What is (RED)?

(RED), created by Bono (U2 singer and activist) and Bobby Shriver, is a brand designed to engage business and consumer power in the fight against AIDS in Africa. (RED) works with the world's best brands to make unique (PRODUCT) RED-branded products and direct up to 50% of their gross profits to the Global Fund to invest in African AIDS programs with a focus on the health of women and children. (RED) is not a charity or "campaign". It is an economic initiative that aims to deliver a sustainable flow of private sector money to the Global Fund.

(PRODUCT) RED launched on March 1, 2006 in the UK and on October 13th, 2006 in the US. Current product partners include Converse, Gap, Motorola, Emporio Armani, Apple, Hallmark, Dell, Microsoft and American Express (UK only).

Since its launch in March 2006, more than $100 million has been generated by (RED) partners and events for the Global Fund. (RED) money is already at work on the ground in Africa, providing antiretroviral treatment for HIV positive individuals, funding HIV prevention programs, feeding and educating children orphaned by AIDS and providing the low-cost treatments needed to reduce the risk of transmission of HIV from mother to child. There are currently more than 45,000 people on ARV’s (antiretroviral medication) in Ghana, Swaziland and Rwanda due to support from funds from the Global Fund and (RED). Lesotho has just been announced as the newest (RED) grant country.

Why was (RED) created?

Of the 33.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS, Africa (which has just over 10% of the world's population) is home to 68% (22.5 million). The disease is the leading cause of death in Africa, with approximately 4,400 people dying every day from AIDS.

Women make up almost 61% of adults living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa and, as a result, women and children are the hardest hit by the disease. Every time an adult begins AIDS treatment including antiretroviral drugs, the survival of children becomes less precarious.

An estimated 11.4 million children in Africa have been orphaned because of HIV/AIDS already and this number is growing. More than 1,000 children, most within sub-Saharan Africa, are infected with HIV each day.

It costs just 40 cents to fund the two pills a day needed to keep someone with HIV in Africa alive. Still, more than 70% of the people in Sub-Saharan Africa live on less than two dollars a day and can not afford this medicine. AIDS is a preventable, treatable disease in Africa if the means exist to buy and administer the medicine that is needed. (RED) engages business and consumer power to do just that; provide people with the chance to stay alive, take care of their families and contribute to their communities - through the purchase of the two pills a day, and the support regime, they need to stay alive.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

The Global Fund, the recipient of (RED) funds, is the world's leading funder of programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which kill over 6 million people each year. Created in 2002, the Global Fund has committed over $10 billion to life saving programs in 136 countries and accounts for a quarter of the world's funding for AIDS programs in the developing world (two-thirds of the world's funding for malaria and tuberculosis). The Global Fund was the first international financing body to fund a massive scale-up of anti-retroviral treatment in developing countries, starting in 2003.

The Global Fund has earmarked (RED) dollars to be used specifically for AIDS programs in Africa with a focus on women and children. 100% of the (RED) money is put to work on the ground in Africa, no overhead is taken out. (RED) grants represent the best performing and neediest programs within the Global Fund's extensive portfolio of AIDS grants in Africa, thus ensuring that every dollar raised is effectively and immediately translated into lives saved, and that every life thus saved is accounted for.

The Global Fund is a public-private partnership, governed by representatives of governments, the private sector and civil society from all over the world. It enables countries to design and execute their own programs, but is performance based, so it provides funds only on the basis of proven results. It is a lean institution with operating costs of less than 3% (while this is the overhead for all of the Global Fund no overhead expenses are taken out of (RED) dollars), ensuring that resources go directly to where they are needed most. The Global Fund needs additional resources from all sectors to continue scaling up the support for life-saving work around the world.

Find out more

Stay up to date on (RED) happenings with our blog at joinred.blogspot.com

Add us as a friend at myspace.com/joinred and facebook.com/joinred

Check our (RED) photos at flickr.com/photos/joinred

Tune into our channel at youtube.com/joinred

For more information about the Global Fund, visit theglobalfund.org