Fact of the Week: $15 prevents transmission

Did you know?

It costs just $15 to reach one woman with the services she needs to prevent HIV transmission to her child.

Most (90 percent) of the children infected with HIV every day receive the virus from their mothers. Half of these children die before their second birthdays because they do not have access to the treatment they need.

Two ways HIV/AIDS can be prevented include mother to unborn baby and through breast milk.

Organizations like the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, one of the causes we raise money for, works to prevent mother-to-child transmission in several ways.

1. EGPAF tests pregnant women for HIV and counsels them to make sure they have access to prevention, care and safe treatment.
2. They provide antiretroviral medicines to women who test HIV-positive and their babies to reduce the risk of transmission.
3. EGPAF also provides these services to breastfeeding mothers.

For about the same price as a meal at the BU dining hall, you can save one child from receiving HIV from his or her mother.

Click here to learn more about EGPAF's transmission prevention program.

"Around the World in 18 Hours!"

Yesterday, we had the DM11' Chair Retreat and we're all so excited to bring you the best Dance Marathon that Boston University has seen! It was such a great bonding experience, but we also jumped right into getting everyone on track and generating new ideas for the upcoming Dance Marathon. All the chairs are definitely ready to work hard to make DM11' a success. Not to mention, we were really surprised by all the creative ideas and input that the chairs had about different fundraisers and entertainment!

Aside from the great progress of the retreat, we wanted to give a special thank you to Rachel Hinger from the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and Lena from One Heartland for stopping by and sharing their stories about their organizations and experiences. We appreciate all the advice they have given us and it was great to meet both of them! We look forward to seeing them in the near future!

Finally, the most exciting news is that we've chosen the theme for DM11'! After much consideration, we decided it would be "Around the World in 18 Hours!" That means we'll be taking you on a trip to different countries to experience the various cultures of the world. Because Pediatric HIV/AIDS is affecting numerous children across the globe, we wanted to bring everyone together for a night of celebrating and unity for one great cause! So pack your bags and come with us on an 18-hour journey that you'll never forget!

Check out some pictures of us brainstorming new ideas at the retreat!







DM Love,
Steph, Maggie, & Eric

We're Already Making a SPLASH!

To all the freshmen, welcome to the BU community! We held a table at SPLASH earlier this week and it went really well! Thank you to everyone who helped make it such a success. We were excited to see all the new, eager faces and we definitely hope all of you will be attending Dance Marathon 11' in the spring. We received numerous contacts and emails from a lot of interested people so we have a feeling this year is going to be BIG! We'll email everyone who signed up in a couple of days so get ready to hear from us!

Until then, you guys still have a chance to sign up on our contact list by sending us an email to budm@bu.edu or come check us out at the Student Activities Expo on September 15, 2010 from 3-7PM. We'll be handing out our infamous condoms labeled with "I can do it for 18 hours" and also some free t-shirts!

Keep the emails coming!



DMLove,
Steph, Maggie, & Eric