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Rome (Agenzia Fides) - “The Church is second to none in facing HIV in Africa and caring for people infected and affected,” says the Message for World AIDS Day (celebrated on December 1), from the Symposium of Bishops' Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). The message, a copy of which was sent to Agenzia Fides, is signed by Archbishop Polycarp Pengo of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), President of SECAM.
“Constantly present among millions of Africans who are badly affected by the pandemic, we see how AIDS continues to ravage our populations, even if it is slipping down the agenda of governments, civil society and international organizations,” write the Bishops from the continent most heavily affected by the spread of the HIV virus. “At a time when official concerns about the pandemic are receding, we re-affirm theologically that the Body of Christ has AIDS, and express our pastoral determination as Family of God to provide fitting responses.”
SECAM's intention is to report on the true facts about AIDS in Africa: “Assistance is as sorely needed as ever. HIV and AIDS have not gone away, despite premature impressions to the contrary. The assumption that treatment is now available to everyone is false. Only a third of those who need treatment get it and, after two years, only 60% are still on treatment; for every two people on treatment, five are newly infected.”
“The pandemic gravely compromises development and justice,” the document stresses. “The global recession and economic downturn have a detrimental impact on our brothers and sisters infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. Climbing prices of food and other basic necessities are hampering progress of treatment, because people cannot afford the food essential to support their medication. Further, increased hunger and desperation are making people resort to sex as a means of survival. So any response that attempts to tackle HIV and AIDS in isolation is doomed to fail.”
“HIV-AIDS is not just a medical problem and investing in pharmaceutics alone will not work. With the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, we seriously warn that the problem cannot be overcome by relying exclusively or primarily on the distribution of prophylactics. Only a strategy based on education to individual responsibility in the framework of a moral view of human sexuality, especially through conjugal fidelity, can have a real impact on the prevention of this disease,” the Bishops conclude. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 28/11/2009)
