Doctor urges AIDS donations
by Karen Brownlee Leader-Post
January 17, 2005
Understanding why Canadians donated millions of dollars in a few weeks for the tsunami victims of southeast Asia will be the key to having the same relief pour in for HIV-AIDS sufferers in Africa, said Dr. Didi Emokpare, a Regina doctor and the executive director of the Lazarus Foundation.
Both are crises overseas that killed huge numbers of people and tore apart families. Both need North America's support.
But North Americans seem to have more of a connection to southeast Asia than they do Africa, said Emokpare. Tourists traveling to southeast Asia as well as the cause of death being a sudden natural disaster rather than a disease devastating over years could explain it, he said.
Fostering a connection between the continents and an understanding that the disease exists in both will be one focus of the foundation this year, said Emokpare, who is originally from Nigeria.
Another will be helping the 11 million children orphaned by parents who died of AIDS and preventing 14 million more from being orphaned in the next five years.
The Lazarus Foundation was started in 2000. It came to Regina just over two years ago when Emokpare and his sister Renua Scott-Emuakpor moved here from the U.S. The foundation helps HIV-AIDS victims in Africa by providing assistance and resources for sufferers and their families while pursuing government policy change.
HIV-AIDS is a crisis there, but is still a problem here, said Emokpare. As a family doctor in Regina, he sees young patients that do not understand what HIV-AIDS is, how to prevent the disease or what a positive diagnosis means. The difference is Saskatchewan patients have a healthcare system and support services to care for them, he said.
Speaking in schools, particularly those with aboriginal students, will help spread the prevention and awareness message still needed in Saskatchewan, said Emokpare. It will also give the foundation's speakers the opportunity talk about the help Africa needs, said Emokpare.
Having local students correspond with those in Africa through a school exchange program will also help people feel connected and recognize the needs that exist there, said Emokpare.
More information about the Lazarus Foundation can be found at its website www.hivafrica.org or through its toll-free number 1-866-939-HOPE (4673).
January 17, 2005
Understanding why Canadians donated millions of dollars in a few weeks for the tsunami victims of southeast Asia will be the key to having the same relief pour in for HIV-AIDS sufferers in Africa, said Dr. Didi Emokpare, a Regina doctor and the executive director of the Lazarus Foundation.
Both are crises overseas that killed huge numbers of people and tore apart families. Both need North America's support.
But North Americans seem to have more of a connection to southeast Asia than they do Africa, said Emokpare. Tourists traveling to southeast Asia as well as the cause of death being a sudden natural disaster rather than a disease devastating over years could explain it, he said.
Fostering a connection between the continents and an understanding that the disease exists in both will be one focus of the foundation this year, said Emokpare, who is originally from Nigeria.
Another will be helping the 11 million children orphaned by parents who died of AIDS and preventing 14 million more from being orphaned in the next five years.
The Lazarus Foundation was started in 2000. It came to Regina just over two years ago when Emokpare and his sister Renua Scott-Emuakpor moved here from the U.S. The foundation helps HIV-AIDS victims in Africa by providing assistance and resources for sufferers and their families while pursuing government policy change.
HIV-AIDS is a crisis there, but is still a problem here, said Emokpare. As a family doctor in Regina, he sees young patients that do not understand what HIV-AIDS is, how to prevent the disease or what a positive diagnosis means. The difference is Saskatchewan patients have a healthcare system and support services to care for them, he said.
Speaking in schools, particularly those with aboriginal students, will help spread the prevention and awareness message still needed in Saskatchewan, said Emokpare. It will also give the foundation's speakers the opportunity talk about the help Africa needs, said Emokpare.
Having local students correspond with those in Africa through a school exchange program will also help people feel connected and recognize the needs that exist there, said Emokpare.
More information about the Lazarus Foundation can be found at its website www.hivafrica.org or through its toll-free number 1-866-939-HOPE (4673).
posted by hivafrica at 1:57 PM
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