Did You Know…
- HIV/AIDS is the world’s leading infectious killer claiming—to date—over 27 million lives.
- 33.4 million people live with HIV/AIDS worldwide, the vast majority of whom are in low- and middle-income countries.
- An estimated 2 million people die every year from HIV/AIDS.
- More than 2 million children are living with HIV/AIDS, according to 2008 figures.
- Most of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa and were infected by their HIV-positive mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.
During her first trip to Africa in 2003, R&B superstar and philanthropist, Alicia Keys, witnessed the drastic impact of AIDS when untreated. She saw it as a deadly disease capable of orphaning children, destroying communities, and hindering economic growth. Since then, Keys, and Leigh Blake, a longtime AIDS activist and film/TV producer, have founded Keep a Child Alive (KCA) together.
KCA is a people’s movement that provides life-saving medication for AIDS victims and surrounding care to African and Indian children and families. KCA also provides support to AIDS orphans. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Keys and Blake, KCA has been able to raise millions of dollars to care for AIDS patients in Africa and India. Keys has appeared twice on Oprah to represent the organization and is the host of Keep a Child Alive’s annual Black Ball gala. This legendary event takes place during the fall in NYC and in the summer in London. The Black Ball is a unique fundraiser/concert, hosted by Alicia Keys and Iman, where KCA honors the work of remarkable humanitarians who have helped to change the lives of those devastated by this plague. In the past Alicia Keys has shared the stage with David Bowie, Lou Reed, Gwen Stefani, Bono, Annie Lennox, and Lenny Kravitz, amongst others to bring awareness about AIDS.
During her 2008 U.S. concert tour, Alicia Keys introduced the Keep a Child Alive campaign “Text ALIVE” where cell phone users donate $5 to KCA by simply texting the word “ALIVE” to 90999. Keep a Child Alive is the first charity to have successfully implemented an ongoing texting campaign in the United States. Keys and Blake have made it their mission to battle AIDS in low-income countries. Keys best summarizes this passion in an article in which she states, “Helping keep a child, or mother, or father or brother or sister alive means turning the worst epidemic of our lifetime into the greatest victory of our generation.”
To learn more about this organization, please visit http://www.keepachildalive.org
