Sunday, May 23, 2010

The Lazarus Effect

The way I was feeling was like I was already dead.
~ Concillia Muhau

It is estimated that more than 20 million people in Africa have died of AIDS. Currently, some 3,800 people in sub-Saharan Africa die every day from the disease or from the complications of infection with the virus that causes it.

Tomorrow, May 24, HBO premieres the documentary The Lazarus Effect, a 30-minute film featuring the stories of four Zambians with AIDS who are given back their lives after gaining access to antiretroviral medicine: Constance Mudenda, who lost her three children to AIDS and who, along with her husband, is HIV-positive; Bwalya, an 11-year-old orphan; Paul Nsangu; and Concillia Muhau, who is HIV-positive and gave birth to a child who is virus-free.

The cost of the treatment each received: approximately 40 cents a day.

Directed by Lance Bangs and produced by Spike Jonze and Susan Smith Ellis, the film will also be shown on YouTube and on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. 

Immediately below is the trailer for the documentary.



Resources

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria 

The Living Proof Project

President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

(Red)

"A Cure for AIDS? Spike Jonze Is Not Joking" in TimesOnline (May 15, 2010)

"Spike Jonze Unmasked" in New York

(RED) on FaceBook

(RED) on Twitter

3 comments:

Louise Gallagher said...

YES!

Anonymous said...

a song of
care and Love

sarah said...

it makes me so angry because it's cheap and easy to cure dozens of horrible illnesses and relieve the terrible suffering of people in many countries, but still they spend billions of dollars on something as unbelievably stupid as a Hadron Accelerator. I actually think that's evil.