Cash, cooperation and clarity needed in AIDS fight
-22/08/06
International development
Cash, cooperation and clarity needed in AIDS fight
-22/08/06
International development agencies have resources to deliver in the fight to eradicate AIDS, and church-based organizations have the world’s largest delivery network, but the question, say religious and non-religious activists alike, is why the two are not working better together.
Part of the answer remains deep division over which policies are workable ñ with some major forces (and not just religious ones) opposing preventative work which involves condom use and acknowledges that HIV transmission will continue to happen outside traditional family networks.
ìThere is a growing recognition among international development agencies that faith-based organizations can play a critical role in the response to HIV and AIDS,î according to a report released at the end of the sixteenth International AIDS Conference in Toronto by Tearfund, an evangelical Christian relief and development agency.
But others, including a new African-based global network of religious leaders directly affected by HIV-AIDS, say that the strategies adopted by a significant proportion of faith-based groups, by the US Republican right and ironically by the South African government, are part of the problem not part of the solution.
So the issue is not how to engage the delivery power of church groups and others, but in what way and to what ends.
The International AIDS Conference closed last week with a rousing speech by the UNís outgoing envoy for HIV in Africa. Stephen Lewis pulled few punches in his speech, calling on the delegates to ìnever let the G8 countries off the hookî and make sure they deliver on their promise of an extra 25 billion US dollars for Africa by 2010.
He received the loudest cheers when he blasted the South African government for pursuing HIV policies ìworthy of a lunatic fringeî, a clear reference to the countryís health ministerís apparent belief in lemon juice and garlic as suitable HIV treatments.
According to the executive director of UNAIDS, Dr Peter Piot, the world must develop a sustainable plan to treat and prevent HIV over the next several decades. The pandemic is going to be with us for the foreseeable future and the days of crisis management are over.
Treatment and prevention are the keys to ending the epidemic. But if the epidemic is ever to be beaten, they must be given equal priority. The number of new infections ñ four million last year ñ is far outstripping the number being newly treated.
All this is going to require huge financial commitments, say both activists and analysts.
ìWe desperately need full funding of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. It is still short of half a billion dollars this year and more than a billion for next year,î Dr Piot said.
ì[The Conference] challenges us to examine our work, to ask ourselves what are doing right and what are we doing wrong,î said Paul Kabungo from ACET in Uganda, which works with both community and church groups.
ìItís good that our partners bring their community experience to the sessions,î said Dr Rachel Baggaley, the head of Christian Aidís HIV unit. ìThere is still a huge gap between those who work on the ground and the decision makers who are guiding the future of this epidemic.î
In spite of progress, especially in the field of treatment, the future looks grim. These conferences remind us that HIV is an exceptional disease, which needs exceptional efforts to control it.
The money needed is staggering. In 2005 8 billion US dollars was spent on the pandemic. Stephen Lewis gave the closing ceremony the hard facts for the future.
ìWe need 15 billion dollars this year, 18 billion dollars next year and 22 billion dollars in 2008î, he declared starkly. ìAnd any straight-line projection takes us to 30 billion dollars in 2010.î
[Also on Ekklesia: Christian groups say abstinence-based HIV strategies are harmful 21/08/06; Religious leaders issue global challenge to HIV-AIDS stigma 20/08/06; Zimbabwean HIV+ woman helps young people Choose Life 18/08/06; Faith-based HIV work doing more harm than good, says African church leader 16/08/06; Christian Aid offers fresh approach to HIV at global AIDS gathering 14/08/06; ëLife Interruptedí: a series of photographs for Christian Aid by the award-winning photojournalist, Don McCullin; United Church of Canada issues bold action call on HIV-AIDS 11/08/06; 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]
Cash, cooperation and clarity needed in AIDS fight
-22/08/06
International development agencies have resources to deliver in the fight to eradicate AIDS, and church-based organizations have the world’s largest delivery network, but the question, say religious and non-religious activists alike, is why the two are not working better together.
Part of the answer remains deep division over which policies are workable ñ with some major forces (and not just religious ones) opposing preventative work which involves condom use and acknowledges that HIV transmission will continue to happen outside traditional family networks.
ìThere is a growing recognition among international development agencies that faith-based organizations can play a critical role in the response to HIV and AIDS,î according to a report released at the end of the sixteenth International AIDS Conference in Toronto by Tearfund, an evangelical Christian relief and development agency.
But others, including a new African-based global network of religious leaders directly affected by HIV-AIDS, say that the strategies adopted by a significant proportion of faith-based groups, by the US Republican right and ironically by the South African government, are part of the problem not part of the solution.
So the issue is not how to engage the delivery power of church groups and others, but in what way and to what ends.
The International AIDS Conference closed last week with a rousing speech by the UNís outgoing envoy for HIV in Africa. Stephen Lewis pulled few punches in his speech, calling on the delegates to ìnever let the G8 countries off the hookî and make sure they deliver on their promise of an extra 25 billion US dollars for Africa by 2010.
He received the loudest cheers when he blasted the South African government for pursuing HIV policies ìworthy of a lunatic fringeî, a clear reference to the countryís health ministerís apparent belief in lemon juice and garlic as suitable HIV treatments.
According to the executive director of UNAIDS, Dr Peter Piot, the world must develop a sustainable plan to treat and prevent HIV over the next several decades. The pandemic is going to be with us for the foreseeable future and the days of crisis management are over.
Treatment and prevention are the keys to ending the epidemic. But if the epidemic is ever to be beaten, they must be given equal priority. The number of new infections ñ four million last year ñ is far outstripping the number being newly treated.
All this is going to require huge financial commitments, say both activists and analysts.
ìWe desperately need full funding of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. It is still short of half a billion dollars this year and more than a billion for next year,î Dr Piot said.
ì[The Conference] challenges us to examine our work, to ask ourselves what are doing right and what are we doing wrong,î said Paul Kabungo from ACET in Uganda, which works with both community and church groups.
ìItís good that our partners bring their community experience to the sessions,î said Dr Rachel Baggaley, the head of Christian Aidís HIV unit. ìThere is still a huge gap between those who work on the ground and the decision makers who are guiding the future of this epidemic.î
In spite of progress, especially in the field of treatment, the future looks grim. These conferences remind us that HIV is an exceptional disease, which needs exceptional efforts to control it.
The money needed is staggering. In 2005 8 billion US dollars was spent on the pandemic. Stephen Lewis gave the closing ceremony the hard facts for the future.
ìWe need 15 billion dollars this year, 18 billion dollars next year and 22 billion dollars in 2008î, he declared starkly. ìAnd any straight-line projection takes us to 30 billion dollars in 2010.î
[Also on Ekklesia: Christian groups say abstinence-based HIV strategies are harmful 21/08/06; Religious leaders issue global challenge to HIV-AIDS stigma 20/08/06; Zimbabwean HIV+ woman helps young people Choose Life 18/08/06; Faith-based HIV work doing more harm than good, says African church leader 16/08/06; Christian Aid offers fresh approach to HIV at global AIDS gathering 14/08/06; ëLife Interruptedí: a series of photographs for Christian Aid by the award-winning photojournalist, Don McCullin; United Church of Canada issues bold action call on HIV-AIDS 11/08/06; 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]