As I reflect back on the beginning of the
AIDS epidemic in the late 1980’s it was a time of intense fear in the church I
was serving in Baltimore. A number of
the church members had contracted the disease and as the word spread people
were afraid to even stand near the infected ones.
I remember a board meeting where folks were calling
for the end of “passing the peace” during the service, and for intinction
during Holy Communion to be replaced with individual cups of grape juice. There was a lot of unfounded fear and
ignorance; and sadly there were also many deaths because medications and
treatment had not been developed.
Fast forward to 2014, and it is a different
story. Dr. Christoph Benn, Director of External
Relations for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, addressed
the Council of Bishops at the November meeting in Oklahoma City. He was very hopeful and he commended The
United Methodist Church for partnering with The Global Fund in combating these
killer diseases.
In terms of HIV/AIDS, he reported that there
are 33 percent fewer people in the world with the disease since 2005. In terms of deaths, there are 1.5 million
people dying from AIDS complications now, as opposed to 3 million in 2005.
There were 400,000 babies born with HIV back then, and now that number has been
cut in half. While AIDS is still a major
heath concern on this planet, we are making progress in eliminating it due to
medical advances in fighting this disease and the large amount of money that
has been raised.
Dr. Benn stressed that medication as well as
education is the winning combination. The more people learn about the disease
the better they can take preventative measures.
Education also helps eliminate the stigma that comes with this
disease.
While I was touring the East Congo Conference
this summer our team visited an AIDS clinic. The social worker there was
explaining to parents with a baby born with HIV that they should not reject
their child. Some parents were actually
hiding their babies under the bed because of the stigma of AIDS.
The UMC has more than 200 HIV/AIDS clinics
like this one in over 35 countries working hard to both treat the disease and
teach people about prevention.
The UMC is challenging the world to eliminate
this disease by the year 2020. December
1st is World AIDS Day and it would be a great opportunity to teach your
church about HIV/AIDS and to collect funds for the United Methodist Global AIDS
Fund (UMGAF).
The monies collected helps efforts in
developing countries, but 25 percent of all donations through the UMC remain in
the donor annual conferences for AIDS ministries. For more information and promotional
materials check out the UMCOR website at: www.umcor.org/umcor/programs/globalhealth/HIV/AIDS.
