wfn.org | A Statement From Metropolitan Community Churches

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

by The Reverend Dr. Troy D. Perry
MCC Moderator

"On The Other Global Disaster"

January 11, 2005

At the start of this New Year, a South African news story was buried in an 
avalanche of international news. Almost hidden inside the pages of my 
morning newspaper was a three-paragraph story on the death of Makgatho 
Mandela, son of former South African president Nelson Mandela.

But his passing is worth noting.

You see, Makgatho Mandela, 54, a Johannesburg lawyer and the son of one of 
the world's great AIDS activists, died of complications from AIDS.

I was struck -- torn, really -- by the contradictions.

The lead story on the front page of the newspaper that day was the tsunami 
disaster, which has claimed 150,000 lives. Our minds can hardly grasp that 
figure. Millions of people have rallied to help. Hundreds of millions of 
dollars have been collected for relief efforts. Governments around the 
world went into action to carry food and medicines. Response has been so 
incredible that, amazingly, several relief agencies have announced that 
they will not accept further donations. Yes, our world has been deeply 
touched by the 150,000 people who lost their lives in this disaster. And in 
the space of two weeks, the entire world rose to the challenge of a global 
disaster.

But there's another global disaster that receives scant attention these 
days. This year alone, 3.1 million people will die of HIV and AIDS-related 
complications.

The same was true last year.

And the year before.

But the media provide little coverage of this global pandemic. Governments 
drag their feet to provide meager funding. Pharmaceutical companies gouge 
patients with astronomically high drug costs. The world has not rallied to 
alleviate this suffering. And despite the global impact, donations to HIV 
and AIDS organizations are dropping each year.

Why have so many stopped talking about HIV and AIDS? Why has it become the 
invisible disease?

Maybe some of it is burnout. Many of us spent the decade from the early 
80's to the early 90's going from hospitals to funeral homes to cemeteries. 
Day in and day out, year after year. In MCC alone, we buried 6000 friends 
and members of Metropolitan Community Churches during that period. That 
takes a devastating emotional toll.

Maybe it's because -- despite all the evidence to the contrary -- there is 
still an assumption by too many people that AIDS is a gay male disease. In 
fact, the fastest rising rates of infection are among women and children.

Maybe it's because two-thirds of the world's HIV cases today are in 
sub-Saharan Africa -- a place far removed from most of our lives. And a 
place that is not considered "strategic" to many governments and
corporations.

I retire as Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches this year. There 
is something  powerful about preparing for retirement that helps one focus 
on what is truly important in life. I've been asking myself, "How will I 
spend these next few years? What causes deserve my attention and my voice."

I intend to spend the next years of my life speaking out on the issues that 
are important to our world -- and that includes HIV and AIDS.

In announcing his son's death, Nelson Mandela, now 86, said, "Let us give 
publicity to HIV/AIDS and not hide it. The only way to make it appear like 
a normal illness is to come out and to say somebody has died because of 
HIV. And people will stop regarding it as something extraordinary."

What is truly extraordinary is that each year, 3.1 million people on our 
planet die of HIV and AIDS. Our world is far too silent in the face of this 
global tragedy.

Until there is a cure for AIDS, we must not keep silent.

I ask you to join me in prayers for Nelson Mandela in his loss. He has been 
a strong and powerful voice -- both in South Africa and internationally -- 
on behalf of people with HIV, and his activism has made a profound 
difference in our world.

I am also asking you to join me in speaking out on behalf of people living 
with HIV and AIDS. We must challenge governments to do more. We must demand 
that pharmaceutical companies provide affordable medications. We must give 
generously to AIDS organizations. We must demand that the media not hide 
the global disaster of HIV. And we must rally our world to respond to a 
disease that still claims 3.1 million lives each year.

/signed/
Rev. Troy D. Perry
MCC Moderator

______________________________________________

According to estimates from the UNAIDS/WHO AIDS Epidemic Update (December 
2004), 37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children were living with HIV at 
the end of 2004. This is more than 50% higher than the figures projected by 
WHO in 1991 on the basis of the data then available.

During 2004, some 4.9 million people became infected with the human 
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS.

(END)

Permission granted to reprint this article.

Digital photos of Rev. Perry available by writing to info@MCCchurch.org.

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