People between the ages of 15 and
49 are living with HIV.
It was also stated that 3.4 million new infections were discovered
in 2001, while 2,3 million Africans died of AIDS last year alone.
The summit was attended by faith leaders from the United States
and Africa including Dr. Mrs Wanda A1li-Balogun of the Health Unit,
Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria. CSN. Lagos. and Monsignor John
Aniagwu who both represented Nigeria |
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CHURCH POSITIONED
TO FIGHT AIDS
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The Catholic Church has been described as the single most influential
and resourceful institution throughout the African diaspora that
can play a major role in the fight against the Human Immune Virus
(HIV) and the Acquired Immune Deficiencv Svndrome (AIDS). This was
part of the submissions of the African Diaspora Faith Leaders"
summit on HIV/AIDS held recently inTarrytown, New York, United States
of America. The report stated that the AIDS crisis demands that
the Church develops a global agenda for addressing the pandemic
of HIV which will include: prevention, treatment and eradication
of the stigma associated with the disease. It also advised that
faith communities be
mobilised to support and implement HIV prevention activities that
are culturally competent and address serious barriers.
The summit, organised by The Balm in Gilead Inc.. a non governmental
organization from the USA stated that the aim of the summit was
to bring together Christian faith leaders from African-American,
the Carribbean and subSaharan African countries to address the
AIDS pandemic in their communities and build a partnership with
the organisers.
Participants were informed that 35 million people are living
with HIV worldwide out of which close to three million are Nigerians.
It was also revealed that 250,000 AIDS deaths were recorded in
1999, the infection rate for pregnant women is 5.4 percent while
13 percent of all HIV infected Africans are Nigerians. It resolved
that the top needs for effective fight against HIV/AIDS are: surveillance
and a dynamic awareness campaign, voluntary counseling and testing
as well as improved care of persons living with HIV. It also suggested
the prevention of mother to child transmission and training of
personnel to deal with the pandemic. AIDS kills 10 times more
people in Africa today than wars do, while 20 years of life expectancy
are lost to AIDS", the report stated.
The summit was also informed of the debilitating effect that one
in 50 blackmen and one in 160 black women are HIV positive. It
revealed that about 28 million
People between the ages of 15 and 49 are living with HIV.
It was also stated that 3.4 million new infections were discovered
in 2001, while 2,3 million Africans died of AIDS last year alone.
The summit was attended by faith leaders from the United States
and Africa including Dr. Mrs Wanda A1li-Balogun of the Health
Unit, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria. CSN. Lagos. and Monsignor
John Aniagwu who both represented Nigeria.
(CSN No 5Vol,II January- May 2002)
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