The World AIDS Day theme for 2010 is Universal Access and Human Rights. Celebrated every year on December 1 since its inception in 1989, World AIDS Day plays a critical role in raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice, and improving education on a global scale.
UNAIDS estimates that there are now 33.3 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2009 some 2.6 million people became newly infected with the virus and an estimated 1.8 million people died from AIDS. Additionally, UNAIDS reports that the issue persists in wealthier nations including the United States where African Americans are disproportionately represented: African Americans represent 12% of the population but accounted for 45% of people newly infected with HIV in 2006.
Scott Baldauf’s article serves as an effective reminder that while AIDS is an issue everywhere, it is especially problematic in Africa. South Africa has more people (5.6 million) living with HIV than any other nation. Today, “more than two-thirds (22.5 million) of all HIV-positive people live in Africa, and their access to health care and to AIDS treatment remains quite low.”
So What?
Art Ammann is the founder of Global Strategies for HIV Prevention which is a “501(c)(3) non profit organization responding to the urgent need for a non-governmental, non-politically aligned, independent organization to facilitate international strategies and collaborations to control the spread of HIV in resource poor countries.” Ammann wrote an essay published on Daniel B. Clendenin’s Journey with Jesus blog in which he offers insight for those of us who seek to follow Jesus:
Jesus did not ask for voyeurs . . . He did not attempt to shock his followers into action. Nor did Jesus need to remind his followers of the dire consequences of poverty and abandonment. He simply acknowledged that it existed and that it was an obligation of his followers to do something about it.
I believe that Jesus knew that he had to say it only once and those who followed him had to make the decision whether they would put his teaching into action. When he spoke in the temple in Nazareth, reading from the prophet Isaiah, he was clear as to his purpose. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” The Apostle Paul also knew that we could not be voyeurs when he said, “Do not be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good.”
On World AIDS Day, or any other day for that matter, regardless of what we see or hear, a decision needs to be made whether we incorporate a part of the suffering of the world into our daily practice of living. Seeing evil and not making an attempt to overcome it is not a “movie” ending for those of us who believe in the teaching of Jesus.
Many religious leaders have made mention of the need for a greater response from faith communities. Take time to learn the history of how your faith community has engaged the issue, then ponder the possibilities of future involvement including strategic partnerships with other faith communities.