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A Social Justice Ministry of The Reformed Catholic Church
HIV/AIDS Educational Programs |
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PO Box 5554 Toledo, Ohio 43613 United States of America Telephone: 866-769-0075 AIDSServices@reformedcatholicchurch.org
www.reformedcatholicchurch.org/gatf.htm
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As a member of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, The Reformed Catholic Church is dedicated to reaching out to those who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, regardless of nationality, religious affiliation, sexual orientation or gender identity. People who live with HIV and die with AIDS are our friends and family, our teachers and neighbors, our rabbis, imams, pastors and priests. The pandemic continues to be measured in alarming statistics around the globe, and churches and people of faith everywhere must take up their pastoral and prophetic role to overcome stigma and discrimination, to care for body and spirit, and to advocate for universal treatment and effective forms of prevention.
The Reformed Catholic Church envisions our Global Task Force as an important outreach ministry of the church to those who have HIV/AIDS or whose lives are impacted by the AIDS Pandemic through a dedicated and diverse program of education and empowerment. We envision a day that HIV/AIDS will no longer be the source of global pain and suffering. |
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With over 33 million people infected with HIV worldwide and over 7,400 new infections every day, universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention services is essential. In 2007, roughly 3 million people became newly infected with HIV, including 470,000 children under the age of 15, most of whom were infected through mother-to-child transmission of the virus. HIV prevention does not have to be complicated in order to have a real impact on the spread of HIV/AIDS. But it does have to address the various needs of all populations at risk—from injection drug users to adult married women.
Many people continue to live healthy, happy lives more than 10 years after testing positive for HIV. The bottom line is that testing positive for HIV is not a death sentence. Treating your body well, following your doctor's instructions and maintaining good mental health are simple steps you can take to manage your health. Different things work for different people -- find out what works for you and do it.
Prevention can be a controversial and uncomfortable topic especially within and between Christian churches, who account for a large percentage of the global response to HIV and AIDS. Heated debates have arisen in regard to HIV prevention methods such as use of condoms or harm reduction approaches for injecting drug users. The unwillingness and inability to discuss sex and sexuality further hamper our knowledge of the full range of options that are known to be successful in HIV prevention. Religious leaders often feel pressured in their responses to choose between acknowledging the complexities of emerging health crises, such as the HIV pandemic, and upholding long-held traditions and beliefs that are difficult to change or are seen as essential to their faith.
The silence of many churches and religious leaders on comprehensive HIV prevention and the inaccurate information and myths that are then allowed to proliferate and contribute to the continued spread of HIV in every region of the world. Individuals and communities need accurate information on how HIV is transmitted and how it can be prevented.
However, prevention efforts must go beyond focusing on individual personal behavior. Effective prevention involves challenging social, political, economic, and religious structures, systems and inequalities that make women, youth, and special groups of the population particularly vulnerable to contracting HIV. Prevention efforts must address the causes and effects of poverty which hamper education, treatment and care.
