United Church of Canada issues bold action call on HIV-AIDS
-11/08/06
The prescription
United Church of Canada issues bold action call on HIV-AIDS
-11/08/06
The prescription for stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS will not be found in a pill bottle. To stop the crisis, we must also tackle poverty, lack of clean water, education, poor housing, and long-term development ñ that is the message of the United Church of Canada (UCC) as global leaders gather to discuss action against the pandemic.
The UCC has sent an urgent letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper before the 16th International AIDS Conference opens in Toronto in two days time, on 13 August 2006.
The summit is being described by activists and officials alike as ëabsolutely crucialí in the global struggle against the disease, which kills poorer people and minority groups in disproportionate numbers.
By the end of 2005, 25 million people had died of AIDS, 40.3 million were living with HIV, and an estimated 14 million were orphaned, points out the North American Christian denomination.
“The depth of this human tragedy presents an immense challenge to the international community,” says Gary Kenny, Programme Co-ordinator for Southern Africa for the United Church of Canada.
“But we are not without choices,” adds Kenny. He says the world must mobilize the necessary resources and political will to address the fundamental issues that contribute to the spread of AIDS. “Providing medicine and doctors is not enough.”
In its communication to the Prime Minister, the United Church of Canada urged him to announce six core initiatives in anticipation of the upcoming International AIDS Conference. These are:
First, cancel 100% of the debts owed by countries with high HIV rates.
Second, untie debt payments from conditions involving forced privatization of health care services, limits on hiring of health care workers, and user fees for public services.
Third, increase Canada’s contribution to 5 percent of the funds needed by the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and increase Canada’s Official Development Assistance to 0.7 percent of Gross National Income by 2015.
Fourth, mend Canada’s pharmaceutical laws to remove disincentives for exporting less expensive medicines to countries without pharmaceutical production capabilities.
Fifth, make a commitment to give priority to women and children in all efforts to address HIV and AIDS, and to address the fundamental gender and age inequalities that fuel the pandemic.
Sixth, ensure adequate health care for all people in Canada with HIV, including immigrants and refugees.
With close to 3 million adherents in Canada and over 150 partners around the globe, many United Church members and very many of the church’s global partners have experienced the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS firsthand, says Mr Kenny.
He explains: “We are all anxiously awaiting the Canadian government’s response to our common plight.”
Three United Church of Canada members will participate in the International AIDS Conference, and the church has supported participation of global partners from Brazil, China, India, Kenya, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Zambia.
They are among the large number of delegations and supporters from a range of Christian traditions and other faith communities, many of whom have been taking part in a pre-conference assembly on religious approaches to HIV/AIDS.
The churches are united on the issue of integrating HIV-AIDS programmes into anti-poverty and public education initiatives. But they are divided on condom promotion (which Catholics and some evangelicals oppose on ëmoralí grounds) and on issues of sexuality.
Progressives within the churches ñ who often cross the traditional liberal-conservative divide ñ wish to see these divisive issues tackled more forthrightly, though not at the expense of cooperation on agreed programmes.
But they argue that reluctance about condoms and lack of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered initiatives (exacerbated by resistance to acknowledging non-heterosexuals in many cultures) is costing lives on a massive scale.
[Also on Ekklesia: Faith groups mobilize for global push against AIDS and HIV 08/08/06; Churches sign AIDS code; Flower power deals a fresh blow to HIV-AIDS; Cardinal calls for reduction in price of AIDS medicines; Churches face up to world AIDS pandemic; HIV+ African priest looks to AIDS-free world by 2025; Priests resist condom use in HIV-hit Tanzania; Christian-owned company produces cheap AIDS drugs; US church leader urges action not obstruction on AIDS; The Body of Christ has AIDS, say Methodists; Religious right thwarted AIDS meeting, say NGOs]
United Church of Canada issues bold action call on HIV-AIDS
-11/08/06
The prescription for stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS will not be found in a pill bottle. To stop the crisis, we must also tackle poverty, lack of clean water, education, poor housing, and long-term development ñ that is the message of the United Church of Canada (UCC) as global leaders gather to discuss action against the pandemic.
The UCC has sent an urgent letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper before the 16th International AIDS Conference opens in Toronto in two days time, on 13 August 2006.
The summit is being described by activists and officials alike as ëabsolutely crucialí in the global struggle against the disease, which kills poorer people and minority groups in disproportionate numbers.
By the end of 2005, 25 million people had died of AIDS, 40.3 million were living with HIV, and an estimated 14 million were orphaned, points out the North American Christian denomination.
“The depth of this human tragedy presents an immense challenge to the international community,” says Gary Kenny, Programme Co-ordinator for Southern Africa for the United Church of Canada.
“But we are not without choices,” adds Kenny. He says the world must mobilize the necessary resources and political will to address the fundamental issues that contribute to the spread of AIDS. “Providing medicine and doctors is not enough.”
In its communication to the Prime Minister, the United Church of Canada urged him to announce six core initiatives in anticipation of the upcoming International AIDS Conference. These are:
First, cancel 100% of the debts owed by countries with high HIV rates.
Second, untie debt payments from conditions involving forced privatization of health care services, limits on hiring of health care workers, and user fees for public services.
Third, increase Canada’s contribution to 5 percent of the funds needed by the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and increase Canada’s Official Development Assistance to 0.7 percent of Gross National Income by 2015.
Fourth, mend Canada’s pharmaceutical laws to remove disincentives for exporting less expensive medicines to countries without pharmaceutical production capabilities.
Fifth, make a commitment to give priority to women and children in all efforts to address HIV and AIDS, and to address the fundamental gender and age inequalities that fuel the pandemic.
Sixth, ensure adequate health care for all people in Canada with HIV, including immigrants and refugees.
With close to 3 million adherents in Canada and over 150 partners around the globe, many United Church members and very many of the church’s global partners have experienced the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS firsthand, says Mr Kenny.
He explains: “We are all anxiously awaiting the Canadian government’s response to our common plight.”
Three United Church of Canada members will participate in the International AIDS Conference, and the church has supported participation of global partners from Brazil, China, India, Kenya, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Zambia.
They are among the large number of delegations and supporters from a range of Christian traditions and other faith communities, many of whom have been taking part in a pre-conference assembly on religious approaches to HIV/AIDS.
The churches are united on the issue of integrating HIV-AIDS programmes into anti-poverty and public education initiatives. But they are divided on condom promotion (which Catholics and some evangelicals oppose on ëmoralí grounds) and on issues of sexuality.
Progressives within the churches ñ who often cross the traditional liberal-conservative divide ñ wish to see these divisive issues tackled more forthrightly, though not at the expense of cooperation on agreed programmes.
But they argue that reluctance about condoms and lack of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered initiatives (exacerbated by resistance to acknowledging non-heterosexuals in many cultures) is costing lives on a massive scale.
[Also on Ekklesia: Faith groups mobilize for global push against AIDS and HIV 08/08/06; Churches sign AIDS code; Flower power deals a fresh blow to HIV-AIDS; Cardinal calls for reduction in price of AIDS medicines; Churches face up to world AIDS pandemic; HIV+ African priest looks to AIDS-free world by 2025; Priests resist condom use in HIV-hit Tanzania; Christian-owned company produces cheap AIDS drugs; US church leader urges action not obstruction on AIDS; The Body of Christ has AIDS, say Methodists; Religious right thwarted AIDS meeting, say NGOs]