS eventually become orphans. Over 14 million children have lost one or both parents to this disease. That’s as many as every child under five in America. Keeping their parents alive is one of the best things we can do for children with AIDS. And, of course, treatment for pregnant women can prevent more kids from becoming infected in the first place.

Keep A Child Alive is a unique campaign that offers you the opportunity to provide lifesaving AIDS medicines directly to children and families with HIV/AIDS. For just a dollar a day—or a monthly contribution of $30—you can help save the life of a child or a parent who can’t afford essential treatment and care. A dollar a day. That’s spare change for most of us. Probably less than you spend on coffee each morning. A lot of us can come up with $30 just by skipping dinner out—or ordering in—one night a week. And making a small change in your own life can make an incredible change in someone else’s. It can actually save a life.

The Bono/Alicia Keys cover of ‘Don’t Give Up (Africa)’ is released on 6th December - the intention is that it will become the most downloaded song in history.