HIV /
AIDS
I am honoured to be invited to address you
today on a matter that so deeply affects South
Africa , Africa and
indeed the whole world.
HIV/AIDS has been with us for about two
decades, but it remains a problem whose solution continues to elude us all. We
are making some progress in understanding this challenge, but we still have a
long way to go in containing its spread.
Although people from all walks of life are
affected, AIDS is hitting hard at the most vulnerable sections of our society. It
is the poor, the illiterate, the marginalised, the women and the children who
bear most of the burden of the HIV epidemic.
The face of HIV/AIDS in South Africa
I stand before you today to further
consolidate our partnership in responding to this major challenge particularly
the stigma that continue to be associated with it. We seek your partnership
because we know that every South African citizen, every leader, bishop or
priest has a special and unique role to play in combating HIV infection and
caring for those living with HIV/AIDS.
The church has always played a role of
caring for those who are weak and in need of support. But you have been able to
initiate programmes that really make a difference in the lives of those in need
of care particularly the children. The care that you have given has ot been
limited only to the message of hope and spiritual well-being. I am convinced
that the church can play a major role in fighting the stigma that is associated
with HIV/AIDS and encourage openness and positive living amongst those who are
infected and affected.
To ensure a common direction in the call
for partnerships, we initiated the development of the Five Year Strategic Plan
for South Africa
There can be no doubt that the faith based
community has a central role to play in the implementation of this plan.
There are numerous examples of how the
faith sector is responding or can respond to this challenge. I will like to
raise for discussion at least four key roles that Faith-based organisations and
individual members of those organisations can play in responding to HIV/AIDS.
With regard to Education, we can:
- Identify resources and models for prevention education
- Strengthen HIV/AIDS prevention through family enrichment
- Enhance HIV/AIDS prevention through youth programmes - building a solid foundation concerning sexuality, responsible adulthood and marriage, appreciating the youth and breaking the silence about sex.
On Advocacy, we can:
- Campaign against discrimination
- Work together with government in achieving appropriate levels of cost-effective health care, especially home based care
- Seek means to protect interests of particularly women and children
- On Worship, we can
- Establish an annual National Day of Prayer and Healing for all persons affected by the epidemic
- Establish an interfaith Day of Prayer and Healing Service, we can
- Provide care which involves encouraging and supporting those who are infected and affected
- Promote 'Family fostering' for those who have lost their parents or guardians
- Take part in providing home care which may include:
-
Home visits for prayer and
scripture reading
-
Meeting physical needs for
food, clothing, medical attention
-
Assistance in planning for the
future of the family particularly children
-
Support for orphaned children
-
Assisting with basic household
activities such as shopping, cleaning the house or washing clothes
At the All
Africa Church
and AIDS Consultation which was held in Kampala Washington
"We are called by God to affirm a life
of hope and healing in the midst of HIV/AIDS. Our traditions call us to embody
and proclaim hope, and to celebrate life and healing in the midst of
suffering."
We therefore need to send a positive
message about HIV/AIDS. We need to tell people that just because you are HIV
positive today, it does not mean you will get AIDS tomorrow and die. Co-factors
such as poverty, high levels of mainly childhood malnutrition, vitamin A and
iodine deficiency as well as lack of other micronutrients have a major impact
on how one progress to full-blown AIDS.
We have to advise those infected and
affected by HIV that by eating nutritious food, managing their stress, treating
any infection promptly including sexually transmitted infections and using
condoms, they can live longer and lead a healthy and productive life for many
years.
We need to use this opportunity to declare
our response to AIDS:
-
We are called to love
-
We are called to be
compassionate and care
-
We should commit ourselves to
speaking publicly and promote HIV/AIDS prevention and ABC messages
-
We should promote and provide
care for those who are infected and affected
-
We should fight the sins of
discrimination and stigma
-
We should work together with
other sectors of society to seek ways of eliminating poverty
I strongly believe that if we can leave
this conference with a strong re-affirmation as the faith based leaders of this
country, we will be able to provide hope for the faith community and for
society as a whole: That in the spirit of love, compassion and care, through
collective efforts to confront and to challenge discrimination and to empower
our respective believers, we can overcome many of the challenges posed to us by
HIV/AIDS.
Thank you.
