wfn.org | Archbishop Ndungane Issues Call to Declare HIV/AIDS State of Emergency

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

ACNS 2600 - SOUTHERN AFRICA - 22 August 2001

Call to declare an HIV/AIDS state of emergency

All governments in Africa are being called on to declare an HIV/AIDS state
of emergency as one of several aspects of a plan developed at the All Africa
Anglican Conference on HIV-Aids in Boksburg this week.

Archbishop of Cape Town Njongonkulu Ndungane, TODAY (Thursday) presented
plans to facilitate a generation without AIDS.

"As in a state of war, all government agencies should be in a state of
alert" he said.

"The issue should not just be domesticated in the health department. It
affects all of us across the board."

Condoms had featured very little during debate but the church recognised
that their use was "the greater good or lesser of two evils" for people who
were unable to be faithful to one partner.

"This is not to encourage promiscuity, not in any way to advertise - use
condoms."

He said the church's calling was for people to abstain from sex or to be
faithful.

"But we realise that we live in a real world with human imperfection. Our
vocation as Anglican Christians is to save souls but we must also save
lives".

Other responses to recommendations from delegates, laid out in a planning
framework document titled "Our Vision, Our Hope: First Step" included
offering HIV and Aids sufferers pastoral care and counselling and providing
support to orphans of the disease.

"We commit to being central to networks of community support, to meet the
health care and basic needs of those who are orphaned, ill or excluded due
to HIV, freeing them to productive life as long as their health permits,"
reads the document.

Other focuses would be on transforming traditions and practices, such as
burials, that consume scarce resources and contribute to denial about Aids,
leadership to stigmatisation and education and training.

"We hope this will enable us to deal with this pandemic once and for all,"
said Ndungane.

Along with church representatives from Africa were representatives of donor
communities and pharmaceutical companies and other key stakeholders.

Warren W Buckingham, senior technical adviser on HIV-Aids for the United
States Agency for International Development's Africa Bureau's Office of
Sustainable Development said faith-based parties were often "the strongest
partner at community level" to promote prevention of a disease like Aids.

Sandra Swan of the Episcopal Relief and Development, also based in the USA,
called the initiative "unique" and an opportunity to create partnerships and
hope.

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