PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

You can become a partner with Advantage Foundation by supporting one of our programs which bring the much needed medicine, and other necessities to the people affected by HIV/AIDS.

Mother-to-Child Prevention Program
Pregnant women who are HIV-positive can halve the chances of passing HIV on to their babies by taking antiretroviral drugs. Treatment options include a one-month course of zidovudine (AZT) during the last weeks of pregnancy or a single dose of nevirapine during delivery, followed by a single dose to the infant within 72 hours of birth. The single dose and follow-up can be administered for as little as $10.
Advantage Foundation programs teach women of child-bearing age how to prevent HIV infection and provide care(with the help of physicians and nurse), counseling, testing and antiretroviral drugs for pregnant women.

Pledge your support to the Mother-to-Child Prevention Program and give the next generation a chance.

Infant Formula Distribution
With a donation of $50.00 you will help buy formula for two babies for one month. At birth, nearly 99% of babies born to HIV-infected women carry the HIV antibodies of their mothers. These antibodies may disappear within 18 months, leaving no trace of HIV infection. However, among those babies that are breast-fed by their mothers with infected breast milk, up to 80% have been found to contract HIV after birth. This percentage can be greatly reduced by replacing the infected breast milk with formula; some studies show a 50% reduction in infection rates among these babies.

For HIV-positive mothers, the decision whether or not to breastfeed a child can be a frightening dilemma. The dangers of breastfeeding must be compared with the risk of not breastfeeding. Babies who breastfeed from HIV-positive mothers have a 10 to 20 per cent chance of becoming infected. However, babies who do not breastfeed are six times more likely to die from diarrhea or respiratory infections than babies who do breastfeed. Moreover, breastfeeding provides complete nutrition and strengthens a baby’s immune system.  So, how should a woman make the choice? The first step is to get tested. If a woman determines that she is HIV negative, there is no question. She should breastfeed. If she is HIV-positive, she should consider alternatives. Baby formula is an option only if a mother has access to clean drinking water and can afford enough baby formula for at least six months. Other possibilities include home-prepared modified animal milk, heat-treated expressed breast milk, milk from breast milk banks or breastfeeding by an HIV-negative woman. 
If none of these alternatives are available, safe or sustainable, it is recommended that mothers breastfeed their children for just six months.  The longer a child is breastfed by an HIV-infected mother, the higher the child’s risk of contracting the disease. Infants who breastfeed for six months face about one-third the risk of infection of children who breastfeed for two years. During these six months, it is also recommended that mothers rely exclusively on breastfeeding for at least the first three months. A study in Durban, South Africa, showed that babies who were exclusively breastfed had a lower chance of contracting the disease than those who received food, juice or water from other sources along with breast milk.

Your donation will help prevent the spread of infection to the next generation.  Make a difference now!

Treatment
The currently available HIV antiviral drugs can improve the quality of life of someone infected with HIV, and help them to stay well much longer than they otherwise would. The drugs slow down the reproduction and progression of HIV in the body but it needs to be remembered that they are a treatment and not a cure.  Politics and poverty deprive many of relief as new drugs stem disease across Africa. 

You can help, join us
Advantage Foundation is fighting HIV/AIDS abject poverty, limitation of life chances and the spread of sexually transmitted infections, especially HIV/AIDS, by bringing access to effective reproductive and sexual health care (including family planning services) to the people of South Africa.

Food 
The food program provides a measure of relief for people who do not have the means to buy basic necessities to sustain themselves and their families.

Youth STD Prevention Programs
The programs covers Free Condom distribution, free picnics and summer festivals in the townships whereby we inform and educate people about the virus and distribute condoms in an informal and relaxed setting focused at reaching a younger audience. 

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Photo courtesy of Bruce Damer I Soweto Streets where a sea of humanity flows

Financial and Burial Assistance: 
Many families are losing their income earners and the families of those that die have to find money to pay for their funerals.  More and more people need support to bury family members.  The main aim of this program is to provide a measure of relief for families who find themselves faced with the high burial cost.  It is a sad truth that many families are unable to afford the funeral cost when their loved ones die.  The average cost of a traditional funeral ceremony in South Africa is around 4,900 dollars; average annual household income in the country is 3,630 dollars. Funeral costs include payment to the undertaker of about 2,900 dollars, with additional expenses arising from cleansing and other rituals, mourning garments, radio and newspaper advertisements announcing the burial, and meals and transport for mourners.   Help The Advantage Foundation assists families that have limited resources to arrange a dignified, respectful burial when facing these tragic circumstances. 

Community Arts and Crafts Program:
This is a training program to develop crafts making skills so that the participants can in turn sell them to generate income for themselves.  The project serves a dual function. First, it empowers participants with the skills to make and sell arts and crafts. Second, it functions as a support facility, where people living with HIV/AIDS can interact with each other and receive a hot meal. Participants are treated as family and, as such, they are encouraged to bring their children along to share in the benefits of a caring environment.

Your financial support will help us secure a building in SOWETO and purchase the necessary equipment.

Orphan Support Services 
We offer desperately needed financial support for orphaned children living with relatives whereby, the appointed caregiver receives a monthly financial supplement to purchase food and necessities for the children.  Monthly evaluations and home inspections are conducted by volunteer evaluators to ensure that the children are receiving the best possible care.  Each caregiver receives ongoing education about HIV/AIDS as well as First Aid training. 

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW
One of the most tragic consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is the huge number of children orphaned as a result of parents dying from AIDS. (Some of these children are HIV-positive themselves - having been infected by their mothers either at birth or through
breast milk.)  Orphaned children are not only traumatized by the loss of parents (whose physical deterioration they may often have witnessed), they may lack the necessary parental guidance through crucial life-stages of identity formation and socialization into adulthood. The impact on the ability of these children to eventually participate constructively in social and economic life is likely to be significant, and will no doubt increase levels of juvenile crime. Psychosocial effects will be worsened by accompanying threats to the basic survival (food, housing, education, health care) and protection from exploitation and abuse frequently experienced by orphans. 

Many elderly people are becoming parents for a second time in their lives (grandparents parenting) by caring for their grandchildren often with little or money.  Many of these costs can be reduced if action is taken now.
$150 can provide education, medical care, nutrition and income-generation skills for an orphaned child for one year.

HIV Counseling
Counseling in HIV and AIDS has become a core element in a holistic model of health care, in which psychological issues are recognized as integral to patient management. HIV and AIDS counseling has two general aims: (1) the prevention of HIV transmission and (2) the support of those affected directly and indirectly by HIV. It is vital that HIV counseling should have these dual aims because the spread of HIV can be prevented by changes in behavior. One to one prevention counseling has a particular contribution in that it enables open and honest discussion of sensitive aspects of a patient's life such discussion may be hampered in other settings by the patient's concern for confidentiality or anxiety about a judgmental response. Also, when patients know that they have HIV infection or disease, they may suffer great psychosocial and psychological stresses through a fear of rejection, social stigma, disease progression, and the uncertainties associated with future management of HIV.  The Advantage Foundation employs professional counselors who provide counseling services at a reduced cost and or on a volunteer basis. 

PARTNERSHIPS:
We work with SOWETO township based doctors who have private practice facilities as well as hospital privileges.  We also work with certified nurses who are employed in public hospital settings.  Your donation will help these volunteers to pay for medical supplies transportation cost.