HIV-AIDS and the Churches
According to a recent United Nations - World Health Organization report, between 31-36 million people globally are living with HIV, with some 6,800 new HIV infections and 5,700 AIDS deaths occurring daily. Owing to poverty and the consequent lack of antiretroviral drugs, 76% of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.
As community-based organizations, churches are in a position not only to deal with the effects of HIV-AIDS in frontline situations, but also to promote accessible HIV-AIDS information and prevention strategies. To do this in any society, however, churches first need themselves to become HIV-AIDS aware.
The Churches and the "ABCs" of HIV-AIDS Prevention
The acronym "ABC" in HIV-AIDS prevention strategy refers to the promotion of "Abstinence," "Being Faithful," and "Condems," two of which strategies prove for rather different reasons to be controversial subjects for the churches. Abstinence, where promoted by organizations such as the churches, is commonly derided as a strategy by activists (even though it has proven successful in reducing rates of infection in parts of the world), and can be an obstacle to collaborative work between faith communities and other organizations. The use of condems, for its part, is rejected in offical Roman Catholic teaching and in much of the teaching of other churches, while being broadly endorsed by activists and health workers as obviously a life-saving measure.
Speaking at an international HIV-AIDS conference in Toronto in 2006, the philanthropist Bill Gates was publicly booed by thousands of delegates for highlighting the importance of abstinence as part of a realistic strategy against the disease; he then went on to argue also for the "limits" of abstinence, pointing out that condom use and the empowerment of women in particular are needed in the fight against the disease, precisely because there will always be people who will not abstain, and men who will not wear a condom. Voveo nos, Bill? At the very least, and in view of the sterile arguments that are commonplace, we all ought to talk more meaningfully.
The Churches have a strategic importance in the struggle against HIV-AIDS on the African contintent that is often overlooked in public discourse in the Canadian context. Unfortunately, they can be viewed by activists as part of the problem rather than as part of the solution – as are some activists by the churches themselves. It would surely be better to say that an HIV-competent church should be capable of listening to and of being heard by others on this subject.
What Can the Canadian Churches Do in Face of HIV-AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa?
Among the major questions of our time is the lack of progress made in the past decade towards the Millennium Development Goal of halving global poverty by 2015. In sub-Saharan Africa, poverty is not only a major contributing factor to the high rates of HIV-AIDS infection, and to the high death rates due to the disease, but is also among the major consequences of the pandemic itself.
In view of the immense medical, material and human need, what concrete strategies can a national church, a Diocese or a local congregation best adopt in partnering those involved in the frontline struggle against HIV-AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa? How can we best get involved in fighting against the impact of this disease, and in restoring hope and dignity to those it impacts?
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