Here’s question six in our lead-up to World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

Remember when you answer each day’s HIV/AIDS question correctly, you are eligible to win a free CD – your choice of either Portable Sounds by tobyMac or Beyond Measure by Jeremy Camp. We’ll randomly choose a winner each day from the correct answers.

The answer to yesterday’s question is false.

HIV can be passed from a mother to her child in three ways: during pregnancy, during childbirth, or through the breast milk. Even though children may not be infected when they are born, they can still be infected later through their mother’s breast milk.

Simple drug interventions, however, can prevent mother-to-child transmission, which can greatly reduce the overall rate of HIV transmission.

Source: The Skeptic’s Guide to the Global AIDS Crisis by Dale Hanson Bourke (Colorado Springs, Colo.: Authentic Books, 2006), p. 15

Here’s question five in our lead-up to World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

Remember when you answer each day’s HIV/AIDS question correctly, you are eligible to win a free CD – your choice of either Portable Sounds by tobyMac or Beyond Measure by Jeremy Camp. We’ll randomly choose a winner each day from the correct answers.

The answer to Friday’s question is 1,000.

During 2007, an average of 1,000 children worldwide became infected each day with HIV, the vast majority of them newborns. Many people living in poverty are never tested and are unaware of their HIV positive status, thus increasing the rate of transmission. An important focus of our AIDS Initiative is the prevention of mother-to-child transmission.

Source: 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic Executive Summary, pg.8

Here’s question four in our lead-up to World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

Remember when you answer each day’s HIV/AIDS question correctly, you are eligible to win a free CD – your choice of either Portable Sounds by tobyMac or Beyond Measure by Jeremy Camp. We’ll randomly choose a winner each day from the correct answers.

The answer to Wednesday’s question is yes; a person with AIDS always has HIV.

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

A person may have HIV for many years without developing AIDS. An HIV-positive person is considered to have AIDS only when his or her white blood cell (CD4) count drops below the 200-350 range. In fact, until then, a person with HIV may not show symptoms of the infection.

However, an HIV-infected person is still able to transmit the disease to others and may develop AIDS at any time.

Here’s question three in our lead-up to World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

Remember when you answer each day’s HIV/AIDS question correctly, you are eligible to win a free CD – your choice of either Portable Sounds by tobyMac or Beyond Measure by Jeremy Camp. We’ll randomly choose a winner each day from the correct answers.

Of the more than 2 million deaths worldwide in 2007 caused by AIDS, 72 percent of those occurred in sub-Saharan Africa.

That statistic shows the devastating toll AIDS is taking on the continent of Africa.

Source: 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic,Executive Summary, pp. 5, 18, http://www.unaids.org

World AIDS Day is Dec. 1. So, over the next two weeks we’ll be asking you some questions about HIV and AIDS.

If you answer that day’s question correctly, you’ll be eligible to win a free CD — your choice of either Portable Sounds by tobyMac or Beyond Measure by Jeremy Camp. We’ll randomly choose a winner each day from the correct answers.

Here’s the first question.

Tomorrow morning we’ll publish the answer to this question in the comment section of this post.

Are you still with me? Still tracking with these thoughts on eliminating poverty? Good.

Now, I’ll share with you some data – data that show the Millennium Development Goals are on target.

We used to say that 40,000 children under age 5 die every day of hunger or preventable diseases. Then about 6 to 7 years ago this number was 30,000. Today, 24,000 children under 5 die every day of hunger or preventable diseases.

These statistics show that in 20 years the number of children who die every day of hunger or preventable diseases has been cut in half. Yet, the birth rate is actually going up. The population is increasing. (more…)

I heard the other day what many would call “good news.” According to the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, the recession is over.

Only the thing is, the “good-ness” of this news is relative … it’s only true for those of us living within certain geographic boundaries (read: the developed world.)

So, while we may be seeing signs of economic improvement in our part of the world, many other parts of the world are still in dire straits.

I recently received a report from our staff in Guatemala that says there are 54,000 families seriously lacking food. Fifty-four thousand. UNICEF says that almost half of Guatemalan children suffer from chronic malnutrition.

While the food crisis is not new, the reasons behind this reiteration of it are different from before. (more…)