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Event Focuses on Children Orphaned by AIDS Epidemic

A group of international AIDS activists from Africa and Asia will bring their message of struggle and hope to Duke on Thursday, April 14

By age 15, Sibulele Sibaca had lost both of her parents to AIDS. Now, as a representative of LoveLife, South Africa's national HIV prevention program for youth, she travels throughout the world talking with young people about the challenges they face and helping communities work together to prevent HIV. 

Sibaca and a group of international AIDS activists from Africa and Asia will bring their message of struggle and hope to DukeUniversity's SearleCenter lecture hall at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14. "Orphaned Children of the AIDS Epidemic: Voices From the Epicenter" is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in the Bryan Research Building Parking Garage on Research Drive.

The event is sponsored by the Health Inequalities Program and the Center for Health Policy, Law and Management at Duke. 

Other speakers include:

-- Frehiwot Alebachew, Save Lives Ethiopia Development Organization, Ethiopia;

-- Dafrosa Itemba, KIWAKKUKI (Women Fighting Vigorously Against HIV/AIDS, Tanzania;

-- Michael Meegan, International Community for the Relief of Suffering and Starvation, Kenya;

-- Ashok Rau, Freedom Foundation, India;

-- Neville Selhore, SaharaHouse, India.

"These individuals are working day and night to bring relief and support to children who have been orphaned by AIDS and other diseases," said Kathryn Whetten, director of the Center for Health Policy, Law and Management. "There's a lot to be learned from their powerful demonstration of using scarce resources to tackle such a massive epidemic."

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Duke's Health Inequalities Program (HIP) is part of the Center for Health Policy, Law and Management and the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy. Its mission is to advance the understanding of circumstances that result in health disparities. A major emphasis of HIP has been the understanding of inequalities related to HIV/AIDS.

For more information, go here