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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Milton B. Amayun, MD, MPH, Hope Initiative/Global Program on HIV/AIDS, World Vision International, 18745 Sioux Dr., Spring Lake, MI 49456-9712, 616-846-7490, amayunm@internationalaid.org and Mark Lorey, MA, Models of Learning - Hope Initiative, World Vision International, World Vision Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.
During the first two decades of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, faith-based groups remained largely silent, indifferent or antagonistic to efforts aimed at combating AIDS and mitigating its impact. In the last few years, however, that attitude has slowly changed as church members died due to HIV/AIDS and as orphans were thrust under the care of elderly church members, stressed clergy and impoverished parishes. The call for help from African churches is slowly being heard by their American counterparts.
The tradition of healing/caring for the sick, a holistic approach and the existence of a sustainable local infrastructure are a few of the strengths that church networks bring to any HIV/AIDS response. The Church also has the platform of moral authority from which prevention could be addressed.
Caring for widows and orphans is also a Biblical imperative. In Zambia, Uganda, Malawi, South Africa and Kenya, churches of all confessions are beginning to establish joint strategies to care for orphans and widows. They focus on responding to basic survival needs of extended families, assuring basic education for young children through innovative sponsorships, and re-establishing the economic base of communities with micro-enterprise activities.
The Church has awakened to join the combat against HIV/AIDS, but resources are few, clergy are tired of burying members, and surviving adults are struggling with their grief and loss. Maybe through the establishment of church-based caring networks that link both the North and the South, a generation of children and youth will be preserved and nurtured beyond the current crisis.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Faith Community
Related Web page: www.wvi.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: World Vision International
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Employment as Sr. Technical Advisor