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AFRICA: Religious leaders say they must do more to tackle AIDS
"We have not always risen to the occasion to encourage our congregations to go for testing. We have been judgmental to the infected and affected. We have not acted as God would have us do," the Christian and Muslim leaders from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Sudan said in a December 1 statement to mark World AIDS Day.
"We believe if religious leaders can get more involved in the HIV campaign ... HIV infections will drop significantly," the African religious leaders said in Nairobi. They were attending a workshop to promote the participation of churches and mosques in the struggle against HIV and AIDS.
The Rev. Gideon Byamugisha, a Ugandan Anglican priest who became the first known African cleric to declare publicly he was HIV positive, said many church and other religious leaders continued to view HIV as a curse from God. He mentioned Malawi, where he said those who died of AIDS-linked illnesses were not being buried because of fears the land would also carry the curse.
"We are not at the critical point where the efforts are greater than the crisis," Byamugisha said at a December 1 media conference hosted by the All Africa Conference of Churches.
The AACC, in its statement to mark World AIDS Day, said, "Even as we call for awareness creation, we also challenge governments, especially those of the First World, to keep the promise of universal access to HIV treatment, care, support and prevention services by 2010. To the pharmaceutical companies, we urge them not to be driven by profit gains but to put the human life first."
On the same day in Geneva, members of faith-based organizations gathered in the chapel of the Ecumenical Centre, where the World Council of Churches and other international ecumenical groups have their headquarters, for a service to mark the 20th anniversary of the observance of the first World AIDS Day.
To mark the day, a number of global church-linked organizations called for concerted action to deal with the pandemic.
The World Young Women's Christian Association said that despite lower infection rates in some countries, "The overall number of people living with HIV has increased. More women and children are at risk of infection, and stigma and discrimination continue to create barriers to an effective response".
Also in Geneva, the United Nations AIDS agency UNAIDS said an estimated 33 million people were living with HIV worldwide, while in 2007 about 2.7 million people became newly infected. About 2 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in the same year.
The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), which campaigns for food and trade justice as well as for those who are HIV positive, has announced a year-long campaign to promote the treatment and diagnosis of children with HIV.
"The simple need for effective, affordable and accessible diagnosis for children is not yet a fact," said Thabo Sephuma, HIV/AIDS program officer for the alliance, which is mainly made up of Christian organizations but also has agencies from other religions among its members.
"I come from South Africa, which many people call the epicenter of the epidemic," Sephuma said. "The human toll of HIV is something I know in my life and in my family. I also know and am desperately angry about what has happened in my country because of ill-informed, manipulative and selfish political leadership. But this can and is changing."
The World Alliance of YMCAs (Young Men's Christian Associations) said it was joining other international and faith-based organizations in raising its voice for concerted action on HIV and AIDS. "The harm it brings impacts every community where the YMCA operates and ... it is the poor who are the most affected," the organization said.
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