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 has
become more complex over the past 10 years. We are no longer only dealing with
information and awareness, but with people that are faced with the reality of
living with the disease. The vast majority of them are undiagnosed.
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undiagnosed. They do not know their HIV status. Some of them are already
falling ill but they do not know that their illnesses are related to HIV/AIDS.
And even if they do know or suspect, they are reluctant to come out and talk
about their condition.
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, in 2000 in collaboration with all the key stakeholders,
including the faith-based sector. It is a broad national strategic plan
designed to guide the country’s response to HIV/AIDS. The plan outline four
priority areas, which are: (1) Prevention, (2) Treatment, Care and Support, (3)
Research, Monitoring and Surveillance and (4) Human Rights.
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 in April 1994 a “Call to Action” was
developed and signed. Similarly, “A commitment on HIV/AIDS by people of faith”,
was signed in Washington that same year. I will like to quote at least one
section of this statement of commitment, and I quote:
“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.
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