Hello all!

Time for that yearly jog.... this time I am fundraising for Interact Worldwide part of Plan UK.

They work hard to bring universal access to family planning, maternal health, sexual and reproductive education, and HIV and AIDS services to the hardest to reach and most vulnerable adolescents across the world...usually in the poorest locations:

- Helping young teenagers in remote areas get access to contraceptives

- Increasing the availability of contraceptives to men and women 

- Giving women the right to a safe birth - including arranging a woman's first ever antenatal visit, and also their first ever post natal visit 

- Increasing condom usage tenfold to prevent HIV infection

- Giving them access to education, information and advice

Why do Interact Worldwide need to do this?  Here are a few sobering statistics for you: 

- 16 million adolescents become mothers every year

- 2.5 million have unsafe abortions

- A woman from Africa is 237 times more likely to die from complications in pregnancy than in the UK

- For every woman who dies, 30 more suffer illness or disability

- Pregnancy is a leading cause of death for girls under 18 in rural Zambia

- Each year there are 111 million new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections amongst young people (but many find it hard to get access to treatment)

- In sub-Saharan Africa half of girls marry before 18, missing out on school and economic opportunities

- Gender inequality, sexual violence, religion, and lack of power make it difficult for girls to say no, or negotiate safe sex

- Every 14 seconds a 15-24 year old is infected with HIV

- Over 30 million people are currently living with HIV and AIDS worldwide

- Every second 5 people die because of HIV and AIDS

 

If more girls can stay in education rather than get married, it increases the choice they have over their lives, and it helps them to break the cycle of poverty.

 

Interact Worldwide help with all of this.  I hope you agree that it's a very worthwhile cause - giving the very poorest people in the world access to this important health aid.  Feel free to take a look for yourself at some of the successful projects they have run - this is their website: www.interactworldwide.org