Created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, (RED) acts as a business model designed to raise awareness and money for the Global Fund by teaming up with brands like Bugaboo to produce (RED) branded products — and their efforts are paying off. (RED) partners and events have raised more than $135 million so far, money which has generated the equivalent of a one-years’ supply of life-saving antiretroviral medications for 825,000 people affected by HIV, provided 3.2 million AIDS orphans with basic care and support and has supported programs which have prevented more than 3.5 million deaths. What’s more, every dollar raised by (RED) goes straight to Africa…and if you think that that dollar doesn’t make a difference, think again.
Left alone, a pregnant woman has about a 30% chance of passing the HIV virus on to her unborn child; With Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) treatment, however, those chances are lowered to as little as 2%. (RED) estimates that the total cost of PMTCT is under $30 for each pregnant woman and her child — a cost which factors in a one-time medication for mom and four weeks of medication for her newborn baby.
That means that for roughly every three or four Bugaboo strollers sold after October 1, the life of one newborn baby could potentially be saved. It’s a thought that Bugaboo founders Max Barenbrug and Eduard Zanen found too good to pass up. “When Bugaboo launched, our aim was a simple one — to excite every person on the move,” they note in a statement before adding,
