Footwear: Converse (PRODUCT)RED Leather Jacket Shoe

Our goal is to raise overall awareness of the issue and generate money to support Global Fund financed AIDS grants in Africa, the region hardest hit with this pandemic. To date, (RED) partners, including Converse, have generated more than $135 million for the Global Fund and this money has supported programs that have reached more than four million people affected by HIV in Africa. We need to do more.

As part of our ONE COLOR UNITES US World AIDS Day program, we will be turning cities (RED) across the country, turning Tweets (RED) across Twitter (literally!) and turning sales (RED) in pop up shops in NY, SF, Tokyo and London.

And, we’re reaching out to you to see if you can help us with our goal to turn blogs and online forums (RED). As a supporter of Converse (PRODUCT)RED, we wanted to see if you would be willing to speak out using your influential voice on World AIDS Day (Dec 1) to build awareness of the impact of (RED) dollars in the fight against AIDS in Africa. We would like you to see if you would be able to take note/blog about the issue and the impact (RED) dollars, including those generated from the sale of your shoes, have had in Africa.

If this is something you’re interested in, let us know if there is any information you need. Below are stats about the issues and the impact people are having through their support, and some of the products Converse is debuting around World AIDS Day. However, if you have other questions, need images or information, we are happy to help you.

AIDS Overall

• There are 33 million people living with HIV globally. (Source: UNAIDS 2009 HIV/AIDS Universal Access Progress Report). 22 million of these people live in Africa.

• Africa has 10% of the world’s population. 67% of all people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa.

• 4,100 people die each day from AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

• It can take just 2 pills a day to keep a person with HIV or AIDS alive. It costs around 40 cents a day to provide this antiretroviral medication for one person.

• More than 3.8 million people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa still don’t have access to the antiretroviral therapy they need.

Women & Children

• There are an estimated 2.1 million children living with HIV globally, 90% of these are in Africa.

• 12.1 million children in Africa have been orphaned because of AIDS.

• Over 1,000 children are infected with HIV each day in sub-Saharan Africa.

• More than 90% of the children living with HIV are infected through mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy, around the time of birth or through breastfeeding. (Source: UNAIDS 2009 HIV/AIDS Universal Access Progress Report)

• $26 covers the cost of providing medication to a pregnant woman to reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to her baby

• Treatment to help prevent transmission of HIV from mother to baby during childbirth can reduce the risk of transmission to as low as 1-2%, down from the ‘normal’ rate of around 45% (Source UNAIDS PMTCT media release Sept 2009)

• 57% of all people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are women

• Globally AIDS is the leading cause of mortality among women of reproductive age

(RED) Impact

• In just three years, (RED) has generated over $135 million for the Global Fund to support AIDS programs in Africa with a focus on women and children.

• 100% of this money supports Global Fund- financed HIV/AIDS grants in Africa; no overhead is taken out.

• This money has supported programs that have reached more than 4 million people in four countries, this includes reaching nearly 80,000 HIV+ pregnant women with treatment to help ensure their babies are born free of the disease, helping to put nearly 80,000 people on antiretroviral treatment and providing access to HIV testing and counseling to more than 3.5 million people.

Converse (PRODUCT)RED