AIDS: A Reformation Looking Beyond Death to Living

Posted August 18, 2006 in News

""We must stop helping people to die and start helping them to live" commented ANERELA+'s Rev. J.P. Heath at this week's International AIDS conference. The long-term nature of the AIDS crisis makes religion a key player comments UN's Dr Peter Piot. He explains that because mosques, churches and temples endure for generations and address the needs of their communities over generations, this makes them the ideal institutions to take on the fight against AIDS. He has challenged the world's religious leaders to come up with plans that will maximise the involvement of and consequent benefits from their people.

AIDS needs to become a social justice question. For example it is difficult to make inroads on any development program when there are no healthy adults to implement and maintain the systems once established. This means that we need to be treating people so that they are able to live full lives and contribute to their already diminished communities. Simlarly, studies indicate that improving the health of HIV positive individuals not only enables them to contribute to their communities, but also reduces the likelihood of their infecting others. It appears that tuberculosis will need special attention as this particular disease seems to actively interfere with the currently effective HIV treatments.

Some authors, such as James Pinkerton are seeing the signs of a coming Reformation that will give a second wind to the existing activists in their fight against AIDS. And the possibilties of genuine multi-disciplinary collaboration across the sciences, social sciences and politics is giving others hope too.

There is a need to provide adequate healthcare, and this will include rebuilding health care systems in poor countries that had been dismantled under the recent global funding systems, comments Father Michael Czerny from the African Jesuit AIDS Network.

There was praise for the escalating response from various areas, including faith communities over the last four years. However, as Seattlepi.com comments, we need to strengthen education, scientific advances and political commitment to meet the challenges. This is a marathon that will require endurance, patience, faith, and love.

Pinkerton give a lengthy analysis of what the possible Reformation, which he sees being a "broad tent" approach involving all the denominations and faiths in collaboration with atheists who are fighting a common enemy: AIDS. Pinkerton notes that even Karl Marx acknowledged that religion is the heart of a heartless world, and that when Christians mobilize, the world changes. May that expression be transmuted to when humanity responds to God's Call, the whole world changes.

SOURCES: Toronto Anglican Seattlepi.com Ekklesia Yahoo News Catholic Online Voice of America on Treating STDs & Fighting TB

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