World famous singer Alicia Keys intends to discuss an unpleasant subject with children: HIV and AIDS.
It’s part of her fight against the deadly disease, and she believes that getting kids involved is key to both end the stigma of those who suffer from HIV or AIDS as well as help increase awareness to bring about a cure, according to a People Magazine report.
Keys, who is now 34, said she was just 8 or 9 years old when her mother’s friend passed away from AIDS, and she didn’t understand it at the time, nor could her mother explain it to her. It’s for this personal reason that she understands the importance of reaching out to kids on the issue and not ducking it.
Keys told People that during one visit to South Africa, it really impressed upon her just how big of a problem AIDS is, not just in the United States but also abroad. She created “Keep a Child Alive” in 2003, and 12 years later, wants to go even further to push the issue.
There are other projects going on to combat the issue, with recent news indicating that San Francisco would be dramatically boosting its funding to fight AIDS. Another $1.7 million was added to its Getting to Zero program, which brings the total pledged to $54 million, and much of that money will go to the most difficult to reach people in the city, said Mayor Ed Lee according to a Tech Times report.
The goal of Getting to Zero is to both eliminate the stigma and reduce transmissions and deaths by 90 percent by 2020, and eventually to zero.