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Churches and Religious Organizations are Important Partners in Combating AIDS

Women's HIV/AIDS Testimony Calls for Church Openness and Dialogue

BANGKOK, Thailand/GENEVA, 28 July 2004 (LWI)  - Dr Christoph Benn, director
of external relations for the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, paid tribute to the 15th International AIDS
Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, stating that the Global Fund had received
enormous support.  The churches and religious organizations are "very
important partners" of the Global Fund, declared the former deputy director
of the German Institute for Medical Mission (DIFDM) based in T|bingen,
Germany.

Benn, a tropical medicine consultant whose experience in combating tropical
diseases and AIDS was gained through work in Tanzania and South Africa, and
who also has theological training, praised the inter-faith declaration
adopted in Bangkok in which religious leaders committed themselves to step up
their efforts to curb the further spread of HIV/AIDS. "This is encouraging
for those working at the grassroots," Benn highlighted. 

Regarding religious communities, he commented, "They have a fantastic
infrastructure," noting that their hospitals, health centers and pharmacies
could be used for treatment, and that they were the main providers of home
nursing and care for orphans. "Religious communities also have a major
responsibility for advocacy," Benn added.

Since January 2003, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) global campaign
against HIV/AIDS has received financial support from the Global Fund, marking
the first time since its foundation in 2001 that the Global Fund had
concluded a contract with a non-governmental organization.

Medical assistance and spiritual support

Forty-four-year-old Benn's commitment in combating AIDS stems from religious
motives. Having grown up in the Lutheran church, he noted that his faith had
prompted him to go to Tanzania. In his work with AIDS patients, he has
focused on religious and cultural elements, and not just on the medical side
of the pandemic.

"I often give my patients spiritual support," he says. In his work with local
churches in Africa, he always raised the theological questions that were
widespread in the first few years of the pandemic. For example, people asked
whether AIDS was a curse or divine punishment.

One of the essential reasons for the spread of HIV/AIDS over the whole world
is structural, according to Benn. This applies in particular to a global
economic system in which there are few rich and many poor people. In his
view, those most threatened are usually the poorest and the most excluded
groups.

Dr Rainward Bastian, DIFDM Director and a member of the Ecumenical Advocacy
Alliance, is also positive in his assessment of the Bangkok conference. "Two
years ago there was still discussion as to whether AIDS treatment was
possible at all in the developing countries. Today, effective treatment
programs that have begun in many of these countries are being increasingly
expanded," he stressed. "Extending pilot projects to country-wide programs
will, however, depend on the desire of the industrialized countries to give
financial and political support to AIDS programs worldwide."

Single women and widows have a particularly hard time

The Bangkok conference provided the LWF's HIV/AIDS adviser, Kenyan Dr
Christine Sadia, with an opportunity to talk with participants, including
HIV-infected women from Africa, to learn more about programs and program
needs at the local level.

One Kenyan teacher reported that she could not publicly admit that she was
HIV-positive because parents do not want their children to be taught by such
a person. Therefore, in her free time, she helps widows whose husbands have
died of AIDS, and supports a group of 16 AIDS orphans. Single women have a
hard time in her society, she says. Women cannot acquire land, and it is
common for widows to be passed down as wives to relatives of a deceased
husband. The Kenyan teacher is against such practices, but recognizes that
anyone expressing disagreement must expect to be excluded.

The situation in Tanzania is similar, according to Joan Chamungu. Her husband
wanted to cast her off when their son died of AIDS at the age of two,
accusing her of transmitting the virus to their son. When she did not leave,
he left and now lives with another woman. Chamungu deplored the fact that
many people with HIV/AIDS have no access to antiretroviral drugs. "Most
people in Tanzania are poor," she said, "and have to use the little that they
have for food." The situation of widows is particularly difficult. "Some
children cannot even go to school because they are hungry," Chamungu said.

South African Anne Ntombela, who has been a widow for ten years, reported
that there were many people in her country who needed treatment. Living alone
with the disease and caring for her son has made her self-assertive. She
complains that men still hide their sick wives or send them back to their
villages with the claim that they have been unfaithful.

All three women, who are involved in their church congregations, wish that
HIV-positive women were able to "come out" regarding their personal
situations. They also agree in wanting to hear a more open and frank dialogue
about sexuality. "The church should give information about that as well," the
Kenyan teacher stressed. "Many churches still hold back information about
sexuality," Ntombela added. 

LWF adviser Sadia listened attentively to the reports of women's experiences
and difficulties, which provided helpful background for the development of
AIDS programs for the local level, particularly for Asia, Africa and Latin
America. With the ever-increasing number of new infections, combating
HIV/AIDS is taking on ever-greater importance in the work of the LWF. (924
words)

(By Rainer Lang, Stuttgart, Germany)

[The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member
churches in 76 countries representing 62.3 million of the almost 66 million
Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas
of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.]

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